BookTok marketing for authors: start with what readers search
TokConnect shows authors and publishers what BookTok readers type about a genre, who searches, which videos and creators already cover it, and what readers ask in the comments.
The tropes and comp titles readers type
BookTok marketing starts with the words readers use. They search by mood, by trope and by the book they loved last. Around cozy fantasy, nine typed searches drew between 59,817 and 208,095 searches each in the 7 days to 8 October 2026.
Three of the nine have no matching videos. "dark fantasy cozy" drew 205,820 searches, a blend of two moods that no video answers by name. "Fantasy book tropes" drew 73,607.
Cozy fantasy searches, 7 days
has videos 0 videos match
The comp title nobody has filmed
"legends and lattes book" drew 148,914 searches with 0 videos. Travis Baldree's novel sits in a top cozy list in our sample, and a reader recommended it unprompted in the comments we read below. If your book sits near a title like that, film the "books like" video for the exact phrase and say the title in your caption.
Next door to the genre, three broad fantasy searches also had no videos. For the reading list this month, see what BookTok is reading.
- 322,803best fantasy books of 2026
- 297,570fantasy books to get out of a slump
- 284,328fantasy books 2026
Each of the three: 7-day searches to 8 October 2026, 0 matching videos.
List TikTok searches for [your genre] books, its tropes and "books like [comp title]". Show 7-day searches and video counts, and flag the ones with no videos.
Map your tropesWho searches for cozy fantasy
The largest known age group searching "cozy fantasy" is 18 to 24, at 32.8% of TikTok's panel of searchers. The readers are spread across the world: no single country passes 10%.
Age
Gender
- Men 28.9%
- Women 23.5%
- Unknown 47.6%
More men than women in TikTok's panel for this topic. Check yours before you pick who an ad or a creator should reach.
Top countries
- United States9.5%
- Brazil9.5%
- Philippines7.4%
- Mexico5.1%
- Canada4.8%
Spanish and Portuguese markets sit in the top five. Rights and translation teams can see that before a deal.
Shares of TikTok's panel of searchers for "cozy fantasy", last 30 days, TikTok Creator Search Insights.
Timing matters too. The highest point on TikTok's 180-day chart for "cozy fantasy" came on 31 August 2026, at 719,127. Check your own genre's peak before you set a release date or plan a reading-list post.
Who searches TikTok for [your genre] books? Show age, gender and country, and the day its search popularity peaked in the last 180 days.
See who searchesWhich videos and creators already cover it
| Video | Views | Followers |
|---|---|---|
| Indie author, on her own trilogy 26 Apr | 322,100 | 3,220 |
| Author account, a cozy romantasy trope list 7 Dec 2025 | 99,300 | 243,400 |
| Reader account, 16 whimsical fantasy books by aesthetic 12 Jun | 70,900 | 67,100 |
| Reader account, five-star cozy fantasy recs 17 Dec 2024 | 62,500 | 411,600 |
| Same account, cozy stories with no romance 18 Aug | 61,500 | 411,600 |
| Reader account, standalone cozy fantasy, incl. Legends and Lattes 5 Jan | 59,100 | 779,300 |
| Reader account, 12 cozy fantasy recs for fall 8 Sep | 596 | 3,171 |
The reader account with 6 of the top 20 posted 20 times in 30 days, from 8 September to 7 October. Its median was 20,900 views and its best 327,300.
Four of those 20 posts featured one author's new book around its 8 September release. They drew 7,304 to 34,400 views. Three more posts were tagged #ad, and one showed book mail from Berkley.
For a pitch list, that is the shape to look for: a creator who posts most days in your genre and already features authors.
Top 20 TikTok videos for "cozy fantasy books" and the reader account's last 20 posts, public data pulled 8 October 2026. Dates are 2026 unless shown. Reader accounts are described, not named.
Find the top TikTok videos about [your genre] books. Show who posted each, their followers, views and dates, and which ones come from authors.
Find your creatorsOne indie author's last 20 posts
One indie author writes a cozy fantasy trilogy and has 3,220 followers. Her post of 26 April reached 322,100 views, about 100 times her follower count, with 15,600 saves.
The caption reads like a trope list: light academia, plant magic, slow burn no spice romance. Another author's post in the same top 20 does the same, ending on "Yearning (no spice)".
Now the rest of the feed. Across her last 20 posts, from 7 April to 4 October, the median was 1,188 views. Four passed 10,000. Her post listing the trilogy beside The Spellshop and The Enchanted Greenhouse reached 11,500. Both of her pinned posts are her two best.
Plan your posting on the median, pin what works, and put your comp titles in the caption.
Views per post, last 20 posts
- 322,100
- 11,500
- 19,300
- 14,300
7 Apr4 Oct
Compare the last 20 TikTok posts of [@your handle] and [@author in your genre]: dates, views, saves, median views and the captions of the three best.
Check your feedWhat readers ask in the comments
We read the 50 top comments on two cozy fantasy posts: the author's 322,100-view post, and the reader account's list of cozy stories with no romance. Romance level and book formats came up on both.
50 of 396 comments
- Praised how the books look18
- Asked about format, edition or where to buy5
- Asked for or wished for a translation5
- Asked about romance or spice level3
The most-liked, at 611 likes: ill buy it for the aesthetic alone!!
Others asked whether the Amazon hardcover matched the edition on screen, and about Kindle and Apple Books. A reader who does not usually like romance asked how central it is, and 100 people liked that.
50 of 124 comments
- Recommended a title or author13
- Talked about how much romance they want10
- Asked for more recommendations4
- Mentioned library or audiobook access4
Most of the romance comments wanted little or none: cozy stories without romance hit different
. Requests spelled out what they wanted, down to the spice level and the kind of lead. One reader added Legends and Lattes to the list.
For your own book, answer these before readers ask. Put the spice level and the formats in the caption or a pinned comment, and name the comp titles readers already trade in your genre.
Pull the top comments on [video link] and group what readers ask about romance level, formats, translations and similar books.
Read the commentsWhere it fits a book launch
- Map the tropes and comp titles readers type, and the ones with no videos.
- Check who searches your genre, by age, gender and country.
- List the creators who post in your genre, and judge them on median views.
- Read the comments on the top videos, then answer those questions in your own posts.
Want the week's movers instead? BookTok trends this week tracks book searches as they rise and fall.
| Job | Where it lives |
|---|---|
| Trope and comp-title searches, with video counts | TokConnect |
| Who searches a genre: age, gender, country | TokConnect |
| Top videos, creators' posts and reader comments | TokConnect, in the browser or inside your AI assistant |
| Book sales, rankings and royalties | Your retailer and publisher dashboards. Not in TokConnect: it reads public TikTok only |
| Sending review copies and paying creators | Your email or the creators directly |
Questions authors ask
Do authors need a big following to market a book on BookTok?
No. An indie author with 3,220 followers posted the most-viewed of the top 20 "cozy fantasy books" videos we pulled on 8 October 2026, at 322,100 views. Her median across her last 20 posts was 1,188 views, so plan on steady posting and treat a hit as a bonus.
How do I find comp titles readers search for on TikTok?
Search the titles near yours, plus "books like" phrasings, and compare 7-day searches with video counts. TokConnect returns TikTok's counts for a whole list of phrases at once. In cozy fantasy, "legends and lattes book" drew 148,914 searches in 7 days with no matching videos.
How do I find BookTok creators who read my genre?
Start from the top videos for your genre, then check each account's last 20 posts. In cozy fantasy, one reader account with 411,600 followers held 6 of the top 20 videos and posted 20 times in 30 days, with a median of 20,900 views. Four of those posts featured one author's new release.
Which tropes should go in a BookTok caption?
The ones readers search and ask about. The most-viewed cozy fantasy video in our pull listed light academia, plant magic and slow burn no spice romance in its caption. Readers asked about spice level in the comments, and "fantasy books no romance" drew 59,817 searches in 7 days.
How we got these numbers
We pulled public TikTok data through TokConnect on 8 October 2026:
search_topicsfor "cozy fantasy books", "cozy fantasy", "books like legends and lattes", "house in the cerulean sea", "no spice fantasy books" and "found family books" (20 records each);search_videosfor "cozy fantasy books" (20 videos);audience_demographics(last 30 days) andsearch_popularity(last 180 days) for "cozy fantasy";user_profilefor the indie author, andcreator_postsfor her last 20 posts and the reader account's last 20;video_comments(50 top comments) on two videos: the indie author's 26 April post and the reader account's 18 August list.
Search counts are TikTok's global 7-day search popularity from Creator Search Insights. Every phrase quoted is under 1 million searches and treated as a typed search; TikTok's grouped labels are left out. Comment themes are our count of the 50 top comments on each video. Authors are named as they appear on their TikTok accounts and in captions; reader accounts are described, not named. Open the data.