TikToks Owner Already Publishes Digital Books. Now It Is Moving Into Print.

ByteDance, the Chinese technology giant that owns TikTok, made an initial move into publishing digital books last year.Now the company’s publishing imprint, 8th Note Press, is planning to significantly expand its retail footprint by publishing print editions and selling them in physical bookstores.To do that, 8th Note Press is teaming up with Zando, an independent publishing company, the companies announced on Wednesday.

The new joint imprint plans to release 10 to 15 books a year, with the first titles arriving in early 2025.It will focus on genres that have proven popular with millennial and Gen Z readers — mostly romance, romantasy and young adult fiction.Expanding into print was always part of 8th Note’s plan, said Jacob Bronstein, the head of editorial and marketing at the company.“Physical books are still overwhelmingly the most popular format, and certainly in specific genres, some of which we’re playing in, they’re still super important,” he said.

“So we knew that we needed to be in physical books.”At the same time, 8th Note is closely tracking what’s trending online, including on BookTok, and is “building backwards” by acquiring books that feed into those trends and conversations, Bronstein said.“We’re thinking first, what do people like reading, who is reading these books, how are people talking about these books, how are these conversations happening online, and where?” Bronstein said.“Genre comes second.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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