The slow creep of influencer publishing – the rise of social media stars being handed fat advances and big marketing budgets for memoirs, self-help books and novels – is accelerating. Since the late 2010s, bestseller lists have been riddled with social media-famous-first personalities, from Chidera Eggerue’s What a Time to Be Alone to Florence Given’s Girlcrush to Stacey Solomon’s Tap to Tidy.

Major publishers such as Penguin and Hachette now have dedicated influencer programs, giving select TikTok book reviewers early access to proofs and working with them directly on promotion; literary agencies have been created to cater to influencer authors.

New Statesman