TikTok Is Shutting Down Its Short-Lived Book Publisher

Yeah, I had no idea, either. Perhaps it had to do with ByteDance’s quiet entry into the publishing world in 2023, hot on the heels of the growth of #BookTok. Or maybe it has to do with the fact that in two years of operation, it signed just “more than 30” novels, which I take to mean somewhere between 30 and 40.

Now 8th Note Press, as it’s known, is rumored to be negotiating with its signed authors the return of rights to their work, according to The Bookseller, which broke the story on June 19.

an ominous vanishing act

8th Note Press was supposed to capitalize on #BookTok by publishing works targeted toward Millennials and Gen Zers, and then use its integration with TikTok under their common owner ByteDance’s umbrella to market the books.

That didn’t seem to even get off the ground. “8th Note Press does not seem to have benefited from proximity to its sister business,” reported The Bookseller. “8th Note Press did not have a TikTok shop and does not seem to have promoted authors organically, only posting one video and using paid-for advertising on the platform.”

“Neither the publisher or TikTok, nor the platform’s parent company and partners, will go on record, despite being approached by The Bookseller on multiple occasions,” writes The Bookseller. Likewise, when The New York Times reached out to ByteDance and 8th Note Press representatives in the past few days, they received no response, either.

Still, what we do know seems to confirm the rumor. Over the past few days, 8th Note Press’ digital footprint has been all but erased. As The Bookseller attests, 8th Note Press’ website is kaput, its TikTok account deleted, and its Instagram account gone.

And 8th Note Press was supposed to have begun publishing print books with six titles in concert with Zando, an American independent publisher who’s since removed its web page detailing its relationship with ByteDance’s imprint.

It meant to upend at least part of the publishing business, but 8th Note Press ended up starring its own murder mystery book, one with the last few pages ripped out.