Argentina’s well-read influencers

Natalia Páez
Journalist in Buenos Aires, Argentina

In 2014, when James Dashner, author of the popular Labyrinth trilogy, arrived at the celebrated Buenos Aires International Book Fair (FIL), he was greeted like a rock star. Books in hand, hundreds of young fans were waiting for him, causing a near riot. 

The space usually set aside for book signings quickly turned out to be too small, with queues stretching into the street – the last people left at 2 a.m. As far as the book fair’s organizers could recall, nothing like this had been seen since the American science fiction writer, Ray Bradbury, visited in 1997. The difference was that, this time, it was a children’s author causing the stir. 

Ten years on, boosted by social media, the passion for teenage fiction shows no sign of fading. On the contrary, in fact. This success owes much to the literary influencers who share their favourite books on the most popular platforms. There are almost 4,000 of these “bookfluencers” in Argentina, often young themselves, and with a very large following.  

Take Victoria Resco for example. Aged just 21, she has no fewer than 1.4 million followers on her TikTok account, while her posts can receive as many as 58.4 million “likes”. Her first post dates back to the pandemic, in July 2020, when she was just 17. Since then, she has become a successful author in her own right, with the publication of Reino de papel (Paper Kingdom), a book that, of course, she promoted on her account. “These days, every author has to have a social media presence,” she says.

Publishers have not failed to understand the value of these budding critics, with their vertiginous lists of followers. “When they publish a new book, they regularly ask us to promote it,” confirms Victoria Resco. The publishers themselves admit that social media has been a game-changer. “The hashtag #booktok, which has over fifty billion views, has revolutionized the publishing world. At Penguin Random House, we work with influencers whose reviews go viral”, explains Sara D’Angelo, head of marketing at this American publisher.

The rise of literary influencers has also prompted the Buenos Aires Book Fair to set up a commission for youth activities, which includes representatives from publishers and bookfluencers. In 2015, Movida Juvenil (the Fair's youth programme) organized its first International Booktubers’ Meeting.

“The phenomenon started on social media and has now moved from the virtual world to the book fair and to publishers, who have started to employ these young people and to work with them. This not only shows that the book is not dead, but that young people are the ones keeping it alive,” says Ezequiel Martínez, director of FIL in Buenos Aires.

What started as a group of bloggers is now a growing string of digital content creators. Many of the influencers have been approached by youth book publishers, and some are now heading up collections for young readers.

Melisa Corbetto, known as “Meli”, is one of those enthusiasts who, from the age of 16, promoted her favourite authors online and then on camera on Instagram. She then moved to the other side of the screen and joined a publishing house. Now, at the age of 33, she is Editorial Director of V&RYA (the youth collection at V&R), one of the most popular in Argentina, where she seeks out young talent. “We have published emerging authors who write in the same vein as the young people on social media, and the books have been a great commercial success,” she explains.

Leo Teti, 31, is another of the early literary influencers. Based in Barcelona, he is now International Editorial Director of the Urano World group, whose catalogue includes American author Shelby Mahurin, who holds the record for a book signing at FIL in Buenos Aires – seventy-two hours straight! But are today’s fans really the readers of tomorrow? Leo Teti thinks so. “I’m delighted to see that influencers are now also interested in adult fiction and even in more literary works. And their reviews still go viral, thanks to all these young people sharing their passion for books,” he says.

Admittedly, social media generally focus on established authors, usually writing in English. But young people’s enthusiasm for books is also benefiting Spanish-speaking writers, albeit to a lesser extent. “I’ve been living in Spain for almost three years now,” says Leo Teti, “and I can see that there’s a huge audience for local authors of youth literature”. 

The first literary event to launch activities for young readers was the Guadalajara Fair in Mexico. At its last salon, TikTok had a stand of its own. “This alliance has been very beneficial. Out of 2,113 media accreditations in 2023, 20 per cent were from content creators,” explains Mariño González, Communications Director of this prestigious trade fair.

It’s not surprising that content creators now occupy a prominent place at trade fairs, given their decisive impact on sales. “One of our great prodigies in 2022 was Spanish author Alice Kellen. The work of literary influencers was fundamental to her commercial success,” says María Estomba, Marketing and Communications Director for Grupo Planeta Argentina. But bookfluencers still retain their editorial freedom, and their support is not guaranteed. “They can also demolish a book or an author that they don’t like,” warns María Estomba. 

Born into a world of screens, the younger generation has not turned its back on reading, as some had predicted. In fact, they are still very much in favour of paper books. “Young people like books with maps, dust jackets, bookmarks... Contrary to what you might think, they generally prefer to read stories on paper, rather than on a digital medium,” says Marcela Luza, who was head of the V&R publishing house for four years. Cris Alemany, head of Movida Juvenil at the Buenos Aires Book Fair, paints a picture of a young generation with hybrid habits. “At the Fair, over half of the nearly one million visitors are young people. This is a source of great pride and hope for the future of books for young people.”