Barcelona is already warming up for Sant Jordi: Mercabarna has filled with roses, bookstores are finalizing preparations, and books and flowers are even sneaking into unexpected spaces, such as the Cathedral, museums, restaurants, shops, and hotels. The city is embracing literature to celebrate Sant Jordi, amidst an editorial ecosystem in which in recent years a new figure of literary prescription has emerged: the booktokers.
"The work of content creators is essential to spread the love of literature," and doing so through social networks connects with a community of readers from Generation Z who seek a "screen detox" in books, defends Guillermina Rosés. She is the founder of Lenke Agency, the first content creator agency in Spain to open a line dedicated 100% to literature.
Lenke, which started in 2014, already represented lifestyle, beauty, and entertainment content creators as an agency, until the team members led by Rosés decided to take their literary passion to the next level: "In the team, we have a great sensitivity for culture and literature, and we decided to bet big on this sector." Now, 30 of the 40 represented by Lenke are booktokers. Thus, although the agency maintains its activity in the lifestyle field, the commitment to the literary universe has marked a turning point in its trajectory, hand in hand with the creators it represents.
Among them are names such as Rodrigo Paniagua, Irene Franco and Alba Zamora who also share a trait: they not only talk about books, but have also made the leap to writing: "They have gone from content creation to literary creation," highlights Rosés. With them, Lenke acts as a link with publishers, who turn to content creators to connect with communities of readers, especially young people: "A few years ago, publishers did not consider working with specialized influencers like booktokers, but now they consider them a natural ally," emphasizes Rosés, regarding a figure that is no longer considered a mere trend, but a gateway to reading.
In this context, Rosés places booktokers as a key figure in "dissemination to foster a love for reading," and doing so in community. "In the end, those who follow a booktoker find a sense of belonging to a community of readers that is often hard to find elsewhere." However, literature lovers are finding more spaces to meet, also physically, such as reading clubs that are emerging even in companies and schools. So much so that the demand for library clubs in Barcelona has doubled in a decade, with more than 20,000 registered last year.
Thus, in a world dominated by screens, something as analog as the book not only does not retreat, but gains strength. And what might seem contradictory is actually a natural symbiosis. In it, booktokers emerge as a point of confluence between both worlds (that of the screen and that of the pages), and naturally elevate books and literature to protagonists of digital conversations.
In fact, Lenke's own origin also occurred naturally (and unexpectedly), following a family tradition closely related to books, albeit in a different way. After working in a classic advertising agency, Rosés returned to the family business: a printing press founded by her great-grandfather, which was in operation for 99 years. From the family business, Rosés launched something then pioneering in 2012: an app to print photos from mobile, Paper Lover. It was with this project that, also naturally, she began working with bloggers to promote the app, until building a brand community that other companies wanted to emulate: "They started calling me to help them set up similar communities, and that was the germ of what Lenke is today."
Now, the agency aims to continue growing. And it wants to do so, rather than adding more creators, by boosting those who are already part of Lenke. "The goal is to continue with them and empower them to the maximum." With an office in Barcelona and also part of the team in Madrid, Rosés plans to take the next step across the ocean: "We are starting to sign creators in Latin America." Again, between pages and screens, with a passion for literature at the forefront.