Ayman Chaudhary, better known as @Aymansbooks on Tiktok and Instagram has amassed over one million followers on social media and a staggering 138.2 million likes on Tiktok. Her account is dedicated to giving reading recommendations, reviews and other short, light-hearted skits.

How would you introduce yourself to someone who’s maybe not come across your content?

My name is Ayman and my pronouns are she/her and I’m a content creator on Tiktok and Instagram. I talk about all things books, pretty much 24/7.

When did you start posting online and what was that like?

I started posting around 2020. It was basically due to quarantine boredom. I randomly discovered booktok one day. I really liked reading before too, but I didn’t really have the time to do it often. It was because of quarantine and being at home and away from school for longer that I found myself just falling back into the love I had for reading. I began reading again around March 2020, but I didn’t start making content until August 2020.

How quickly did you grow followers? At what point did you think to yourself: ‘Wow, people are really watching me? ’

It was after a few viral videos I got more of a platform. I think around November 2020 was when it kind of struck me and I thought: “I’m getting more of a platform” because even after a couple of viral videos, I didn’t take it seriously. I’ve always loved reading but I never thought I could monetise it and create content around it. I never thought it would be a full time job or anything like that.

Is it currently your full-time job?

No, I’m also in school. I’m in my third year in college.

Are you studying English? You have to be.

Surprisingly, no. I study graphic design.

How would you say that you deal with negativity or criticism online?

I think Tiktok does a very good job when it comes to recommending content using its algorithm. What you see in your for you page, nine times out of ten, is going to be content you’ll like based on your past engagement. Based on this, I’m assuming people who see me on their for you page may like me to some degree. Occasionally, here and there, there are some more negative comments. There are always going to be hate comments no matter what you do, right? That’s just the internet. I don’t think I get a lot though, and I don’t notice it much. It’s one of those things that you have to actively seek out to notice it. I don’t seek them out. I think doing so is detrimental to your mental health.

How many hours a day or week would you say you spend on creating content?

There’s no set schedule or anything like that. It’s more like I’ll do it when I get inspiration. A lot of it comes from me scrolling on my phone in the middle of the night and thinking to myself: “This is really funny. I should recreate this but make it book-related.”

Do you have a dream project that you have yet to accomplish?

I’m quite lucky. I’ve worked with authors in the past whose books I’ve read or grew up reading, doing interviews and making content for publishers I enjoy. Right now, I don’t think I have one particular dream or goal I want to achieve. I just want a bit of everything if that makes sense. I really enjoy interning at a publishing house currently.

If you could organise a book club with any three authors, living or dead, who would you choose and why?

Definitely Olivia Blake. I love anything that she’s written. I think her writing style is very unique. I would love to pick apart her brain.

If you could pick any fictional character to bring to life to be friends with, who would you pick?

Todd Amalfi from the Shatter Me series.

Favourite genre of book?

Romance for sure.