Bookstore uses clickbait headlines to get patrons to read classics like Jungle Book, Romeo Juliet

Clickbait has found itself a very noble purpose.

Priyal Ray
Mar 24, 2017

It’s barely debatable how difficult it is to get this generation to read, and when it comes to classics things get way worse and people run simply at the thickness of the books. This bookstore seems to have found a way around this shortcoming though, and brilliantly at that. What came to their rescue? Clickbait.

Used massively in this age of digital content, clickbait with its scandalous headlines lures readers in and often houses either some very mundane stuff or worse still innumerable pop-ups and ads. Wild Detectives, a bookstore in Texas, has found the noblest use for this tactic and used it as what they call ‘Litbait’. Wild Detectives started putting up clickbait-y stuff on their Facebook posts in order to get people to read the classics which make literature what it is.

This was no ordinary clickbait though. Those who clicked on these seemingly scandalous posts were directed to a blog post where they could find copyright-free versions of these classics. So basically, just in case you thought a classic is a waste of money and space, these guys are doing what they can to change that. The post further reads, “You fell for the bait, now fall for the book”. Cheesy, yes we know but then what are classics without a bit of cheesy stuff.

Check out some of there very very ‘litbait’ stuff here.