Who is J.D. Barker and what did he do? BookTok controversy explained as the author is slammed over creepy promotional tactics

J.D. Barker, a New York Times bestselling writer, made headlines recently after an allegedly controversial email was sent to a TikTok community of readers called BookTok from a literary public relations firm called Best of BookTok. As per J.D. Barker’s confirmation via X, he is the firm’s owner.

Trigger warning: This article has NSFW content. Readers' discretion is advised.

As per NBC News, the email reportedly urged BookTok members to make “racy” videos to promote J.D. Barker’s upcoming erotic thriller Behind A Closed Door, slated to release later this year.

Although the exact number of recipients of this email is unknown, NBC News stated that BookTok members Sian Harper and Marissa Bologna were among them.

Notably, in the face of the scandal, J.D. Barker took to X to clarify the “campaign was never approved.” He further said:

“The email wasn’t meant to go out without a substantial rewrite, but through a chain of errors, it did.”

Having said that, the Forsaken author took “full responsibility” for the same. Regardless, he has been receiving backlash for offering money in exchange for sexually suggestive promotional videos from influencers and creators.

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Everything you need to know about J.D. Barker

According to his official website, J.D. Barker was born Jonathan Dylan Barker and is an “international bestselling American author,” known for his thrillers.

Now 53 years old, the Illinois native wrote his debut novel Forsaken in 2012 which was nominated for the 2014 Bram Stoker Award in the Best Debut Novel category. It was also a New York Times and Amazon best-seller in the USA, Canada, and the UK, and charted at number 2 on Audible. Later, the book also won the New Apple Medalist Award.

An unpublished draft of Forsaken was approved by Stephen King who even permitted Barker to use his character Leland Gaunt from Needful Things in the novel. Meanwhile, Bram Stoker’s family was also impressed by Forsaken and asked Barker to co-write a prequel to Dracula with Dacre Stoker. J.D. agreed and Dracul was born, which was later sold at auction to publisher G.P. Putnam & Sons and film production company Paramount.

An avid reader since his childhood, J.D. Barker was influenced by the likes of Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, P.B. Shelley, Bram Stoker, and Edgar Allan Poe, and loved the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew sagas.

A business graduate from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, he always wanted to pursue a career in writing and the chance came when one of his assignments accidentally fell into the hands of Paul Gallotta of Circus Magazine. It was he who invited Barker to join the 25th Parallel Magazine, where he worked alongside the likes of Marilyn Manson.

Later, he became a celebrity interviewer for publications such as Seventeen and TeenBeat. He even wrote for a local newspaper column called Revealed which revolved around haunted places and supernatural occurrences. Subsequently, he worked as a book doctor and ghostwriter and helped struggling authors “fine-tune” their works.

Since the success of Forsaken, Barker has gone on to write many other novels including The Fourth Monkey, The Fifth to Die, The Sixth Wicked Child, and The Noise among others. He has also penned a few short stories such as Mondays, Among Us, Hybrid, Of the Lake, and many more.

J.D. Barker lives with his wife Dayna and daughter Ember and splits their time in Englewood, Florida, and New Castle, New Hampshire.

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Exploring J.D. Barker’s BookTok controversy

On January 23, the members of a TikTok literary community called BookTok received an email from J.D. Barker’s literary public relations firm called Best of BookTok which encouraged them to create “sexually suggestive videos” to endorse his upcoming erotic thriller Behind a Closed Door. The email was reportedly sent on Barker’s behalf, as per NBC News.

The news outlet talked to two BookTokers named Sian Harper and Marissa Bologna both of whom confirmed that the email asked them to use “only the book to cover up your naughty bits” and share “the most taboo place you’ve ever had sex,” as a campaigning strategy for the latest novel.

In the wake of such a revelation, J.D. Barker has received severe criticism online for his creepy and sexually suggestive promotional tactics, despite releasing a clarification that the email wasn’t supposed to go out and that he was “horrified such a message was released.”

Here are some of the comments under his tweet:

As per NBC News, a follow-up email was also sent to the BookTok members on January 25 stating that the first email “was sent by one of the many PR firms I hired to promote my latest title.” Not only that but the email described Behind A Closed Door as a “sexually charged dark thriller” revolving around a couple that gets “caught up in a twisted web of seduction and violence.”

The second email release also mentioned that it wasn’t Barker but rather some influencers and marketers he was working with who “have suggested racier posts to tie in with the theme of the book.”

Meanwhile, when NBC News reached out to him, he said that the first email clearly stated that “the content of the video is entirely up to you.” However, both Bologna and Harper told the news outlet that the email was misogynistic and grossed them out, especially with the “to be personally reviewed” by Barker portion of it.

In the face of backlash, J.D. Barker took to X and took “full responsibility” for the controversy and stated that he “deeply regret the hurt I’ve caused.”

“I have nothing but respect for the writing community and the people who champion it and I’ve let all of you down…There is no excuse for the insensitivity demonstrated by my actions. The weight created by those actions is inexcusable. I can and will do better,” he added.

He also said that just like his fans, readers, and social media users, he too was “impacted” by the scandal and was “truly sorry” for the same. Notably, the original email contained payment ranging between $100 and $2,400 for their promotional videos, alongside a free copy of the book, as per Today.

Barker’s agent Alec Shane of Writers House has dropped him as a client in the wake of the controversy, as told to Publishers Weekly.