Booktube and Blogging - Alex @ The Book's Buzz || LITHW16

Hi bookworms!

Booktube has become a major book pushing platform in recent times. The allure hasn't escaped bloggers either, as we see a lot of bloggers doing vlogs and starting a booktube channel. Personally I am camera shy and wouldn't attempt it, but booktube fascinates me quite a lot. So today, we're talking about booktube, and how it feels like to start a channel while being a blogger. To break it all down, we have Alex from The Book's Buzz, who juggles both her channel and blog efficiently and is here to share some of the knowledge!

You might be a booktuber. You might be a blogger. You could also be both, in which case, I commend your commitment and time management skills because lemme tell you it is not easy! I’m often asked how I manage booktube and blogging so well. I really want to say that both are fairly easy to manage, but I don’t want to lie in a post that could potentially be your guide to managing both platforms. Just think of it as having two children instead of one. You’re responsible for shaping both of your ‘children’ into what they will be and watching their growth. Today I’m here to strip that iron curtain aside. If you’ve been looking for tips to managing both a blog and a booktube channel, then just read on for my personal tips!

Tip #1: Be Unapologetic

Do what you do for you and nobody else. Keep in mind that although you do have an audience, you shouldn’t be doing anything to please anyone. Don’t feel bad if life gets too hectic and you can’t post for a week. Your viewers will understand why you’ve been gone for so long. They will understand the choices you make for the good of your channel/blog. I mean they should, considering they’re the ones that subscribed to you and not the other way around. The key to keeping both platforms alive and robust is to be unapologetic. If you keep worrying about satisfying your viewers or posting consistently, despite having some tough moments in life, then you’re going to think of it as a chore. That never ends well, just ask any blogger or booktuber.

Tip #2: Crossposting

Sometimes you won’t always be able to post one video and one blog post a week. What I like to do (often times when I’m too busy to write a post but filming is easier for me) is film a video and use that video for both platforms. What I mean is that you can create a blog post alerting your readers about the new video you have on your channel. You don’t necessarily have to write anything long in this post. All you have to do is embed the video and write a few sentences about how you have something new on another platform. This will also let your readers know that you have a Youtube channel, thus giving your video more views. It’s a win-win situation!

Tip #3: Book Tags are key!

Managing both a Youtube channel and blog will take a toll on you. You’re going to have double the work and double the response. More than often, I like to film book tags because they are easy and the questions are already laid out for you. Book tags are applicable to both blogs and channels. Let’s say you’ve already got this smashin’ blog post ready to go for tomorrow but you haven’t filmed anything. Book tags are easy to film and quick because there are usually only a few questions. There are also so many existing book tags that you could just spend years scrolling through potential candidates.

Tip #4: Utilize the tools in front of you

I’m always shocked to discover how some bloggers and booktubers don’t have a Twitter or Instagram account. Twitter is free! Instagram is free! Why aren’t you utilizing the tools that are right in front of you? Utilizing social media is important when you have a lot of platforms to manage. In fact, Twitter and Instagram are used so much that you can easily gain quite a large number of followers by posting consistently. It’s a great way to alert your viewers if you’ve been absent for a while, or to get their opinion on a potential video/post idea!

What’s the Difference?

Let’s just acknowledge the ‘elephant in the room’. There has been an ongoing debate about booktube overthrowing blogging. Now whether that’s true or not, it really doesn’t matter. All that matters is what platform you feel most comfortable in using to chat with booklovers around the world and express your views. Blogging is more casual and can be done from a computer or tablet at home. Meanwhile, booktube is a bit more complex and I’m going to get into just how complex later in this discussion. Regardless of what platform you decide to start on, just know that they both require the same amount of creativity, commitment and determination. Long story short there is no difference, it’s mainly based on what you prefer. Do you like writing or talking?

I always like to tell people how easy it is to start a blog. Is it not? All you need is a computer/device and a weblog publishing tool (wordpress or blogger). At the time I started blogging, I was aware of the booktube community. However, I thought that blogging was easier so I just started with that. Now fast forward two years to when I created my booktube channel. All I used to start my channel was my ipad and a crappy video editing software. The main point here is that starting anything can be easy.

Now perfecting it, that’s the hard part. When I started my blog, I had the boring templates with the boring fonts and the boring pictures. It took me a while to get off my feet and start looking up website designs and making graphics myself. Same goes with my Youtube channel. In the beginning, my videos were of the poorest quality, and I looked like I was terrified of speaking. Once again it took me a while to save enough to purchase a high quality camera, to buy a $300 editing software and to gain the confidence that I needed to speak in front of a camera when I knew so many were watching.

How to get started?

There’s no right and wrong in starting a blog and Youtube channel. If you ask me, I’ll have something different to say than if you ask a different person. My biggest tip in starting either one is to be yourself. Or much rather, bee yourself (get it? Cause I’m The Book’s Buzz?). I live by that motto everyday and let me tell you, people love uniqueness. Don’t try to be a blogger or booktuber you love. Sure you can use some of their ideas but don’t have it ingrained in your mind that you want to be like them. Don’t say, “Ohhh I wish my blog were like Mish’s from Chasing Faerytales”. Yeah I love Mish’s blog too, but people can easily tell if you’re trying to copy someone.

Please please please don’t be scared to start being a member in this community. We’re all nice! We don’t bite! Whether it’s with a booktube channel or a book blog, you are contributing to a cauldron of ideas and opinions. It’s up for you to decide what feels most comfortable to you.

I always say you don’t need an expensive camera to be a good booktuber, or you don’t need a $500 blog design to be a good blogger. You just need an open mind, a creative heart and a vision to somehow make the book community even greater than it already is.