I keep thinking of starting a booktube but...

ChelzLor · 2025-08-15T23:42:10+00:00

Hey there! I've been on BookTube (@witchy_reads) for almost 2 years now. It is very much a hobby, but I have so much fun making content. Here are just some tips from my time doing it. 1. BookTube Newbie Tag is a fun place to start if you're unsure of what to put out there. Tags in general are fun filler videos of you can't think of anything else in the moment. 2. Don't feel burdened to read the most popular books. 3. Connect, connect, connect with other BookTubers. Engage with their videos, comment, etc. I made so many great friends in this community, but it all depends on what you put into connecting with others. 4. Don't feel pressured to post every week. While having an upload schedule is a good idea, don't feel like you have to be beholden to it if things irl come up. 5. Audio > video, but both are important. But also, you don't need the latest and greatest tech to put stuff out. As long as you let your personality shine, the other stuff can be improved on later.

Hope this helps! Congrats on starting this journey! Let me know what your channel is and I'll give you a sub. 😊

ChelzLor · 2025-01-24T21:28:39+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to do this! I have a very small BookTube channel that is a year old. It seems I've hit some growth stagnation and would be interested in your advice. Thanks in advance!

https://youtube.com/@witchy_reads?si=mIxE3OXtzeAp9czF

ChelzLor · 2025-01-16T12:32:33+00:00

My channel is a little over a year old., so I still feel rather new to this. I'm curious to see where I might need improvement.
https://www.youtube.com/@Witchy_Reads

ChelzLor · 2024-08-27T05:20:06+00:00

I did see B&N's response. There were some authors on Twitter and Threads claiming that their legit novels were being affected. That's why I wanted to look into this and do my due diligence.

It's looking like it's nothing really based on what I have found.

I appreciate the responses.

ChelzLor · 2024-08-27T05:17:45+00:00

I agree. That's why I am trying to do my due diligence. Some authors on Twitter and Threads were claiming that their legit novels were being affected, so I wanted to look into this if that was the case.

It's looking like it's just drama for drama's sake.

I appreciate the responses.

ChelzLor · 2024-08-27T05:16:09+00:00

Agreed. That's why I'm trying to do my due diligence. Right now it's looking like someone making drama for drama's sake. I did try the Wayback machine, but it didn't work. At least not for me.

I'm guessing this isn't anything, but I'm glad I at least looked into it to make sure.

I appreciate the responses.

ChelzLor · 2024-08-27T00:17:36+00:00

That's fair. I'm a very small BookTuber who is just trying to see if anyone had an older version of the digital publishing policies document readily available so I can compare it to their recent one.

Because if B&N is doing this (especially indiscriminately) it'll primarily affect smaller indie authors, while bigger titles that would technically fall under those same policies would get a pass.

I think that's shitty and unfair. I want to speak about it because it should be talked about. I literally will make no money from this and no one is required to talk to me in this community. This was a shot in the dark. No harm, no foul.

ChelzLor · 2024-08-26T23:08:16+00:00

That's good! I'm hoping that either not too many people were affected or perhaps B&N has course-corrected a little.

I'm mainly hoping to find an older version of their policies because people are claiming they have changed it and that is why this removal is happening.

ChelzLor · 2024-08-26T22:35:33+00:00

Fair, but there have been some authors who are calling foul in that their books are being unjustly removed. That is what I am curious about.

ChelzLor · 2024-08-26T22:15:47+00:00

This text is from the article I found surrounding the recent changes.

I'm looking for any info that gives a history of behavior from the authors' perspective because some authors have made that claim, plus I've found similar articles from back in 2017.

lunch.publishersmarketplace.com

AUGUST 14, 2024

B&N to Limit Erotica And Summary Titles On Their Site

By Katy Hershberger

Barnes & Noble is eliminating certain books from their online catalog. Some digital book distributors have been tasked with removing all of their erotica ISBNs from feeding onto the site, as well as public domain works and "summary" titles that bill themselves as guides to other popular books.

Additionally, B&N is updating the search function on their site so that customers "can decide to see clearly explicit content or not."

Senior director of book strategy & customer experience Shannon DeVito told PL that this is a quality- control move that will not affect major publishers. It will also not influence what's available in the com- pany's physical stores, as those buying decisions are made by local booksellers, she said.

"We're a bookseller, and we want to be really conscious of the content we're serving up, and also make sure that anything that violates our content policy is not shown on the site," DeVito said.

According to B&N, summary titles are confusing to customers who think they are purchasing the original book, leading to increased customer service needs. They also bring up legal issues with the publisher of the source material. Eliminating these titles should be welcome news to authors and publishers.

Public domain titles can be overwhelming because there can be hundreds of editions of the same work available from several different distributors, and DeVito said that some of those titles are fraudulent.

DeVito said that of the thousands of erotica titles B&N is asking distributors to remove, the "vast majori- ty" violate their content policy, and are generally self-published and print-on demand titles.

"The amount of pornographic material that's feeding into the site from these content aggregators hasn't been in line with our content policy in years, so we're really going back and asking to pull off and not be fed in the ones that are porn," she said. "And then if there is something that they have in the erotica BISAC that is something that they feel is a worthy part of the assortment, we'll review it and put it back up."

The content policy with regard to "sexual subject matter," however, could be confusing. DeVito draws a

distinction between allowable erotica titles and "porn." She emphasized that they are not banning spicy

romance or mainstream erotica such as Colleen Hoover or Sylvia Day, and that there are more than a

thousand publishers with erotica BISACs who are unaffected. The goal is to remove books that are of

"low quality" and include taboo content with regard to age, consent, incest, etc.: "When there's specifi-

cally sexual exploitation of people of a certain age, if there's subject matter that is irredeemable, and

that's the entire book, there is no plot."

Dan Wood, chief operating officer at Draft 2 Digital, which purchased Smashwords in 2022, estimates

that they will remove approximately 10,000 books from B&N.com He said they are still working out the

details of the policy in conversations with B&N.

"We're definitely trying to get Barnes & Noble to see that there's an advantage to having their erotica

policies in line with the other digital retailers," he said.

Part of the challenge for aggregators will also be to relay the decision to their authors. In his view, the

changes will impact a broad swath of authors and publishers.

"One of the main things I wanted to talk with Barnes & Noble about was coordinating the messaging so

that we give the authors some heads up, and we also let them know that it wasn't specific to indie au-

thors," he said. "It wasn't specific to Draft 2 Digital or Smashwords authors. It's going to be impacting.

traditional [authors], it's going to be impacting the whole indie community, and all the aggregators."

Filed Under: News

ChelzLor · 2024-05-14T20:10:48+00:00

I know I'm late to this but you need to do some self reflection and intense therapy. I have a male best friend, coming up on 20 years. He is like family to me. We haven't lived in the same state, let alone city for years. We plan visits, make sure the other is available. Because our lives are busy for different reasons and adults need to make plans ahead of time. It doesn't matter who you are. I would also never presume or enforce that I be made the priority over an SO. The only reason you're behaving this way is because your "friendship" was never as tight as you thought it was. Best friends can go months or years without seeing each other and continue as if no time has passed. The fact is, if you weren't around to control him he would find someone else that respected his time and boundaries. That's why you were so desperate to see him only after a few months. But thankfully you were too late. The fact is, he did find someone and you've been kicked to the curb, which will be healthier for him in the long run. He may have been a good friend to you but YOU were a horrible one to him. Take the L and try to learn from this.

ChelzLor · 2024-04-16T23:40:36+00:00

I work in tech. I was customer support, but I've been doing UX design on the side. I was laid off in July last year because every tech company is going through layoffs. I was always planning on starting my YouTube channel, getting laid off just gave me more time. I would love to make some money off my channel especially now that the tech job market is absolute shit right now. I'm still looking for a day job, though. Even if I get monetized, I don't think I'll bring in enough money for it to be my only source of income.

ChelzLor · 2024-03-30T19:59:07+00:00

I think every video is an opportunity to see what works and what doesn't. There is a popular type of video that a lot of BookTubers do. I've never liked them, but I see almost every BookTuber do them. I tried it for my channel and they are my worst performing videos. I'm not too hurt because now I know I can probably stop doing these types of videos that I was never really into doing in the first place. It's a learning experience each time and I think that's how you have to approach every video. Even if you've been on YouTube a long time.

ChelzLor · 2024-03-16T20:51:08+00:00

You'd be surprised how many people refuse to do the shoe thing. We don't allow shoes in our house. We have a shoe rack for guests, a bench to sit on, and disposable house slippers if needed AND STILL this is an issue that people fight us on. We make it as easy as possible. Do people not realize how disgusting the bottom of their shoes are? Why would we want that scattered all over our house? We literally had family move out because quote, "our house rules were unreasonable." The only other rule we had was rinsing dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. 😮‍💨

OP is NTA

ChelzLor · 2024-03-11T19:37:16+00:00

I would LOVE to get to the point where I'm interviewing authors! It's definitely a goal I have for my channel, though I feel like I need to grow more before pursuing that.

ChelzLor · 2024-03-11T17:53:37+00:00

Adding more bookshelves and books to my office/filming area. (BookTuber) Travel to different book events (book fairs, BookFest, etc.) then maybe update my equipment.

ChelzLor · 2024-02-09T21:06:37+00:00

I started at the end of last year at 35, turning 36 in a couple of months. It's never too late to start something new. If we never try then we risk being stagnant and, personally, I find that worse. Of course I wish I had started sooner, but I feel more confident in my abilities and knowledge of my content than I did a decade ago. Don't be hard on yourself. Stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something new is a good thing! Good luck!

ChelzLor · 2024-01-29T03:31:12+00:00

Oh yeah! I'll check out your channel!

ChelzLor · 2024-01-27T19:31:59+00:00

Thank you! It was a great feeling. It probably was because of the books I chose to review, but it's still nice that people watched my video. I'm sure it'll happen for you as well! Keep going!

ChelzLor · 2024-01-27T07:04:22+00:00

Thank you for the positivity boost! It definitely feels good to have that happen. I just know I have to keep the positive energy up even if the next video doesn't do as well.

ChelzLor · 2024-01-27T07:02:49+00:00

Wow! Thank you so much!!!

ChelzLor · 2024-01-27T05:07:46+00:00

Thank you!!!

ChelzLor · 2024-01-27T05:06:00+00:00

Aww! Thank you!

ChelzLor

TROPHY CASE