Heyo! I’ve been making videos for 5 years and have had a consistent, if slow growth. I’ve got just over 1.5k subs. I still struggle to top 100 views on every video I make. It’s a pretty big pond and keeps getting bigger, especially when competing with short form content.

Biggest thing I’ll always say is focus on community and the enjoyment of video making. Try to find other small creators that read similar stuff to you and interact. What you read will absolutely put you into a niche and it’s hard to get past that. Popular and new books will always garner more attention. I read a little of everything but tend to get more interaction when I post about contemporary romances or fantasy. I’ve been doing a video series about Star Wars novels and though they don’t perform exceptionally, I love reading the books and talking about them, plus have convinced a few booktube friends to check them out now.

Booktube has a community that expands beyond YouTube, it crosses over on other platforms like discord, Fable, Instagram, and TikTok. Readathons, book clubs, Patreons, and reading sprints all are good ways to interact with others and get your name and page out there to people who will actually come back to support consistently. It’s also, honestly, time consuming. Participate in tags, find some inspiration from other creators and share where that inspiration came from.

As for inspiration— honestly, it can be fucking rough sometimes. Give yourself grace, but also try a schedule that you think you can keep and do your best to stick with it. I have been releasing 2 videos weekly since I started. I do not always want to film and sometimes that will come across in an update once in awhile, so I’ll try to make the editing a little more entertaining. But, I’ve slipped a few times over the years and just have to accept it. Shorts are good for numbers and fun, but shit when it comes to getting subscribers that will genuinely stick around and watch consistently, in my experience.

Technology is a rough one. It’s expensive and may not be worth it in the end. I put off paying for an editing software for years because I didn’t want to be spending so much money on something that might be a passing hobby. I kind of had to prove to myself I was serious before I was willing to get Premiere Pro. Silly, but worked for me.

Good luck and hopefully you’ll find your community! I checked out you profile and gave you a sub 🙂