Hello, Readers! Clevenger here!

So Graham hit the nail directly on the head on this one. It’s really challenging to deem any particular BookTube content as “Bad Advice.” There were certainly videos that we felt that were “less helpful” than others, mainly videos concerning writing mistakes that new writers make, which we had already noticed and corrected for one another, but that was about the extent.

There was a particular library of content that some BookTubers would also present, such as “BookTube ruined this…” or “Problematic BookTubers…” that I avoided. Every industry will have its ups and downs, but the concept of airing that type of dirty laundry doesn’t appeal to me at all. I am okay with sharing an opinion, but the fine line between opinion and judgement is a difficult thing to balance and I feel those videos slide into the judgement zone and are just not “my thing.”

Beyond that, for me it was purely personal preference of delivery. I will use the example of iWriterly (Meg LaTorre) and Jenna Moreci. Content-wise, they are quite similar. “Worst Tropes,” “Beginner Mistakes,” and “How to…” videos are all available on their channels. But I find Meg’s presentation a bit more “instructional” and Meg’s vocal tone is a bit more calming for me, and I find myself more receptive to information. However, if you run by the numbers (at the time of this post) Meg has 96K subscribers and Jenna has 266K subscribers. Neither of those numbers are shabby, and clearly there are a lot of folks out there that are really enjoying Jenna’s content. (She’s great!)

There are also dozens, if not hundreds, of other BookTube content creators I haven’t discovered yet. It’s joining a Writing Community. And like any community, you have to find a place that feels right for the style that you enjoy. Share that space with others, learn and grow together.

So, when it comes to advice on the internet, it’s not what works… It’s what works for me! There’s even an entire line of “How to Create your Own BookTube Channel” and “How to Create Content” library of BookTube that I haven’t watched yet. Although… maybe we will someday.

Well, that’s it. A short post this week, but that’s the life.

Perhaps next week we’ll dive a bit more into how BookTube influenced our writing (whatever is left) and close this segment out. But what lurks in the heart of these writers… only Graham knows!

Be Kind.

-Clevenger