Upskilling Tips for BookTube
By Misha Manani and Tanvi Jaiswal
In the past twenty years, YouTube has become a household name for people around the world. However, BookTube saw its growth through the 2010s. Initially, with a handful of channels, the community was close-knit and kept its content to book reviews and recommendations. But in recent years, BookTube has surpassed nominal topics and now includes everything from book hauls to reading vlogs, bookshop tours to discussion videos. It is an exciting and informative platform for every bookworm out there. As a result, we have curated another article with the top BookTube accounts alongside our advice for maximising your time on YouTube and courses to have a look at!
Publishing-related YouTubers
Jack Edwards: An avid BookTuber with a celebrity book club playlist and another general playlist for videos, to name a few. These videos are highly engaging, so there is a danger that they will keep you up until the early hours of the morning! Our favourites are Judging Books by their Covers then Reading them and Reading Wattpad Fanfiction. Subscribe to Jack’s second channel Jack in the Books as well!
Eleanor Marie Rose: This is a brilliant channel for publishing hopefuls and professionals. Eleanor shares her career advice, monthly round-ups and interviews with those working in publishing. She is extremely inspiring, honest and an absolute joy to watch. Make sure you watch Dealing with Rejection and Eleanor’s Best Publishing Resources video.
Claire Fenby: Claire is a Marketing Manager at Boldwood Books, who creates content about all things book-related. Claire’s authenticity shines in all her videos and she is always smiling. Her videos cover her favourite bookshops, top book recommendations and reading habits. Check out Spilling the Tea on the Publishing Industry and Come Book Shopping with me in London.
Ain Chiara: Ain’s videos are always insightful and she is constantly coming up with videos we didn’t know we needed! She shares her career journey in publishing and has recently started creating vlogs. Take the time to watch her Top Interview Tips and Negotiating Salary video. It is never too early to start learning!
A Clockwork Reader: Hannah’s passion and enthusiasm for books are clear across her YouTube channel. Our top videos are her Bookshelf Tour, Do I Have That Other Book? Challenge and Netflix and Books. Watching one of her videos sets off a chain reaction and before you know it, you’ve been watching for hours!
Advice from the Upskilling Team
Subscribe: Follow YouTubers who create bookish and publishing-related content, and don’t forget to click the notification bell so you don’t miss a single video! Videos are filled with books to read, publishing careers advice, skills development and vlogs with bookish tours.
Leave a Question in the Comments: YouTubers love it when you engage with their content. If you have a question, feel free to leave one in the comments section and hopefully you’ll get a response.
Utilise the Playlists: Most channels will have a series of videos with similar content under a playlist on their homepage. This will make it easier for you to find a group of videos that aligns with your interests.
Go Through the Community Tab: This is where YouTubers may post announcements for upcoming videos, general news and links to other resources. Make sure to read through this on their homepage.
Follow Their Other Social Media Accounts: They may post different types of content across different platforms, such as Instagram reels, tweets and TikToks. You can usually find their other accounts in the ‘About’ section under ‘Links’ or at the bottom right-hand corner of their YouTube banner.
Useful Online Courses
Here is a list of courses to get you started on creating your BookTube and publishing-related YouTube channel. Or, if you want to pursue a career in the marketing department, you never know when you may want to make a YouTube channel for your company!
YouTube Creator Academy: YouTube has created a channel for every beginner who wants to learn how to expand their presence on the platform. The Academy is filled with videos about everything you need to learn in order to grow your channel. From content creation to working the algorithm, they’ve got it all!
How to Grow Your Youtube Channel: This free course teaches you everything from building your audience to optimising your videos through keywords, titles and descriptions. Taught by Crystal King, it is for every aspiring BookTuber and takes you through the basics of marketing.
Amy Landino: An author herself, Amy has over 401k subscribers on YouTube. Her videos guide you through every step of setting up your first channel and how to navigate it. Subscribe to her email newsletter and get all the tips to have a professional channel today!
Thanks for reading Issue 44, the fifth article in our social media series! Join us again for Issue 45, where we will be covering Upskilling Tips for LinkedIn.