Hello everyone! I have made the decision to rebrand the blog from “Westveil Publishing” to “Westveil Books & Other Hobbies” (westveilbooks.com, @westveilbooks on social media) and I’d like to walk you through my reasons and welcome you to the new/continuing adventure.
You may notice if you got here from the old URL that all posts and pages will now update to use the new domain name. I will keep both URLs live, and all posts published under the old URL will stay accessible unless I have a very specific reason to delete them on a case-by-case basis. I am officially dropping use of my old social media handles associated with the “Publishing” name and/or my old YouTube endeavors as of June 23, 2025.
Reason 1: Name Confusion & Consolidation
I was blogging as “Westveil Publishing,” putting art content on YouTube under another name, briefly tried to put out video book content on two YouTube channels, and had a hodgepodge of social media handles that reflected either or both platforms. I needed to consolidate this. Plus, someone cloned my Twitter profile and Twitter/X was serving the clone first when others were trying to tag my @, how rude!
Then there’s just the fact that when you call yourself “Publishing,” people think you’re a publisher and reach out about getting book deals. I definitely should have seen that coming! I am not and never have been a publisher. I will use that name if I ever self-publish, but I wasn’t planning on representing other authors.
Reason 2: Reignition & Consolidation of Interests
What started as a pre-pandemic times art channel and a 2020-started book review blog became a dead art channel and a blog full of media kit promotions. I went back to school in 2022 and no longer had a lot of time for my interests, so I let the art channel go dormant and stopped reading as many books as I wanted, which left me with a mix of voluntary and auto-added participation in media kit sharing for a handful of blog tour companies. I’m working full time again, and I long to share the hobbies I love again, but the media kits for books I’m not reading wasn’t sparking joy anymore.
Westveil Books & Other Hobbies is a place for me to share about the books I’m actually reading, or want to read, and the authors I want to feature, but also a place to share my art and my other interests. This may sometimes include non-review posts associated with blog tour companies as I see things that interest me, I am still an influencer with HarperCollins Canada, and I still welcome contact from authors and publicists who think I might be interested in their books. Updated “About” and “Contact” pages are coming. If they still mention the Publishing site name or emails, they aren’t updated yet.
So what will I be posting about?
- SciFi, Fantasy, Gothic Horror, LGBTQIA+, assorted YA fiction, Historical Non-Fiction, and Canadian-author books I’m reading, want to read, or want to promote.
- I am no longer interested in reading children’s fiction or middle grade as a general interest but may feature some titles or authors in these categories.
- I continue to be uninterested in romance titles, self-help, other non-fiction, and religious titles
- (You may sometimes see review round-ups for titles that don’t seem to fit the above as I clean up my reviews owing on NetGalley.)
- Artsy things I’m doing, interested in, or just excited about!
- LGBTQIA+ topics as inspired
- Neurodivergence topics as inspired
- My other hobbies, current events I want to talk about, and any other things I just have to share
Reason 3: Added Privacy
Some of my older platforms and handles were a little too transparent about who I am, mostly because there was a time when I was hoping to generate a livable amount of passive and sponsored income from my content, and take-on editing client & art commission customers. I’m not trying to do that anymore, so in addition to expanding the topics I can discuss and consolidating everything to the same handle everywhere, I’m adding a layer of privacy.
My name is Jenna, I am Canadian, and you’re allowed to know that. If you recall/find my surname or town of residence from older material, please kindly keep that to yourself and do not affiliate that information with the @westveilbooks presence.
Thank you!
A Note on Old Content
Unless I need to delete any old posts on a case-by-case basis, all old book features will remain live and accessible through their original URLs. No live backlinks to unproblematic sites will be removed. An archived posts category will be curated with everything that remains live as I review and update the old posts.
Working backwards, older posts about books that align with my continuing interests will be added to appropriate new categories.
A new “featured posts” category has been created and will eventually replace the old one if I choose to stick with a layout that includes a featured items scroll. If you’re here in the early days of the changeover, you may eventually notice this switch. You can be sure you’re seeing the updated scroll when everything in it has working feature images again! (I’ve been dragging my feet on updating broken image links since migrating web hosts in 2024.)
Good luck to you Jenna (from Canada) lol. I’ve considered rebranding to better suit my current interests but am simply overwhelmed by the thought of it. I can’t wait to see the new posts.
Thanks! I’m excited. Best of luck to you if you decide to go ahead with a rebrand as well!