BookTube Newbie Tag

Last week when I launched my AuthorTube & BookTube channel on YouTube, The Westveil Archives, I did the AuthorTube Newbie tag. Today I’m doing the BookTube Newbie tag! If you’d rather read my answers, continue reading. If you’d rather watch and listen:

1. Why did you start this channel?

Well, when I started my art channel I found that I was finally making sitting down and creating art at least twice a week for the videos. Even if I didn’t do any other art, I had to create art for the videos. I’m at a point in my life with a toddler, being a stay at home Mom, trying to make money online, and I’m not writing as much as I should. I’m not reading as much as I should. I’ve got books I want to publish! I’ve got books I want to finish. I’ve got books I want to start! So I’m hoping that by starting this second channel in the AuthorTube and BookTube communities that I can experience that same benefit. It’ll give me the incentive I need to get working on this stuff. And I hope that I can share my joy, my passion, the things I enjoy, the things I learn and discover with you along the way.

2. What are some fun and unique things you can bring to BookTube?

I think most people in the AuthorTube community are also in the BookTube community, and of course there’s a lot of cross-over the other way, so that’s probably not too unique but there’s that. I am doing both, and I will be doing some fandom-y topics as well. My first fandom-y topic will probably be some Harry Potter quizzes. (Hello, Super Carlin Brothers!) But more unique than that, illustration. I am an artist, I do describe myself as an author-illustrator, and although I’m mainly hoping to publish adult novels in Science Fiction and Fantasy, I do have children’s literature planned, and I will be illustrating those stories. So yeah, illustration. That’s something I can bring to this community that’s maybe a little more unique.

3. What are you most excited for about this new channel?

The new community, honestly! I have enjoyed so much being a part of the art community on YouTube, even though I’m not yet big enough over there to really be noticed by the BIG big channels. I’ve built an amazing community of smaller art YouTubers, so I’d like to do it again. I’d like to do the same thing here with fellow authors and book enthusiasts here in the AuthorTube / BookTube community. I’m hoping to find more authors and bookworms that I can collaborate with, talk with, bounce ideas off of, put new things on my radar with. The community! That’s what I’m most excited about.

4. Why do you love reading?

Reading’s always been a passion of mine. I think mostly it’s because I get to escape into somebody else’s world, and live all of these experiences with a character. Visit all of these places. Some places, most places that I read don’t even exist. And it’s way more engaging for me and fulfilling than watching a movie or a TV show, because it requires more brain power, and you get to see it, just, your brain figuring out what the author is describing. I love it so much more. Sometimes I know I interpret things wrong. For example, in Harry Potter, I know how Draco is described. I know Tom was made to look the way JK described Draco. But I have always pictured Draco with dark hair. But yeah, that’s what I love about reading. Getting to have that complete immersion in the story.

5. What book or series got you into reading?

Well, my Mom started reading to me when I was a baby, so I don’t remember what the first books were. When I was really little, like storybooks, my favourites were Little Critter, Franklin, and anything by Robert Munsch. As I got older into chapter books but not yet full length novels, I loved The Pony Pals, the Bailey School Kids, The Boxcar Children, and the Jedi Apprentice series. When I was finally ready to break into full length adult novels, I started with Star Trek novels, Star Trek and Star Wars novels actually. And then I started to discover full length adult Science Fiction, particularly Robert J Sawyer. It was a little later, a little closer to adulthood that I really started reading Fantasy as well. Science Fiction is definitely where I started to read full length novels.

6. What questions would you ask your favourite BookTubers?

Where do you get your audience? (laughs) Something I have yet to figure out, even though I’ve been in the YouTube game for two years, is where do you get the huge influx of audience. ‘Cause seriously, two years and my other channel, my art channel is not quite at 1k yet at the time that I’m answering these questions. Do for BookTubers who blow up in the first year, how’d you do it? I’d like to know your secret. Besides that, BookTubers and AuthorTubers, but BookTubers with small children, where do you find the time to read? How do you read so fast? How do you always have wrap ups and reviews and new TBRs monthly, if not more often? How?

7. What challenges about starting a new BookTube channel do you think will be hardest to overcome?

Definitely just getting into the habit of reading enough with reviews and commentary in mind, and writing enough with lessons and progress reports in mind for the AuthorTube part, so that I can fit this into am upload schedule. Definitely getting started with that schedule. Once I get started with that schedule I know it’ll become second nature like my ArtTube schedule has, but yeah. The start of the schedule.

8. When did you start reading?

Again, pretty early on. Mom would read me bedtime stories, and as soon as I was starting to learn my letters, starting to sound things out, she’d read a page, and then I’d read a page, and then she’d read a page, and I’d read a page, and we shared it like that.

When did I start just taking the novel or the book or whatever off by myself to read? Grade 3. See, grade 2 was kind of a setback in reading for me. We had these awful big, thick reading textbooks that were filled with tiny tiny text, and we had silent reading every day, and we had to read from the reading textbook that was our level. You were assigned one of these ancient tomes, and they were so freakin’ boring! And you couldn’t get to the actual fun 10-page full of pictures storybooks until you advanced through like four or five levels of these awful reading textbooks. And I’ll tell you, I had the same reading textbook for most of the school year.

So then in grade 3, I ended up on the older side of a grade split. Usually when you’re on the older side of a grade split that means you struggled somewhere and they’re hoping that by putting you in that split you’ll catch up. And I did! We had to buddy read with the younger students, and that gave me a lot of confidence. I started reading more. I started memorizing the books that I was reading to my reading buddy. Her name was Annie. I memorized KatKong and DogZilla. Those were a lot of fun.

I went into grade 3 hardly reading at all. I had regressed in reading skills. I left grade 3 reading The Bailey School Kids by myself.

9. Where do you read?

Anywhere! On the couch, in the car, at the cabin, outside, inside, wherever I am, as long as things aren’t moving around too much. I like to read in a comfortable spot. On the couch would be good, if there’s not too much noise going on. Of course I can put music on to drown out other noise, but then I’ll get distracted by lyrics I really like.

10. What kind of books do you like to read?

Well it shouldn’t be a surprise that I love Science Fiction and Fantasy, ’cause those are the genres I’m writing, and those are the genres I read most as a kid. Besides that, I really do like mystery as well, and sometimes general fiction’s good too. Particularly if there’s an element of fantasy or whimsy. Romance is okay. I don’t like pure Romance novels. I’d rather the romance be a subplot. I don’t like things to get too sexy, especially if there’s rape. Not something I like to read. I don’t mind a little bit of sexy in a book. I don’t mind violence in a book. I really love science fiction. I’ve grown to like fantasy more and more as an adult. High fantasy, dark fantasy, urban fantasy, doesn’t really matter, fantasy. Love it! And mystery as well.