Hi! I’m Lucy and I’m both a blogger and a booktuber. I’ve wanted to write this post for a while now and, okay, there will be people who disagree but please hear me out!
There have been tensions between the blogging and booktube community for a while now. I’ve noticed the strain between the two, and I know I’m not the only one.
Booktubing is a relatively new phenomenon, only cropping up in the last few years, whereas blogs have been going for a lot longer. Both attract different audiences, booktubers usually with the larger audience, with some booktubers having over 50,000 + subscribers. That doesn’t mean, though, that one is superior.
WE ARE BOTH TRYING TO DO THE SAME THING. We both love books, we both talk about books, and, other than the medium, we really do do it in the same way.
When bloggers and booktubers fall out, the faithful readers and watchers are the ones that suffer. Nobody wants drama, y’all. Unity in the community! WE ARE EQUALS, NOT ENEMIES.
The bridge needs to be gapped between the two, and I have an idea!
What I’m proposing is a regular chat – on both YouTube, Twitter and blogs so that everyone can join in – readathons that include both booktubers and bloggers, and projects that mean both groups work together to spread the word about awesome books. Projects will be announced soon, but here is the first announcement for now:
I’ll be putting together a panel of people to do a book lover liveshow in June, and if you’re a blogger or booktuber, I’d love to welcome you to the panel! There will be an equal amount of bloggers and booktubers on the panel and the conversation will also be happening on Twitter and will be transcribed to a blog for bloggers to join in with. There will be something for everyone – we’ll be discussing things both mediums have in common so nobody will be left out, and it will be an awful lot of fun. We’ll be playing games about BOOKS, discussing organisation and tips for new bloggers and booktubers.
Nurture the newbies who will one day have to welcome new people to the community. Set a good example rather than just falling out and being all drama-ish.
With bloggers and booktubers joined together, we’ll be able to reach so many more people than if we work separately. More book lovers = more people to be friends with!
UNITY IN THE COMMUNITY, YO.
More details to be revealed soon!
(If you’d like to be a part of the liveshow panel (bloggers and booktubers, no matter who you are!), you can email me at contemporaryqueen@outlook.com with your details and why you’d like to be on the panel.)
And now, on a lighter note, you can see me make a fool of myself right here:
The other day I uploaded a bookshelf tour on my YouTube channel and really wanted to share it here. I was so lucky to get this gorgeous new bookcase for Christmas and I’ve really enjoyed filling it up. Luckily I still have quite a bit of room left! Enjoy!
A quick update: I will be back and posting, starting this week. I know I’ve abandoned you in the past few weeks, but hopefully I can get a blogging streak going.
Last week it was Bath Children’s Literature Festival, or Bath Kids Lit Fest, and, being lucky enough to live very close to it, I spent most of the week there.
The first day that I attended was Sunday and, before any of my events, I met up with Georgia from Books and Writers JNR and we spent nearly 45 minutes in Waterstones Bath (I love their YA section!). I bought The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater whilst Georgia bought Shipwrecked by Siobhan Curham. It was so nice to meet her, as we’ve spoken for quite a while now on Twitter and she’s always come across as really lovely – and she was!
The first event I went to was one with Karen Saunders and Mark Lowery. I briefly met Karen back in June so it was really nice to speak to her again, and I loved hearing about Mark’s book as it sounded so funny. I’m really
hoping I’ll be able to read it soon because I loved the parts he read out to us.
The other event in the evening was with David Levithan and I was really looking forward to it. I’d read Every Day a few weeks earlier in preparation and loved it. I met the lovely Charlie at the event who I’ve recently started talking to on Twitter after we both won copies of Every Day. Serendipity! It was really nice to hear David speak and read from Every Day. Afterwards, I got my books signed but accidently left Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares at home, which I was kicking myself for afterwards.
Monday night meant getting the chance to interview Holly Smale and Andy Robb before their event. Their event was the one I was looking forward to the most and I wasn’t disappointed at all. At the event, I also got to meet Jesse from Books 4 Teens and Katie who vlogs at kitkatscanread. I also got to hang out with Anya from An Awful Lot of Reading who is such a great person and we live very, very close to each other so the blogging vibes are obviously travelling our estate.
After a much needed rest on Tuesday and Wednesday, I got to interview Tanya Byrne on Thursday. I loved Heart-Shaped Bruise and she was such a lovely person too. I also got to meet Blondie at this event, who I’ve met again at another event too. She’s such an awesome person (you can see her talking at the end of the Tanya Byrne interview, with her brilliant hat)!
Friday meant an event with Malorie Blackman, which I went to with Becky. It was interesting to hear Malorie talk, especially as her plans for the UKYA conference had just been announced. The signing afterwards was so long and we were right at the back too. 🙁
Saturday was another crazy day. In the morning I went to a writing workshop with Siobhan Curham who was so lovely. I got to meet Sophie from A DayDreamer’s World which was nice. The workshop had a lot of stuff about blogging in it and I loved hearing about other peoples ideas for their own blogs. I really wish I had been to something like the workshop when I had just started blogging. After the workshop I stopped for lunch at Patisserie Valerie, which is heaven in a cake shop. I never thought I’d say it, but I couldn’t finish my cake. The next event was one with Alexia Casale and Janne Teller which I was very excited for. I got to meet Katerina briefly before the event when I was hanging around the production room upstairs. I really hope we’ll be able to meet again in the future now that she lives near, because she was so lovely, and I love talking to her on Twitter. I also met Marieke who is such an awesome person and it was so nice to meet her in person. I got to interview Alexia and, let me tell you, she is one of the loveliest people I have ever met and am ever likely to meet. I was blown away
by her kindness, and she was just amazing to meet. You all need to meet her!
Sunday was such a hectic day, but it was definitely the best out of the whole festival. After getting off to a rough start when one of the attendants made me sit right at the back, even though I had a ticket and was at the venue first, and after nearly falling down a massive drop, things turned awesome. I got to meet Debbie, Faye and Daphne, and see Katie again for the event with Sarah J. Maas. I’m a massive fan of the Throne of Glass books so it was great to hear Sarah talk. The signing queue was massive and we were sadly right at the end, which meant a mad rush to the Patrick Ness event right after. Daphne, having already met Sarah previously, saved us seats at the venue of the Patrick Ness event, but the rest of us still had to manically run across lots of streets, which caused lots of squeals and mad dashing. It’s something that I will always remember, and I really hope I get to meet these girls in the future because they’re just the best. Despite turning up late, we finally made it to the Patrick Ness event which was awesome and quite funny/weird at times. It’s one of those events that’s memorable because it had some very odd moments. Daphne sprinted to the signing queue so we were right up the front and I even have a special signed copy of More Than This, because Patrick signed it in the wrong place. That’s my claim to fame!
Bath Kids Lit Fest was so much fun and, writing this post, I realise how much I miss it. I met some incredible people and experienced so many amazing things. I need to send a million thank yous to Sarah, who made things extra special. She’s one of the awesomest people I know, so go follow her on Twitter if you don’t already! You’re really missing out! I also need to thank my parents for lugging me around everywhere. Also, thanks to my mum who finally worked out how to use the camera. No, Mum, you’re pressing the off button, not the button to take a picture….
Thank you to EVERYONE who was involved in the festival! I’m really hoping to see more of you at the festival next year! 😀
Letterbox Love is a UK based feature where book bloggers showcase the books that they received that week, be they e-books, paperbacks, hardbacks or any other format. It is hosted by Lynsey from Narratively Speaking.
I’ve got such a big haul to share with you this week! I bought an awful lot, but I’m really pleased with everything I got.
BOOKS MENTIONED:
Freaks by Lisa M. Forester Storm and Stone by Joss Stirling Wither by Lauren DeStefano Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle Allegiant by Veronica Roth Shattered Dreams by Ellie James Hidden Among Us by Katy Moran The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell Legend by Marie Lu Jude the Obscure & Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
What did you get this week? Leave a link to your own book hauls!
Letterbox Love is a UK based feature where book bloggers showcase the books that they received that week, be they e-books, paperbacks, hardbacks or any other format. It is hosted by Lynsey from Narratively Speaking.
I have another book haul for you all this week! I decided that I was going to film a vlog, and I also have a new YouTube channel due to problems with the other one, so I’d really appreciate it if you could subscribe!
BOOKS MENTIONED:
A Guinea Pig Nativity
Della Says: OMG! by Keris Stainton
Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone
Night School: Fracture by C.J. Daugherty
The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
The Iron Knight + The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa
Frost Hollow Hall by Emma Carroll
Slated by Terri Terry
Night School: Legacy by C.J. Daugherty
So hey, everyone. I’m just writing a quick post today to let you all know that I have a brand spanking new YouTube channel, and I would LOVE it if you could check it out and subscribe. I’ve lost over 200 subscribers doing this and also over 2,000 pageviews so I am gutted. I really hope that you’ll follow me over, though, and help me to settle into my new channel. It’s called thebumblingbibliophile, which I will explain in a future video. If you’d like to see me talk about anything in particular, then please let me know! I’m always looking for new ideas.
