I’ve been on the bookish web for greater than 15 years, and in that point, I’ve watched platforms rise and fall. I keep in mind speaking about books on Livejournal, for Sappho’s sake. I began a e-book weblog referred to as the Lesbrary in 2011, as a result of I couldn’t discover an LGBTQ e-book weblog that wasn’t 90% M/M books. Of course, I began an accompanying Tumblr for it at about the identical time, as a result of I spent most of my time there. Years later, I’d be a part of BookTube, and years after that, I even gave BookTookay a strive for a bit earlier than slowly backing away.
Over that point, I noticed the bookish web develop and evolve, permitting for extra area of interest areas (like a sapphic e-book weblog, for example), for various codecs, for brand new personalities. I cherished the passionate debates occurring on Tumblr round illustration, separating the artwork from the artist, and extra prickly fandom disagreements…after which I cherished these conversations considerably much less after they popped up many times, on Twitter and Tumblr and YouTube and TikTookay, with completely no progress revamped time.
All via these moments of dipping out and in of totally different bookish areas on-line, although, I saved the Lesbrary. It started to look increasingly more outdated. Who follows e-book blogs anymore? Who reads their on-line content material anymore, as a substitute of watching movies? (Hello, reader!) More considerably, I started to doubt whether or not there was a necessity for a sapphic e-book weblog like mine anymore. More sapphic books are being printed now than ever earlier than, and extra persons are studying and selling them. BookTookay has a full of life sapphic books part. I really feel like I, in some small half, contributed to this atmosphere, which I take pleasure in: if I could make the Lesbrary utterly out of date, I’ll be completely satisfied.
I haven’t packed up my weblog and shuttered the home windows, although. Because as I watched the identical conversations play out over and over on totally different platforms, I actually began to grasp how ephemeral most of them are. BookTube and BookTookay are nice for looking and following, however they’re not simple to go looking. You may be capable to discover normal subjects (like queer books), however searching for one thing particular is trickier. The platforms simply aren’t designed for that. TikTookay particularly just isn’t meant to be a repository of data, an archive of opinion. It’s a firehouse of content material, and also you’re meant to be maintaining with what’s new, not exploring what got here earlier than.
The latest platform can also be normally populated with younger voices, particularly youngsters and other people of their early 20s. Most of them haven’t lived via the Livejournal days, and so they’re not digging into the WayBackMachine to see what was occurring of their nook of the web earlier than they bought there — I actually by no means did. There’s nothing unsuitable with that, nevertheless it does have some pitfalls, like repeating the very same errors because the platform that got here earlier than, with the identical arguments and schisms rising.
It additionally means, within the bookish aspect of issues, that the majority of the folks making content material on BookTookay aren’t conscious of books printed 5 or extra years in the past except it’s Catcher within the Rye. There are some unbelievable books popping out now, of course, however the suggestions you get there may go away off some of the very best books ever written in that sub-genre/trope/class/and many others as a result of they have been printed earlier than that individual bought on-line.
While of course I’m nostalgic for the times when e-book blogs have been the most important nook of the bookish web — not least as a result of they weren’t depending on a singular big company — I feel their worth is extra than simply nostalgic. Text-based content material is less complicated to go looking, to drag up on the library or bookstore. There are additionally lots of contexts the place you may wish to learn a weblog submit than watch a video. Blogs could be longer lasting, too: the Lesbrary has seen the rise and fall of a number of platforms, like Tumblr. They can also act as a sort of archive — to not brag, however the Lesbrary is definitely included within the Library of Congress digital collections. Even with out that, although, blogs are much less more likely to disappear with out a hint than video content material is — even after they’re taken down, they might nonetheless go away a ghostly impression on an archive someplace.
There’s additionally so much of positives for creators. I discover a e-book weblog a lot, a lot simpler to keep up than a BookTube or BookTookay account. Being in entrance of the digital camera is exhausting, and it may be costly, relying on how a lot you wish to spend money on good video high quality and modifying. Book blogs are cheaper, and so they don’t require almost as a lot power to make content material.
For folks making bookish content material on-line, may I like to recommend a tie-in weblog? It is usually a good spot to arrange your content material: for example, should you suggest your favourite queer mermaid books in a TikTookay, you may embed the video in your weblog and observe down the titles and authors, making it simple to reference later. You may even add some affiliate hyperlinks for the possibility of getting just a little bit of cash out of that work, relying on the scale of your viewers.
As we see this long-anticipated on-line pivot to video, I’m not able to say goodbye to e-book blogs. And should you’re studying this, it seems such as you most likely aren’t both.
If you need recommendations on tips on how to begin a e-book weblog and generate income off of it, try What I’ve Learned From a Decade of Book Blogging and How To Make Money Blogging About Books.
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