What a great and nuanced video (loved the inclusion of academic theories). I am very impressed by how you how approached booktube and it definitely has paid off - you are already at nearly 10k and think you will continue to grow! Regarding the grindtuber vs funtuber discussion I definitely should have mentioned it is a spectrum and there is nothing wrong with either approach. I think negative comments are definitely one of the hardest things to deal with. I also think that female content creators seem to face way more mean comments then males do. I do receive mean comments but I know from fellow female booktuber that they receive WAY more which is really really disheartening. I hope you won't let the negative comments impact you too much. Your content is great and a fantastic addition to this community. I look forward to the next video 😊
@@valliyarnl I love the booktube meta-commentary going on with response videos and shoutouts to other channels. "Johan, I really like your grindtuber vs funtuber paradigm, however have you considered existentialism and locus of control as additional motivating factors?"
I don't know if that's backed up by evidence. If anything, the evidence I've seen suggests that men are more likely to receive harassment online. Though humans, in general, seem to be more sensitive to attacks on women. So maybe it does feel like that. But I think part of the process is being honest about the evidence and not infalizing women.
As a long-time book reader and now booktuber...I'd be buying the books anyway. So not a problem. And if you've seen my channel you know I've spent ZERO $$$ on equipment or editing.
Wow Brian thank you for watching and commenting! Love your channel (your THE Eyes of the Dragon review was so funny I loved it). Very glad to see you’re doing better as well. For me, if I could afford it, I’d be wayyy less reliant on my library but as it stands I just can’t afford to :/
I love the density here. You don't waste a breath. This is a refreshing style of BookTube-you yourself seem especially thoughtful-and so much of what you say I find agreeable or at least worth considering. Great job with this one!
Insightful, well articulated thoughts as always! I agree that there is a motivation/philsophy spectrum on BookTube. I can’t wait to talk with you about this topic (and other topics) tomorrow! 🤍
Man, I've been standing with one foot in the door, ready to start a booktube channel for a couple years now... recorded a few videos, but have them set to private because I doubt myself... probably gonna finally launch for real... at some point... maybe... okay, not tomorrow, but the next day for sure! Anyway, this was awesome insight. Interesting idea for a video comparing the various perspectives and weighing in with your own. I feel I've been educated!
I know that there is a large discussion about parasocial relations from the perspective of viewers, but I wonder if there really is much said about them from the perspectives of creators. How creators can fool themselves into seeing their audience as personal friends, and then say/post something that gets totally misunderstood and creates anger. As an author myself I am a bit scared about creating some controversy that impacts me financally or make me lose my will to continue writing. What you say about mean comments was good for me and I loved the video overall!
Excellent video. Did not expect existentialism and locus of control in a response about the "dark side" of TH-cam but I'm completely here for it 😂 I agree the notion of "funtuber" and "grindtuber" haa to be a spectrum. One thing I haven't seen mentioned by any of these videos but is obviously a factor is that people get fulfillment differently. "Grinding" to get a lot of videos out or look professional or have great lighting/editing can be done not to collect subs and grow but because those specific aspects of the process bring fulfillment to that person - for example Theo loves editing. So I think the conversation stifles itself with these concepts because it suggests that the only reason you would put a ton of effort in is to grow your audience. Similarly, people are too quick to dismiss the youtubers who are for the grind as people who are just trying to use youtube for a means to an end - you can have goals and aspirations while still having fun and wanting to chat about your passion. But you know, nuance goes to die on the internet 😂
Loved hearing your thoughts on this topic! Biiiiiig agree that editing takes so long because I repeat myself so many times to get the annunciation right 😵💫
I’m subscribed to all the book tubers you mentioned here. Now I’m subscribed to you too. My takeaway (not advice cos you’re doing fine) is that as long as your passion and enjoyment or disappointment in a book comes through, the viewers will be there. That’s what attracts my eyes and ears to book reviewers. A good mic and decent lighting help, but they should only enhance the joy and energy you naturally convey. I’m looking forward to watching more of your content.
As someone who is coming back to Booktubing after really struggling with my channel and with life obstacles, watching all the videos on this topic has both been encouraging and disheartening. But yours is the first video I've watched to really balance this conversation. My philosophy coming back will be first and foremost, fun. I already have good equipment and I won't spend anywhere near the time that Library of a Viking does - his videos are way beyond my skill. Im closer to Matt in my video form, but my editing takes much longer than he proposed, because like you, I'm not great at public speaking and have a slight stammer, so I edit myself alot. Thank you for this video and I'm looking forward to relaunching my channel.
I think it's very funny that this is my first time seeing your channel, as a male viewer. The algorithm worked! Anyway, credit to your edits, the sound is blended good enough for my unprofessional ears. I'll be checking out the dune video next!
thank the algorithm! great video! funtuber or grindtuber, i honestly applaud their work and effort because being a booktuber is hard. i haven't uploaded in months because i'm in a BIG reading slump and nothing i read just appeals to me, at least from what i have in my shelf. there may be books i'm interested in reading, but i don't have an available book budget at the moment. so that's another struggle. also the effort i put into my most recent videos were def bigger than when i first started uploading because i am not the best speaker. i have to write my thoughts down and arrange it into a script because i'll just be rambling and going on tangents if i don't. so reading, scripting, recording, and editing for one video eats up a lot of time. i also had that issue of being under the mercy of daylight when recording. also my being a filipino booktuber that talks about filipino books/literature can be an island at times. nevertheless, i'll be sticking to my niche because i hope that one day the community grows on our side of the world.
I know it’s hard sometimes. I really hope find the joy in it tho again. Don’t feel pressured. Also, we aren’t English or Americans. Let’s use that to our advantage. I got out my polish trad outfit and pushed that out to differentiate myself a bit from the crowd. Even if the niche may be small now for Indonesian people reading Indonesian literature as you say but that’s your strength too!!! Bc it makes you unique and memorable in the crowd. I look forward to your next upload whenever it will come :)
I found this video very insightful! I agree with a lot of the points here, particularly about setups. What I’ve found true of myself and others is that people watch TH-camrs for the information and/or for the personality, not for the looks. The way you think through topics and what you have to say is more important than your backdrop. And I think as long as it is clean and tidy, a bedroom with natural light is perfect and welcoming for casual and upbeat videos (meaning, not ones trying to conjure up e.g., dark, dramatic feelings. It’s all about what you’re aiming to create). The negative comments which you’ve received and shared here are wiiild. But I like what you said about if a comment is bothering you, it’s OK to take a step back and realize it probably struck a nerve for a reason. We all have specific insecurities and being resilient does not mean you are emotionless, and it’s normal if a comment gets to you. On this topic of how to deal with negative comments, during my research for my last video I actually found a really good piece of advice shared by the late Maciej Parowski, which he received as editor in chief of Fantastyka. It’s from a Polityka article. “… bronili mnie czytelnicy. Gdy pojawiał się jakiś zgrzyt i nieprzyjemny list, chciałem od razu siadać i odpisywać, ale moi koledzy mówili, „Maciek, poczekaj, niech się odezwą inni czytelnicy”. I rzeczywiście tak się działo. Redaktor pisma literackiego cały czas musi prowadzić wojnę, ale musi ją prowadzić elegancko.” So when I recieve a comment that isn’t strictly negative (i.e., that should be ignored) but I feel like misinterpreted me or the video, I remember, “wait, let other commentors respond.” It can even get a good discussion going sometimes! Also, (because I always have to connect everything to Witcher somehow…) essentialism vs. existentialism reminds me of the discussions in Lady of the Lake, between Fringilla and Regis, Ch. 4 and Auberon and Ciri, Ch. 5, about the nature of destiny… possibly a connection!
oooo i love this perspective about waiting for the discussion before replying. I am sloooowly rereading the Witcher now because I want to do a summary video for each book (with pointing out cultural references or things I think could've been translated a bit better) so I'll come back to this comment when i get to Lady of the Lake. Thank you for commenting! Love your videos so much
As a VERY new booktuber, I am grateful you shared your perspective. I've thought about creating a video about "the dark side of booktube" from a newbie's perspective, but it seems you hit a lot of what I would say. :) Mean comments can hurt, but I recall many famous TH-camrs giving this advice: even negative comments are engagement...so in a way they help the algorithm see your content. If anything, I plan on replying to the mean comments to see if they will engage even more! LOL Thanks again for your video, Wera. :)
This is the first time I have seen your video and I like your thinking. I will watch your videos soon out of pure curiosity. I have 17 subscribers, and I post unedited videos, but my English is broken. It amuses me and I am not burdened with algorithms. I'm glad if someone watches my videos. The only thing that matters is whether you enjoy what you do.👍
Great video! You did a great job sharing the thoughts of others and then talking through your own. Fantastic addition to this conversation and you rocked it!
Found this video from watching Johanna's Why Read Video! Will be checking out more of your content. Some great points here, and it just shows that there are many ways, motives, and philosophies when it comes to running a youtube channel. FYI, I first read Dune when I was 12, and have had many deep conversations about it since then....so you cannot be too young to understand great books....which is a big part of why books are so cool! Don't let the "Dark Side" get you down! I have found so many great conversations and book recommendations on booktube, and I would not have it any other way.
Thank you for sharing your perspective on this topic. Bringing up topics like Existentialism and your application of it on booktube was fascinating. I've been on booktube for quite a bit and its always been a hobby for me. When it comes to the production value of my videos its always been on the low side. I film and edit on my phone and just sit in front of my shelves. I just don't have the time or money to invest anymore than that. I also film whatever videos I want to make. Its often on books or series that may not be popular but I'm having fun and I've met some great people.
Really appreciate Matt’s points! Especially with the library card. Have to say though not all places or countries have access to good libraries hence why for those who prefer physical reading it could get expensive.
I loved this insightful video! I have terrible audio and a lot of people click out immediately from my videos and i kept thinking maybe my videos aren't interesting enough or maybe the video quality... 😅 now I know thanks to you
Great video!👍. This topics very interesting for someone like me whos quite new to reading novels. Only really having read manga Before. I'm loving learning about the booktok space😁
Man if I knew you’d watch the video I wouldn’t have cut the part where I talked abt your channel. Essentially for the interactions part I gave your channel as an example of someone who I basically watch ever video of but it’s bc i organically found ur channel and clicked w what you were doing so hard so even if I wasn’t doing booktube, I’d be watching your videos anyway. Probably commenting less? Bc I was a lurker for a loooong time. But nonetheless.
@@valliyarnl aw that's so nice. Thank you! I'm a constant watcher on your channel. You make some of my favourite stuff. I'm not big into The Witcher but other than that I love your takes.
I heard someone talk about mean comments one time and basically the real way to get past it is realizing that they are all kids. Mature adults don’t write mean comments for the most part. So anytime you feel like arguing or feeling bad about something someone said on the internet, just imagine that you’re being bullied by some 11-year-old punk, and it will usually make you feel a lot better. Anyway, I thought that was fun, and loved the video. Ive thought about starting my own book tube channel sometimes, because I love getting into discussions like this, but honestly, I just don’t have the discipline to sit down and record a video every time I finish a book. Respect to those of you who can!
It was fascinating to get a glimpse behind the curtain and see things from your POV. I watched the other 3 ‘dark side’ videos and it’s interesting to see the different motivations and outlook. I like your take on doing what interests you and not valuing things that don’t. I don’t watch much book accumulation content, but a small haul now again can be informative if the creator tells us about the book and why it caught their interest. I don’t notice lighting or video definition that much but, as you said, audio is really important. If somebody sounds like they’re speaking from the cockpit of a WWII bomber, it can be hard to listen to. I’m not sure about Johan’s fun-grind split, but I agree that it’s more of a continuum than a dichotomy. Maybe it’s more about the time a creator wishes to spend on it and whether they make content that stimulates themself or is made for popular appeal. I imagine motivation is also a big factor, and that no doubt changes over time. It’s probably a complex set of variables, but I get what he means. I think some people play to the algorithm in general - reading the latest books or popular books and saying the right things about them - which probably helps a channel grow but takes away a part of what made it distinctive to begin with. What you said about the algorithm is disheartening. It seems like it’s trying to box you in to create similar content instead of what interests you. The Emily Henry thing is weird. I imagine you have a big male viewership due to the Witcher and Abercrombie vids, so it’s unfair to judge the likelihood of a romance doing well against that. You’d have thought it would say ‘Here is somebody with 10k subs producing content about a popular author, let’s give it a push.’ The algorithm seems reactive rather than proactive. I suppose it’s even harder to reach other viewers with the algorithm when you have a channel, like yours, that covers a range of genres and content types. It would be really interesting to know what attracts people to a channel and why they watch particular videos.videos. What do they want from booktube and how well does the algorithm understand this and give it to them? The time to create a finished vid is pretty much what I imagined and it looks like a lot of work. I like how Matt demonstrated that it doesn’t have to take too long, but I agree with you that the whole process is very much subject to what works for you. I have no interest in creating content, but just the thinking time beforehand would take hours. I don’t understand why people leave nasty comments. There’s nothing to gain from it - everybody (creator and commenters) will think you’re a d?ck and you’re likely to get banned. Keep up the larping!
RD, I will definitely always keep up the banning and larping (my favorite things to do obviously lol) The comment about sounding like you're talking from a WII bomber cockpit made me chuckle. I think the mic was a great investment. For me the fun-grind split is an interesting framework. Like all frame-works/theories it is not all encompassing but I do think it works as a tool for observation and even self assessment for someone who is starting out (will i want to go this way or that way? how much time do i want to spend on this? etc) The Emily Henry video... yeah i haven't given up on it totally yet, I will probably try to push it to a girl Facebook group tomorrow (since they self promo Sundays), but it's fine. Once again, I'm gonna do things that I find interesting and I wanted to be a girlypop for a week and read my Emily Henry so I did :) About finding out what attracts people to a certain booktuber... I think it's easier to assess others than myself. Talking Story has the heartwarming dynamic with his son and his ability to pitch a book is unparalleled. 2toRamble have this great frenemy dynamic that works so well with their reviews and translates superbly to their discussion videos. Each video from Johan is like a story/journey in and of itself. Philip Chase is a literal English professor and has the appeal of bringing a more authoritative/analytical/professional perspective. For myself? Not too sure. What do you think?
Very interesting discussion! I know nothing about video creation so I definitely underestimate the time it takes to film one, I'm sure... Following you know so you're closer to getting that devils ARC 😂❤ good luck and happy reading.
Phenomenal video Wera! Really well thought out, I agree with all of this! Having a channel myself, I’ve met so many amazing people, and completely agree you can do well with very little recording equipment and physical books. I still use my phone for filming and editing 😂 Also love the McCarthy books there! I’m working my way through his discography. Keep killing it, you’re doing very well growing your channel and creating engaging content.
See I really like your background so I would’ve never guessed! It’s like what Matt said with angles and playing around with set up. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Jean-Paul Sartre (the one who wrote "La Nausée"!!!) - now that's a bold start for a channel like yours. I love his philosophy as much as I hate it. This author takes no prisoners. "Bringing philosophy to our puny lives doesn't really make a lot of sense. It's like using higher math to help plant carrots in your backyard garden." I'm sorry that you'll hear these things from me. They have to be said one way or another.
19:00 ngl I did click because I saw a pretty woman talking about books I like but then I watched 6 videos in a row because you have interesting things to say and the way you say them is so entertaining
Great video. Love the philosophical asides. If you don't think you're a good public speaker (and I imagine many would disagree) this is some of the best practice you can get
Thanks for this video, I want to make more videos about books on my channel and haven't known really how to start. I've also watched a lot of booktubers and this is helpful and interesting
Hi! I'm a random bucko from nowhere.. Good video! Very insightful, and I like that more people are talking about this and bringing their own take on the issue. Keep it up
This was a very interesting video.. I can imagine the work that goes into making these, I’ve always wondered what it takes and now I have a little more insight into it. Unfortunately there is a lot of negativity in the world and haters are gonna hate. You’re doing an excellent job out there! Keep up the good work Vera.. love your bookshelf! My two latest reads right there! Glad to be part of the cult! 😱
Well, I did take awhile to read it.. a little over a year. Only because of another reread on the Wheel of Time with my mother.. it was a slow read for me especially in the middle, but the ending really picked up and was EPIC!
This is a well rounded video covering all the perspectives-wow. Impressive. And it’s a great insight to let us see behind the curtain of your own videos. Posting in reddits is a great idea too! I didn’t even think of that 😂 When you all give these types of insights it really helps others grow and gain more perspective. I’m definitely on the fun, journaling side of posting. For me-it’s cool to upload and have conversations and discuss what I enjoy. The conversational topics (such as this one) are beneficial for me to watch, but my contribution would almost be moot since I take it so easy. But even adding a microphone and ring light have added a more “work” aspect to it for me, which sounds silly but I think they’re worthy small investments that make watching it more enjoyable, even if I’m going to be hanging my microphone off my darth revan lightsaber. Overall, I gotta say it’s impressive you and Nerd Level Rising navigate making such high quality videos while in the programs you’re in. I think it awesome you guys do because you add so much value to the “booktube” community
Never let the trolls get to you. The people who say you’re too young to talk about those books are ironically immature themselves. I don’t think a book should be locked to age groups to “understand it” . I find your opinions very insightful and well thought out. I genuinely look forward to your videos because of what you have to say and your unique opinion.
I like the philosophy references :) Although as someone who personally opposes existentialism (based on the definition you've given), I find it interesting that we both deeply agree with only aspiring to do things that we are passionate about, regardless of what others/society thinks. It makes me wonder why you find existentialism comforting and how you came to adopt it. Nice video :)
Well put together video, Wera. Really good balanced views, I think. At the end of the day, the sentiment of my video leaned more towards that it is a self-imposed problem. I tried to end every “argument” with, do what YOU feel like doing. Showing that a video can be made in an hour is great - but it depends how much effort YOU want to put into it. I like adding edits and making my videos a little more engaging, like you do (way better than me by the way lol). We all do this for different reasons and focus on different things. Just have fun - that’s the bottom line :)
The perspective of our generation really needs to be more out there, I feel like we aren't heard just because of age, yes young people have a lot to learn doesnt really mean they dont know anything. Anyhow great video, specially the philosophy side of things
You raise some great points! But I noticed you haven't talked about the consumer side of booktube. I love watching booktube but sometimes I feel there's a lack of variety because fiction that's more meta like The disposables by Katherine Vick, is not discussed as much. I would love to watch a part 2!
Good video. I think it was your 5 star books video that first introduced me to your channel while i was going through one of my yearly reading binges. As for your McCarthy reads I would recommend stella maris, it is purely dialogue and dialogue is probably my favorite thing about McCarthy's writing (I didn't know if that's a controversial opinion.) It has a brother book called the passenger but you don't absolutely have to read, i didn't enjoy it that much but it was kinda interesting because it almost gives you an insight into McCarthy's mind in his final years. And I can't join your cult because I'm already part of the cult that preaches for everyone to read the spear cuts through water by simon jimenez... But i have subscribed.
Oh wow! That was my 1k celebration video so you've been here a while! thank you 💞 So for the video I won't be doing Stella Maris (unfortunately), but tbh I'm loving McCarthy so much I already ordered The Passenger and I was told to read SM after that? So... perhaps... I will end up having 2 McCarthy videos 😂
@@valliyarnl yeah that's the order I read them too and I do think that's a good order to read them. While I liked Stella Maris more, both books endings really stuck with me.
The other way how not to overspend on books are audiobooks streaming services, for example in my country (Poland), there are at least 3. The one I have, works same as Netflix, pay monthly subscription (which is around the cost of one paper book) and listen as many you want.
@@valliyarnl Przyznaję, chodzi o Storytel :) Nie mógłbym przeczytać (przesłuchać) tylu książek gdybym nie korzystał z tej aplikacji. Biblioteka miejska w moim mieście ma jeszcze taką ciekawą usługę, że co miesiąc wykupują kody dostępu do innego serwisu audiobooków/ebooków, Legimi. Pobierając ten kod do Legimi i mając Storytel można powiedzieć, że mam dostęp do prawie wszystkich tytułów jakie mnie ineteresują, jak jeden serwis nie ma, to często drugi ma. Gdyby tylko jeszcze mieli Malazańską Księgę Poległych to już w ogóle byłbym przeszczęśliwy :)
@@czterystaczterdziesciczter1676 ojeju przeczytanie Malazan używając audiobooków to byłby niezły wyczyn. Ja bym się pogubiła 😅 chce zacząć tom 2 niedługo:)
@@valliyarnl Osobiście uważam 2 i 3 tom (szczególnie 3) za najlepsze, mam nadzieję, że się spodoba :) Seria na pewno jest wymagająca ze względu choćby na ilość wątków i postaci. Choć osobiście to nie czułem żeby była jakoś niesamowicie trudna w odbiorze, owszem zgubiłem się bardzo na początku "Ogrodów Księżyca", ale potem resztę książek czytało mi się bardzo płynnie, rzadko zdarzały się wątki w których bym się zgubił, ale już na pewno nie tak bardzo jak w pierwszym tomie. Czytałem po polsku, ale jestem pewien, że tłumacz wykonał dobrą robotę i akurat Erikson miał szczęście do polskiego tłumacza, bo w mojej opinii Michał Jakuszewski jest jednym z najlepszych polskich tłumaczy fantastyki.
I guess it all depends on the expectations you have from a booktube channel. Do you want it more as an hobby or take it more seriously and try to get a serious income from it? To me, I think the worst part must be the editing part. One time in college, we had a project where we had to record a debate (around one hour of discussion) and then edit it down to 5 minutes, with only the essential parts. Boy, that was a terrible experience. I'd use it as torture even. If this is something that bothers you, I'd say you can improve the efficiency of editing. Like, you can improve your public speaking so you don't need to so many cuts, and that comes with practice. It also helps getting familiar with the editing software and learning all the shortcuts and tricks you can. Maybe there is some AI tool that can help here too? As for riding the algorithm, I guess that something that comes with the job. You've admitted on a previous video that you tried to release videos about Dune when the movie was coming out. I guess it can also push you to talk about more popular books instead of more niche ones. I'd say it's a balance between doing what you like vs appeasing the algorithm. You can always do some videos like top 10s or just talking about your favorites. Those move engagement while still being personal. As for the mean comments, it's as you say, they don't know you so their opinion shouldn't matter much. And as for your looks, yeah, I'm sure they help, but what are you supposed to do about it? The way I see it, if you have that advantage you should make use of it. And it's not like you are just a pretty face. I think you talk with a lot of maturity. And you are like 20?? When I was that age I must have still been playing hide and seek with my friends with a pinwheel hat.
1. I agree. I already see an improvement with how I speak on camera so with time hopefully that will get better. Personally I wouldn’t feel right with an AI editing my video but again (existentialism): nothing has inherent value or meaning for me and AI falls into that. I put value in human work and that human element of creating a video, so at present I wouldn’t be ok with AI editing my video. I hope that makes sense? 2. Yeah well so like I said I’d place myself at about a 6 on the fun-grind scale. I wanted to grow fast, I needed an excuse to read Dune which had been on my to-read for ages, so when the movie was coming out I used it to my advantage. It Ends With Us has been in the news and I found it’s marketing interesting, I made a video about it. Bridgerton season 3 was coming out and it is based on a book, but personally didn’t find it that interesting (or at least the book aspect), I didn’t make a video abt it. Does this mindset make sense?^^ I try to combine genuine interest and capturing the time in pop culture. 3. Yeah I’m gonna use whatever advantage I have. Who wouldn’t?
This video was full of really interesting perspectives on these topics and this isn’t the point of the video but there is a set of really affordable Witcher special editions that got released here in the UK and also in the US, I’m not sure if you saw them but passed because its the English translation but they’re really pretty with some great illustrations
@@valliyarnlit’s definitely worth getting the first two short story collections without the rest of the series as those are the only ones with illustrations so they are almost their own standalone set, they’re also way higher quality with the paper and little details than the rest of the series. The rest of the editions have different cover artists for each book which is a little strange although they do look great all together, especially spine out on a shelf
I don't care much about BookTube beyond the books being discussed (my own channel will never be a "success" for a lot of reasons: I don't focus on a single niche, I create longform content, I don't use social media, I don't dance to the algo-rhythms, etc.), but now I want to hear you dive deeper into the fascinating philosophies of Sartre! (My own opinion on "the self" is that who I am is defined entirely by what I do and how I do it.) L'enfer, c'est les autres!
Exaaactly. Do as you want. The background really isn't all people make it out to be. That being said, I like this current background. Reminds me of the university dorm room ahh vibes.
@@valliyarnl a couple of my friends got an arc and their channels are a lot smaller than yours! Great video by the way, I have now finished! I'm forever trying to understand what the algorithm wants of me, I got 100 subscribers last week, but then like 3 since!?
Looking forward to the McCarthy video - I have the same exact set. Also, since you seemed to really like Sartre, I wanted to recommend that you spend countless hours reading a thousand-page work of mad genius, The World as Will and Representation by Arthur Schopenhauer. He’s a very ridiculous person, but I think that his philosophy is one of the most perspective-changing things that a person could read. I’m not sure how familiar you are with philosophy (especially Plato, Kant, and Hegel are good to have an awareness of to understand Schopenhauer) but I really think that Schopenhauer’s philosophy is worth diving into if you want to blow your mind. I don’t think he comes to the right conclusion (endorsing asceticism) but Nietzsche picks up the thread where Schopenhauer leaves it and brings it to a proper, satisfying conclusion. Nice video 👍
I'd like to hear your thoughts on monetization. There is a difference between having a hobby and just wanting to get your thoughts out there versus doing TH-cam as a full time job. I was going to write a long winded essay in this comment but decided it's not worth the battery power and keystroke effort! 😅
Haha I feel like with booktube making it your job being ur mindset going in is unrealistic bc such a small percentage of book TH-camrs get to a lvl where it is your job. I’m also nowhere near that level so idk if I can really comment too much on that.
You shouldn’t be worried about your age, because young and smart person is really respectable and kinda rare combination (as I am reading this it’s sounds like a comment from 72 years old grandpa). Anyways, like your vids, keep it up :)
Comments like "she gets views because of her looks" are an unmistakable mark of not knowing how the world works. If you want to make anything popular you need to make it attractive to people (only groundbreaking stuff in this comment). Like what is she supposed to do? Wear a burqa to "level the playing field" with my ugly face? She'd probably still win, because she has a voice that's more pleasant to listen to and a (seemingly) trained way of using it properly. If you're in the mindset of handicapping others instead of upping your own game to compete - you need to change asap, because that attitude leads to bad results. As an aside, as someone who did a bit of youtube some years back, EVERYBODY gets weird comments about sex and bodily functions. It just comes with the turf if you put yourself on the internet I suppose. Even if you're a fat, balding dude.
Oooo handicapping is an interesting way of putting it. Have you read Harrison Bergeron? Reminded me a bit of that. Anyway, the comments yeah they’re gonna happen and they’re gonna get blocked 💋does wonders for me haha
@@valliyarnl Can't say that I have. Lately I've only been reading technical books for work and spy thrillers for entertainment :) But yeah - it would ultimately be about handicapping those who happen to have natural advantages and I hate that mindset. I relate it to a video by SpectreSound I watched a while back that was essentially (see what I did there) about "beautiful girl with basic skill in guitar and singing gets millions of views, while legitimate geniuses struggle to get 1% of that" and people being salty about it. And his point boiled down to what I said here. Nobody is owed success, everybody has to work for it and it would be dumb not to use all the advantage you have. Presentation is important and sometimes you need to work on that, because succeeding on the merit of your knowledge/skill alone is going to be near impossible when there are thousands of people who you are competing against.
I do not subscribe to existentialism but I find it much less damaging than other modern modes of thought and essentially pushed one of my brothers toward it as it coincided with his rather staunch American individualism or traditional western liberalism. So, I suppose I have a relative soft spot for it? Either way, this video kept getting thrown my way by the algorithm over the last few days and I clicked on it this time and wasn't disappointed. I don't usually subscribe to channels that I would like to comment on once they're too big because it loses that intimacy usually but you seem to at least have that "authenticity" so I subbed anyway. Not that I'm any arbiter of who one ought to be subbed to. On another note 10/10 Setup
Well I am glad the algorithm seems to be favouring the video haha. Thank you for subscribing 🫶🏻 and as for the set up haha thanks for that rating too :)
Being successful on TH-cam is very difficult. Being successful in any career is difficult. You could work for someone else, you could work in a supermarket, you could do anything you want to do in life. Personally I'd work towards a medical degree. There's more money in it.
Being pretty will, generally, only affect initial clicks but won't significantly impact watch time or viewer retention. Wera is extremely attractive, that's not me simping or anything it's an objective reality. While being extremely attractive does help it doesn't bring success by itself. It's bait, you still have to have content to achieve viewer retention which within the whole "booktube" space viewer retention is more important as book content is always going to be longform and require keeping peoples attention for more than a few seconds. Also people that criticize a pretty girl for being a pretty girl in the thumbnail are fairly ignorant as it would be pretty dumb not to do that. It's a tool to draw people in so you have a chance to hook them with your content, it would be foolish not to use an effective tool if you have it at your disposal.
The fact that you are young is truly obvious, you not knowing what that question means, and how dare you have a life outside of youtube, touch grass and stuff!? On a serious note: you are young and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, i find it refreshing to see someone young who's into reading these days, the fact that you're inteligent and you look good is just a bonus. Age does not an inteligent/smart/good person make, sometimes it makes one more experienced, relaxed and/or wise but ultimately age is not a guarantee for anything except getting older. This Planet is full of pieces of fecal matter of all ages, sizes and colours. In my opinion: just keep doing what you're doing and don't mind the trolls, they have their purpose on the internet, they help develop thicker skin which is a must in this day and age. P.S: your first video i saw was "your The Witcher unpopular opinions are wild" and then The Witcher books ranked; in my mind i was thinking: "What!? A young woman interested in The Witcher and reading!? In 2024!? Count me in!". \m/
what would u tell someone that had the inner struggle to start a yt channel? what motivated you in the begining? I always wanted to start a booktube channel but never put together the pieces, u make an excellent example that it can be done, maybe ill give it a try one day who knows ps: how do u edit ur vids? (wich software?)
I don’t exaggerate when I say the quote that got me started was “it’s better to do it than to live with the fear of it”. At the start, your videos are gonna be bad anyway so it’s best to just put them out and learn from them. Like getting over the hurdle of putting 1 video out is massive and then video 2 will be less scary and video 3 will be less scary again. You can use your phone if you don’t have a camera. I use iMovie for less intensive projects (like this video) or DaVinci Resolve (free but my laptop is on the older side and can’t handle it well) for more editing intensive projects (like my Cosmere unpopular opinions video) Hope that helps!
I like the way you handle negative comments. I imagine being pretty AND smart gets you a lot of hate. Probably mainly by wannabe alpha males who are neither pretty nor smart and only clicked your video because of a pretty thumbnail. Try to imagine their disappointment when they realize that you want to tell them something about books (eek!). But this seems to be the price all content creators have to pay, and the only way to avoid being harmed is exactly this one: try not to give a damn.
I don't quite understand the reasoning behind the Mean Comments response, about the commenter "not really knowing you". I think the criteria should be, rather, the quality of the argument presented in the critique (and its tone, secondarily, but not necessarily). For example the difference between a mean comment like the one about trauma as a motivator, and the other just plain insults or completely irrelevant observations (rude or not), is that the latter offer nothing of value to the topic at hand and are cheap Ad hominem, or irrelevant commentary. The former, while rudely formulated, at least proposes an argument relevant to the topic (ideally "attacking" the idea, not the person). I also don't think they were directly trying to call you an idiot, but more pointing out the argument itself as "idiotic" which I'd say is different, though I would agree there is no reason for that kind of hostility, and they probably should've counted to ten and then reformulated the comment in a more respectful tone, before posting. In other words: Personally I'd take a rude, but well argued point on the topic at hand, over an unsolicited comment about something irrelevant, be it an insult or even a benign compliment about looks, for example. There is no need to worry on whether or not the person knows you, if you just focus on the content and depth of their argument, which for petty insults is equivalent to zero.
So I should’ve kept this in. I was NOT talking about trauma as a motivator at all in the video. I was talking about how books are marketed 😂 so it was an unrelated thing to what I was talking about in the video in the first place (so not really attacking my idea at all because I didn’t even talk about that in the video). Trauma as a motivator was NOT the topic at hand, the topic at hand was how books with romance and trauma are marketed. Of course trauma is a huuuge reason why people do and don’t do things!
@@valliyarnl I see, I saw that video you're referring to, but I didn't realize the comment was in relation to that video (if you mentioned it I missed it, apologies). In that case it seems like a odd rant, and yeah it falls under my idea of unrelated as well. Probably one of those "chip on the shoulder you can't wait to dump on the first that comes around" kind of rants. I guess the larger point still stands about focusing on the content of the critique, trying to ignore the tone of it. At least that's how I try to approach it.
I don't know if I would agree and call it the "dark side" of TH-cam because what it is are strategies to make your content more available across the internet. It's just basic economics, really, and the only reason (I feel like anyway) that TH-camrs are calling it the "dark side" is because they're discussing the amount of effort and time it takes to create one video, while also implementing their strategy to market their videos (kind of like what you did for your Witcher video). I think you don't need to call it the dark side to sugar coat the idea that maybe what you're really doing is using your platform like it's a business. Your viewers are the customers and you're just doing your best to make good income. I just feel like calling it the dark side is another way to apologize to your viewers that they're basically a customer while you're the service. Honestly, there's nothing wrong with that. That's just how it works, whether it's TH-cam or not, and while you should be thanking your customer, just the fact that your video popped into my feed without ever hearing of you already makes me feel like I should be thanking you-because what you're really doing in this particular video is that you're just showing me how the algorithm works and how I can use it to my advantage. I haven't seen the rest of your content, but I already feel like you're good at runnning your business, and eventually, when you have enough subscribers, you can start merchandising (whether it's your own book or whatever). Please don't mistake this comment for being negative btw, I'm being literal and honest with what I'm saying and I hope you can take it positively.
There's zero reason to own books unless you intend to re-read them or reference them frequently. Tons of people have book collections with books they only read once (and will only ever read once) or they've never read them and likely never will. Don't be those people. My collection has a hard limit of 100 books that I've reread several times. There's barely a 100 genuinely good novels anyway.
Interesting thoughts, and I am going to to say something that some people may be offended but that's not what I intent. What do you thing about male watching female youtubers. This is badly phrase. What I mean is that I think there are youtubers (mainly female) that are highly invested on their art\love and they take advantage of it with low decots and such. The best example is Gunpla meli which talsk at lenght about Models (usually Gundam) but at some videos she really uses her decot and you can see a lot of commentaries in some of those videosabout people not even interested on their videos but on the person. Everything is marketing to make money I mean that's propaganda all over it. There are some youtubers that I love that are badly known like SciFiScavenger while others I don't even enjoy (either they sound "fake" or "sold outs" because they receive a dozen books month and they can't really talk bad about them or lest they lose thier money. I mean I love Brian Lee Durfee character but I despise his reviews because he can't really talk "bad" about a book. This is something that I am trying to find, a "real" youtuber that doesn't have any problem saying I didn't enjoy this author\writer, because they are always afraid they may offend x person or some part of their audience. I've only watch two of your videos and I am contemplating subscribing. You are sincere (I've been following in goodreads so I already know of you) and one thing I immediately notice was that you have no problem of rating a book a one star or two stars and saying the motif. It's sad that people on youtube have to be aware of what they talk or else they may offfend X or Y person. This wasn't like this... Oh well, sorry for the rant
I have expected that some comments can be really mean, but insinuation that your Polish nationality is fake, shocked me deeply. Now I understand why you have in one of your Witcher videos the part spoken in Polish. Did you have an update to your Witcher tier list or you still waiting for other occasion to read “Sezon burz”? Any predictions for new Witcher book that Sapkowski recently admitted is done?
Nie czytałam jeszcze Sezonu Burz bo po prostu nie miałam czasu do niego dotrzeć haha ale muszę się za siebie zabrać bo chce zrobić filmik Wiedzminski niedługo 👀
@@valliyarnl O to czekam z niecierpliwością :) Zastanawia mnie jedna rzecz którą powiedziałaś w jednym z filmów o Wiedźminie: wspomniałaś, że tłumaczenie angielskie nie jest najlepsze. Czy chodziło o pracę obu tłumaczy, czy tylko tłumaczki zbiorów opowiadań, bądź też tłumacza sagi?
@@czterystaczterdziesciczter1676 chodzi o obu tłumaczy. Od innych komentarzy zrozumiałam że niektóre tłumaczenia na inne języki są spoko (hiszpański podobną jest git). Ale na przykład: Bitwa pod Brenną jest tak nazwana bo nie mogli ją nazwać Bitwa pod Starymi Dupami (miasto które było bliższe do walki). Dla nas to jest śmieszne bo… no stare dupy ile więcej trzeba gadać haha. To jest przetłumaczone na „Battle of Old Bottoms”… chociaż to jest w miarę dosłowne przetłumaczenie (chociaż ja bym powiedziała Old Asses jak coś) no to nie oddaje ten efekt komiczny. W opowiadaniach są podobne sytuacje gdzie tłumaczenie jest może bardziej dosłowne ale nie oddaje tego samego vibe-u. I jest też segment gdzie paragraf randomowo znika 😅
@@valliyarnl Bardzo szkoda, miałem nadzieję, że zmienili tłumacza po to żeby było lepiej 🙁Pewnie też są różne szkoły tłumaczenia, ale przecież o to chodzi żeby jak najlepiej oddać vibe tego co autor napisał w oryginale. Znikające paragrafy to już w ogóle jakieś nieporozumienie, które nie powinno się zdarzyć, choć tu zgaduje problemem był brak redaktorów znających polski u wydawcy, więc, jak sądzę, polegali za bardzo na zaufaniu do tłumacza.
@@valliyarnl For some reason a lot of people on the internet have lost their minds a couple of years ago and can no longer handle when someone complements a girl on her physical appearance.
@@valliyarnl I was being subtle by implying that no one's gonna focus on the background with you in the front. I'll try to be more explicit in the future.
What a great and nuanced video (loved the inclusion of academic theories). I am very impressed by how you how approached booktube and it definitely has paid off - you are already at nearly 10k and think you will continue to grow!
Regarding the grindtuber vs funtuber discussion I definitely should have mentioned it is a spectrum and there is nothing wrong with either approach.
I think negative comments are definitely one of the hardest things to deal with. I also think that female content creators seem to face way more mean comments then males do. I do receive mean comments but I know from fellow female booktuber that they receive WAY more which is really really disheartening. I hope you won't let the negative comments impact you too much. Your content is great and a fantastic addition to this community.
I look forward to the next video 😊
Thank you Jóhan for the kind words!
And thank you so much for helping me figure out the thumbnail and title, you're amazing
@@valliyarnl I love the booktube meta-commentary going on with response videos and shoutouts to other channels. "Johan, I really like your grindtuber vs funtuber paradigm, however have you considered existentialism and locus of control as additional motivating factors?"
I don't know if that's backed up by evidence. If anything, the evidence I've seen suggests that men are more likely to receive harassment online. Though humans, in general, seem to be more sensitive to attacks on women. So maybe it does feel like that. But I think part of the process is being honest about the evidence and not infalizing women.
Wind's howling
darn that was fast!
“Medaljion ees hamming…”
Smells like rain
As an Irish person the phrase "my biggest limiting factor is sunlight" hits me in my soul
I live in Ireland haha
To be fair, a lot of irish people are ginger, so they're immune to those hits.
Great addition to the topic, particularly about the spectrum from grind to fun, I agree that it's not just one or the other!
Thank you! And thank you for watching 🤍
As a long-time book reader and now booktuber...I'd be buying the books anyway. So not a problem. And if you've seen my channel you know I've spent ZERO $$$ on equipment or editing.
Wow Brian thank you for watching and commenting! Love your channel (your THE Eyes of the Dragon review was so funny I loved it). Very glad to see you’re doing better as well. For me, if I could afford it, I’d be wayyy less reliant on my library but as it stands I just can’t afford to :/
I love the density here. You don't waste a breath. This is a refreshing style of BookTube-you yourself seem especially thoughtful-and so much of what you say I find agreeable or at least worth considering. Great job with this one!
Thank you!
Insightful, well articulated thoughts as always! I agree that there is a motivation/philsophy spectrum on BookTube. I can’t wait to talk with you about this topic (and other topics) tomorrow! 🤍
thank you Johanna! So excited for tomorrow :D
Man, I've been standing with one foot in the door, ready to start a booktube channel for a couple years now... recorded a few videos, but have them set to private because I doubt myself... probably gonna finally launch for real... at some point... maybe... okay, not tomorrow, but the next day for sure!
Anyway, this was awesome insight. Interesting idea for a video comparing the various perspectives and weighing in with your own. I feel I've been educated!
Really enjoyed this video and thanks for the shoutout! And I can definitely say I'm a proud member of the Wera cult! 😁
Heck yeah Thomas 💪💪💪
I know that there is a large discussion about parasocial relations from the perspective of viewers, but I wonder if there really is much said about them from the perspectives of creators. How creators can fool themselves into seeing their audience as personal friends, and then say/post something that gets totally misunderstood and creates anger. As an author myself I am a bit scared about creating some controversy that impacts me financally or make me lose my will to continue writing. What you say about mean comments was good for me and I loved the video overall!
Excellent video. Did not expect existentialism and locus of control in a response about the "dark side" of TH-cam but I'm completely here for it 😂
I agree the notion of "funtuber" and "grindtuber" haa to be a spectrum. One thing I haven't seen mentioned by any of these videos but is obviously a factor is that people get fulfillment differently. "Grinding" to get a lot of videos out or look professional or have great lighting/editing can be done not to collect subs and grow but because those specific aspects of the process bring fulfillment to that person - for example Theo loves editing. So I think the conversation stifles itself with these concepts because it suggests that the only reason you would put a ton of effort in is to grow your audience. Similarly, people are too quick to dismiss the youtubers who are for the grind as people who are just trying to use youtube for a means to an end - you can have goals and aspirations while still having fun and wanting to chat about your passion. But you know, nuance goes to die on the internet 😂
Loved hearing your thoughts on this topic! Biiiiiig agree that editing takes so long because I repeat myself so many times to get the annunciation right 😵💫
I’m subscribed to all the book tubers you mentioned here. Now I’m subscribed to you too. My takeaway (not advice cos you’re doing fine) is that as long as your passion and enjoyment or disappointment in a book comes through, the viewers will be there. That’s what attracts my eyes and ears to book reviewers. A good mic and decent lighting help, but they should only enhance the joy and energy you naturally convey. I’m looking forward to watching more of your content.
As someone who is coming back to Booktubing after really struggling with my channel and with life obstacles, watching all the videos on this topic has both been encouraging and disheartening. But yours is the first video I've watched to really balance this conversation. My philosophy coming back will be first and foremost, fun. I already have good equipment and I won't spend anywhere near the time that Library of a Viking does - his videos are way beyond my skill. Im closer to Matt in my video form, but my editing takes much longer than he proposed, because like you, I'm not great at public speaking and have a slight stammer, so I edit myself alot. Thank you for this video and I'm looking forward to relaunching my channel.
hey good luck to relaunching your channel. I hope you find the joy in it again
I think it's very funny that this is my first time seeing your channel, as a male viewer. The algorithm worked!
Anyway, credit to your edits, the sound is blended good enough for my unprofessional ears. I'll be checking out the dune video next!
Ooooo that Dune video I think is kind of aging badly 🙈 bc I didn’t rlly know what I was doing haha but hopefully you enjoy it and see my growth :)
thank the algorithm! great video!
funtuber or grindtuber, i honestly applaud their work and effort because being a booktuber is hard.
i haven't uploaded in months because i'm in a BIG reading slump and nothing i read just appeals to me, at least from what i have in my shelf. there may be books i'm interested in reading, but i don't have an available book budget at the moment. so that's another struggle.
also the effort i put into my most recent videos were def bigger than when i first started uploading because i am not the best speaker. i have to write my thoughts down and arrange it into a script because i'll just be rambling and going on tangents if i don't. so reading, scripting, recording, and editing for one video eats up a lot of time. i also had that issue of being under the mercy of daylight when recording.
also my being a filipino booktuber that talks about filipino books/literature can be an island at times. nevertheless, i'll be sticking to my niche because i hope that one day the community grows on our side of the world.
I know it’s hard sometimes. I really hope find the joy in it tho again. Don’t feel pressured. Also, we aren’t English or Americans. Let’s use that to our advantage. I got out my polish trad outfit and pushed that out to differentiate myself a bit from the crowd. Even if the niche may be small now for Indonesian people reading Indonesian literature as you say but that’s your strength too!!! Bc it makes you unique and memorable in the crowd. I look forward to your next upload whenever it will come :)
Excellent video, Wera. I'm looking forward to your chat with Johanna over the weekend.
Thank you Brian!
…
Could I pls be on For Whom the Bell Tolls one day? 🥺🥺🥺
@@valliyarnl absolutely! you'd be a fantastic guest. we'll set something up for Oct or Nov :)
@@BrianBell7 😁😁😁
Great video! I really like that view on mean comments. I've been pretty lucky for the most part but they are still out there
thank you Tom! Excited to chat tomorrow :)
I found this video very insightful! I agree with a lot of the points here, particularly about setups. What I’ve found true of myself and others is that people watch TH-camrs for the information and/or for the personality, not for the looks. The way you think through topics and what you have to say is more important than your backdrop. And I think as long as it is clean and tidy, a bedroom with natural light is perfect and welcoming for casual and upbeat videos (meaning, not ones trying to conjure up e.g., dark, dramatic feelings. It’s all about what you’re aiming to create).
The negative comments which you’ve received and shared here are wiiild. But I like what you said about if a comment is bothering you, it’s OK to take a step back and realize it probably struck a nerve for a reason. We all have specific insecurities and being resilient does not mean you are emotionless, and it’s normal if a comment gets to you.
On this topic of how to deal with negative comments, during my research for my last video I actually found a really good piece of advice shared by the late Maciej Parowski, which he received as editor in chief of Fantastyka. It’s from a Polityka article.
“… bronili mnie czytelnicy. Gdy pojawiał się jakiś zgrzyt i nieprzyjemny list, chciałem od razu siadać i odpisywać, ale moi koledzy mówili, „Maciek, poczekaj, niech się odezwą inni czytelnicy”. I rzeczywiście tak się działo. Redaktor pisma literackiego cały czas musi prowadzić wojnę, ale musi ją prowadzić elegancko.”
So when I recieve a comment that isn’t strictly negative (i.e., that should be ignored) but I feel like misinterpreted me or the video, I remember, “wait, let other commentors respond.” It can even get a good discussion going sometimes!
Also, (because I always have to connect everything to Witcher somehow…) essentialism vs. existentialism reminds me of the discussions in Lady of the Lake, between Fringilla and Regis, Ch. 4 and Auberon and Ciri, Ch. 5, about the nature of destiny… possibly a connection!
oooo i love this perspective about waiting for the discussion before replying. I am sloooowly rereading the Witcher now because I want to do a summary video for each book (with pointing out cultural references or things I think could've been translated a bit better) so I'll come back to this comment when i get to Lady of the Lake. Thank you for commenting! Love your videos so much
What a great well thought out video. Look forward to our WoLaS read coming up.
Thank you John! Excited for that too :D
@@valliyarnl Oh wow! We're going to have to talk about that too! 👀
Much respect for the transparency! Good for you :)
Thank you!
As a VERY new booktuber, I am grateful you shared your perspective. I've thought about creating a video about "the dark side of booktube" from a newbie's perspective, but it seems you hit a lot of what I would say. :)
Mean comments can hurt, but I recall many famous TH-camrs giving this advice: even negative comments are engagement...so in a way they help the algorithm see your content.
If anything, I plan on replying to the mean comments to see if they will engage even more! LOL
Thanks again for your video, Wera. :)
Such a great video! I loved that you brought locus of control here!
Love your work! Hope you continue! Have a nice day🎉❤
wow thank you for the donation! I really really appreciate it 💞💞💞
Hope you're having a beautiful day!
This is the first time I have seen your video and I like your thinking. I will watch your videos soon out of pure curiosity. I have 17 subscribers, and I post unedited videos, but my English is broken. It amuses me and I am not burdened with algorithms. I'm glad if someone watches my videos. The only thing that matters is whether you enjoy what you do.👍
Welcome aboard! And yes that is a great mindset to have 😁
Great video! You did a great job sharing the thoughts of others and then talking through your own. Fantastic addition to this conversation and you rocked it!
Thank you so much’
@@valliyarnl You are welcome!
What a really good video! And so many good points made. There is so many sides to this and I’m loving it.
Thank you for watching!
As someone on the fence about starting a channel, I really appreciated this video
In the words of my King Joe Abercrombie: it’s better to do it than to live with the fear of it :)
(If that’s what it is)
Great video! As a new booktuber I found this really helpful and fascinating
Subscribed as soon as you pointed out your set up, I didn't even notice! Hilarious 😂
😂
Found this video from watching Johanna's Why Read Video! Will be checking out more of your content. Some great points here, and it just shows that there are many ways, motives, and philosophies when it comes to running a youtube channel. FYI, I first read Dune when I was 12, and have had many deep conversations about it since then....so you cannot be too young to understand great books....which is a big part of why books are so cool! Don't let the "Dark Side" get you down! I have found so many great conversations and book recommendations on booktube, and I would not have it any other way.
Thank you for sharing your perspective on this topic. Bringing up topics like Existentialism and your application of it on booktube was fascinating. I've been on booktube for quite a bit and its always been a hobby for me. When it comes to the production value of my videos its always been on the low side. I film and edit on my phone and just sit in front of my shelves. I just don't have the time or money to invest anymore than that. I also film whatever videos I want to make. Its often on books or series that may not be popular but I'm having fun and I've met some great people.
Really appreciate Matt’s points! Especially with the library card. Have to say though not all places or countries have access to good libraries hence why for those who prefer physical reading it could get expensive.
Great video Wera, very nuanced discussion!
Thank you!
I loved this insightful video! I have terrible audio and a lot of people click out immediately from my videos and i kept thinking maybe my videos aren't interesting enough or maybe the video quality... 😅 now I know thanks to you
I have the fifine microphone that’s like 50€ and I think it really is quite good :)
@@valliyarnl I will see if I can find it. Thank you
Best wishes with what you are reading. I hope you get some great stories.
Thank you! I am :)
"Clearly this commenter doesn't know me, so I don't care about their opinion.".....Love that!😁
Great video!👍. This topics very interesting for someone like me whos quite new to reading novels. Only really having read manga Before. I'm loving learning about the booktok space😁
😁
Mate... we're talking essentialism over here!? Lemme put the kettle on. This is gonna be a good one.
Man if I knew you’d watch the video I wouldn’t have cut the part where I talked abt your channel. Essentially for the interactions part I gave your channel as an example of someone who I basically watch ever video of but it’s bc i organically found ur channel and clicked w what you were doing so hard so even if I wasn’t doing booktube, I’d be watching your videos anyway. Probably commenting less? Bc I was a lurker for a loooong time. But nonetheless.
@@valliyarnl aw that's so nice. Thank you! I'm a constant watcher on your channel. You make some of my favourite stuff. I'm not big into The Witcher but other than that I love your takes.
You’re doing an amazing job! 📚
thank you!
I heard someone talk about mean comments one time and basically the real way to get past it is realizing that they are all kids. Mature adults don’t write mean comments for the most part. So anytime you feel like arguing or feeling bad about something someone said on the internet, just imagine that you’re being bullied by some 11-year-old punk, and it will usually make you feel a lot better. Anyway, I thought that was fun, and loved the video. Ive thought about starting my own book tube channel sometimes, because I love getting into discussions like this, but honestly, I just don’t have the discipline to sit down and record a video every time I finish a book. Respect to those of you who can!
Good point! And hey, definitely do start a booktube channel if ever find the time ☺️
Great video! I agree with so much of this. Aren’t we all part of a cult being readers?
haha thank you! and yes of course ;)
Much needed video, especially for a new Booktuber like myself
It was fascinating to get a glimpse behind the curtain and see things from your POV. I watched the other 3 ‘dark side’ videos and it’s interesting to see the different motivations and outlook.
I like your take on doing what interests you and not valuing things that don’t. I don’t watch much book accumulation content, but a small haul now again can be informative if the creator tells us about the book and why it caught their interest. I don’t notice lighting or video definition that much but, as you said, audio is really important. If somebody sounds like they’re speaking from the cockpit of a WWII bomber, it can be hard to listen to.
I’m not sure about Johan’s fun-grind split, but I agree that it’s more of a continuum than a dichotomy. Maybe it’s more about the time a creator wishes to spend on it and whether they make content that stimulates themself or is made for popular appeal. I imagine motivation is also a big factor, and that no doubt changes over time. It’s probably a complex set of variables, but I get what he means. I think some people play to the algorithm in general - reading the latest books or popular books and saying the right things about them - which probably helps a channel grow but takes away a part of what made it distinctive to begin with.
What you said about the algorithm is disheartening. It seems like it’s trying to box you in to create similar content instead of what interests you. The Emily Henry thing is weird. I imagine you have a big male viewership due to the Witcher and Abercrombie vids, so it’s unfair to judge the likelihood of a romance doing well against that. You’d have thought it would say ‘Here is somebody with 10k subs producing content about a popular author, let’s give it a push.’ The algorithm seems reactive rather than proactive. I suppose it’s even harder to reach other viewers with the algorithm when you have a channel, like yours, that covers a range of genres and content types.
It would be really interesting to know what attracts people to a channel and why they watch particular videos.videos. What do they want from booktube and how well does the algorithm understand this and give it to them?
The time to create a finished vid is pretty much what I imagined and it looks like a lot of work. I like how Matt demonstrated that it doesn’t have to take too long, but I agree with you that the whole process is very much subject to what works for you. I have no interest in creating content, but just the thinking time beforehand would take hours.
I don’t understand why people leave nasty comments. There’s nothing to gain from it - everybody (creator and commenters) will think you’re a d?ck and you’re likely to get banned. Keep up the larping!
RD, I will definitely always keep up the banning and larping (my favorite things to do obviously lol)
The comment about sounding like you're talking from a WII bomber cockpit made me chuckle. I think the mic was a great investment. For me the fun-grind split is an interesting framework. Like all frame-works/theories it is not all encompassing but I do think it works as a tool for observation and even self assessment for someone who is starting out (will i want to go this way or that way? how much time do i want to spend on this? etc) The Emily Henry video... yeah i haven't given up on it totally yet, I will probably try to push it to a girl Facebook group tomorrow (since they self promo Sundays), but it's fine. Once again, I'm gonna do things that I find interesting and I wanted to be a girlypop for a week and read my Emily Henry so I did :)
About finding out what attracts people to a certain booktuber... I think it's easier to assess others than myself. Talking Story has the heartwarming dynamic with his son and his ability to pitch a book is unparalleled. 2toRamble have this great frenemy dynamic that works so well with their reviews and translates superbly to their discussion videos. Each video from Johan is like a story/journey in and of itself. Philip Chase is a literal English professor and has the appeal of bringing a more authoritative/analytical/professional perspective. For myself? Not too sure. What do you think?
@@RDsLibrary that’s really good feedback, thank you RD :) honoured to be part of that
Very interesting discussion! I know nothing about video creation so I definitely underestimate the time it takes to film one, I'm sure...
Following you know so you're closer to getting that devils ARC 😂❤ good luck and happy reading.
thank you thank you thank you 💗
Smart and nuanced, exactly the kind of perspectives I’m interested in
Phenomenal video Wera! Really well thought out, I agree with all of this! Having a channel myself, I’ve met so many amazing people, and completely agree you can do well with very little recording equipment and physical books. I still use my phone for filming and editing 😂
Also love the McCarthy books there! I’m working my way through his discography.
Keep killing it, you’re doing very well growing your channel and creating engaging content.
See I really like your background so I would’ve never guessed! It’s like what Matt said with angles and playing around with set up. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Jean-Paul Sartre (the one who wrote "La Nausée"!!!) - now that's a bold start for a channel like yours. I love his philosophy as much as I hate it. This author takes no prisoners. "Bringing philosophy to our puny lives doesn't really make a lot of sense. It's like using higher math to help plant carrots in your backyard garden."
I'm sorry that you'll hear these things from me. They have to be said one way or another.
19:00 ngl I did click because I saw a pretty woman talking about books I like but then I watched 6 videos in a row because you have interesting things to say and the way you say them is so entertaining
Haha thank you Treyden 🫶🏻
Great video. Love the philosophical asides. If you don't think you're a good public speaker (and I imagine many would disagree) this is some of the best practice you can get
🫡
Thanks for this video, I want to make more videos about books on my channel and haven't known really how to start. I've also watched a lot of booktubers and this is helpful and interesting
Hi! I'm a random bucko from nowhere.. Good video! Very insightful, and I like that more people are talking about this and bringing their own take on the issue. Keep it up
Hahaha oh Qban 🫶🏻
This was a very interesting video.. I can imagine the work that goes into making these, I’ve always wondered what it takes and now I have a little more insight into it. Unfortunately there is a lot of negativity in the world and haters are gonna hate. You’re doing an excellent job out there! Keep up the good work Vera.. love your bookshelf! My two latest reads right there! Glad to be part of the cult! 😱
two latest reads?? which ones?
Oathbringer just finished, and just started Rythim of War.. 👍🏼
@@stevecanada4830 WHAT DID YOU THINK
Well, I did take awhile to read it.. a little over a year. Only because of another reread on the Wheel of Time with my mother.. it was a slow read for me especially in the middle, but the ending really picked up and was EPIC!
And Rythim of War is starting out nicely!
This is a well rounded video covering all the perspectives-wow. Impressive.
And it’s a great insight to let us see behind the curtain of your own videos.
Posting in reddits is a great idea too! I didn’t even think of that 😂
When you all give these types of insights it really helps others grow and gain more perspective.
I’m definitely on the fun, journaling side of posting. For me-it’s cool to upload and have conversations and discuss what I enjoy. The conversational topics (such as this one) are beneficial for me to watch, but my contribution would almost be moot since I take it so easy.
But even adding a microphone and ring light have added a more “work” aspect to it for me, which sounds silly but I think they’re worthy small investments that make watching it more enjoyable, even if I’m going to be hanging my microphone off my darth revan lightsaber.
Overall, I gotta say it’s impressive you and Nerd Level Rising navigate making such high quality videos while in the programs you’re in. I think it awesome you guys do because you add so much value to the “booktube” community
Thank you for commenting and yeah NLR is a great addition!
@@valliyarnl yeah the different perspectives and hearing what people do outside of TH-cam helps a lot
Never let the trolls get to you. The people who say you’re too young to talk about those books are ironically immature themselves. I don’t think a book should be locked to age groups to “understand it” . I find your opinions very insightful and well thought out. I genuinely look forward to your videos because of what you have to say and your unique opinion.
thank you!
I like the philosophy references :) Although as someone who personally opposes existentialism (based on the definition you've given), I find it interesting that we both deeply agree with only aspiring to do things that we are passionate about, regardless of what others/society thinks. It makes me wonder why you find existentialism comforting and how you came to adopt it. Nice video :)
100%
thanks for watching!
Well put together video, Wera. Really good balanced views, I think. At the end of the day, the sentiment of my video leaned more towards that it is a self-imposed problem. I tried to end every “argument” with, do what YOU feel like doing. Showing that a video can be made in an hour is great - but it depends how much effort YOU want to put into it. I like adding edits and making my videos a little more engaging, like you do (way better than me by the way lol). We all do this for different reasons and focus on different things. Just have fun - that’s the bottom line :)
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This is a very smart video; bravo! Also, I agree with your philosophy against essentialism. Although I prefer Camus to Sartre ...
Camus is also great. The Stranger is a fantastic book.
The perspective of our generation really needs to be more out there, I feel like we aren't heard just because of age, yes young people have a lot to learn doesnt really mean they dont know anything.
Anyhow great video, specially the philosophy side of things
That’s an amazing way of putting it. It means a lot, thank you 🤍
Great video!
Ed
Thank you!
You raise some great points! But I noticed you haven't talked about the consumer side of booktube. I love watching booktube but sometimes I feel there's a lack of variety because fiction that's more meta like The disposables by Katherine Vick, is not discussed as much. I would love to watch a part 2!
Good video. I think it was your 5 star books video that first introduced me to your channel while i was going through one of my yearly reading binges.
As for your McCarthy reads I would recommend stella maris, it is purely dialogue and dialogue is probably my favorite thing about McCarthy's writing (I didn't know if that's a controversial opinion.) It has a brother book called the passenger but you don't absolutely have to read, i didn't enjoy it that much but it was kinda interesting because it almost gives you an insight into McCarthy's mind in his final years.
And I can't join your cult because I'm already part of the cult that preaches for everyone to read the spear cuts through water by simon jimenez... But i have subscribed.
Oh wow! That was my 1k celebration video so you've been here a while! thank you 💞 So for the video I won't be doing Stella Maris (unfortunately), but tbh I'm loving McCarthy so much I already ordered The Passenger and I was told to read SM after that? So... perhaps... I will end up having 2 McCarthy videos 😂
@@valliyarnl yeah that's the order I read them too and I do think that's a good order to read them. While I liked Stella Maris more, both books endings really stuck with me.
The other way how not to overspend on books are audiobooks streaming services, for example in my country (Poland), there are at least 3. The one I have, works same as Netflix, pay monthly subscription (which is around the cost of one paper book) and listen as many you want.
Chodzi o Storytel tak? 😁😁😁 kocham tą apkę
@@valliyarnl Przyznaję, chodzi o Storytel :) Nie mógłbym przeczytać (przesłuchać) tylu książek gdybym nie korzystał z tej aplikacji. Biblioteka miejska w moim mieście ma jeszcze taką ciekawą usługę, że co miesiąc wykupują kody dostępu do innego serwisu audiobooków/ebooków, Legimi. Pobierając ten kod do Legimi i mając Storytel można powiedzieć, że mam dostęp do prawie wszystkich tytułów jakie mnie ineteresują, jak jeden serwis nie ma, to często drugi ma. Gdyby tylko jeszcze mieli Malazańską Księgę Poległych to już w ogóle byłbym przeszczęśliwy :)
@@czterystaczterdziesciczter1676 ojeju przeczytanie Malazan używając audiobooków to byłby niezły wyczyn. Ja bym się pogubiła 😅 chce zacząć tom 2 niedługo:)
@@valliyarnl Osobiście uważam 2 i 3 tom (szczególnie 3) za najlepsze, mam nadzieję, że się spodoba :) Seria na pewno jest wymagająca ze względu choćby na ilość wątków i postaci. Choć osobiście to nie czułem żeby była jakoś niesamowicie trudna w odbiorze, owszem zgubiłem się bardzo na początku "Ogrodów Księżyca", ale potem resztę książek czytało mi się bardzo płynnie, rzadko zdarzały się wątki w których bym się zgubił, ale już na pewno nie tak bardzo jak w pierwszym tomie. Czytałem po polsku, ale jestem pewien, że tłumacz wykonał dobrą robotę i akurat Erikson miał szczęście do polskiego tłumacza, bo w mojej opinii Michał Jakuszewski jest jednym z najlepszych polskich tłumaczy fantastyki.
Just subscribed! I enjoyed the points you made.
Thank you for subscribing
I misread the tittle as booktok and my heart stopped for a moment
😂
I guess it all depends on the expectations you have from a booktube channel. Do you want it more as an hobby or take it more seriously and try to get a serious income from it?
To me, I think the worst part must be the editing part. One time in college, we had a project where we had to record a debate (around one hour of discussion) and then edit it down to 5 minutes, with only the essential parts. Boy, that was a terrible experience. I'd use it as torture even. If this is something that bothers you, I'd say you can improve the efficiency of editing. Like, you can improve your public speaking so you don't need to so many cuts, and that comes with practice. It also helps getting familiar with the editing software and learning all the shortcuts and tricks you can. Maybe there is some AI tool that can help here too?
As for riding the algorithm, I guess that something that comes with the job. You've admitted on a previous video that you tried to release videos about Dune when the movie was coming out. I guess it can also push you to talk about more popular books instead of more niche ones. I'd say it's a balance between doing what you like vs appeasing the algorithm. You can always do some videos like top 10s or just talking about your favorites. Those move engagement while still being personal.
As for the mean comments, it's as you say, they don't know you so their opinion shouldn't matter much. And as for your looks, yeah, I'm sure they help, but what are you supposed to do about it? The way I see it, if you have that advantage you should make use of it. And it's not like you are just a pretty face. I think you talk with a lot of maturity. And you are like 20?? When I was that age I must have still been playing hide and seek with my friends with a pinwheel hat.
1. I agree. I already see an improvement with how I speak on camera so with time hopefully that will get better. Personally I wouldn’t feel right with an AI editing my video but again (existentialism): nothing has inherent value or meaning for me and AI falls into that. I put value in human work and that human element of creating a video, so at present I wouldn’t be ok with AI editing my video. I hope that makes sense?
2. Yeah well so like I said I’d place myself at about a 6 on the fun-grind scale. I wanted to grow fast, I needed an excuse to read Dune which had been on my to-read for ages, so when the movie was coming out I used it to my advantage. It Ends With Us has been in the news and I found it’s marketing interesting, I made a video about it. Bridgerton season 3 was coming out and it is based on a book, but personally didn’t find it that interesting (or at least the book aspect), I didn’t make a video abt it. Does this mindset make sense?^^ I try to combine genuine interest and capturing the time in pop culture.
3. Yeah I’m gonna use whatever advantage I have. Who wouldn’t?
This video was full of really interesting perspectives on these topics and this isn’t the point of the video but there is a set of really affordable Witcher special editions that got released here in the UK and also in the US, I’m not sure if you saw them but passed because its the English translation but they’re really pretty with some great illustrations
ohhhh yeah i really like the ones for books 1 and 2 but the rest i don't vibe with assssss much
@@valliyarnlit’s definitely worth getting the first two short story collections without the rest of the series as those are the only ones with illustrations so they are almost their own standalone set, they’re also way higher quality with the paper and little details than the rest of the series. The rest of the editions have different cover artists for each book which is a little strange although they do look great all together, especially spine out on a shelf
I don't care much about BookTube beyond the books being discussed (my own channel will never be a "success" for a lot of reasons: I don't focus on a single niche, I create longform content, I don't use social media, I don't dance to the algo-rhythms, etc.), but now I want to hear you dive deeper into the fascinating philosophies of Sartre! (My own opinion on "the self" is that who I am is defined entirely by what I do and how I do it.) L'enfer, c'est les autres!
interesting perspective! thank you for sharing :)
I love your videos! Keep it up 💫
thank you!
i love your content
thank you!
Exaaactly. Do as you want. The background really isn't all people make it out to be. That being said, I like this current background. Reminds me of the university dorm room ahh vibes.
Hehehehe that’s exactly what this is 😅
13:35 SAME! The magic happens in the edit, lol
I still haven't figured out iow to get any of you guys to just review my books.
maybe contact by mail?
@@valliyarnl tried that with a few (naming no names). Zero response. Not even to decline. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I've not finished the video, but just wanted to say 1k subs or followers on social media is enough for most publishers to send you an arc
‼️‼️Maybe I should email Tor and Gollancz sooner then? I neeeeeed more Joe Abercrombie in my life haha
@@valliyarnl a couple of my friends got an arc and their channels are a lot smaller than yours!
Great video by the way, I have now finished! I'm forever trying to understand what the algorithm wants of me, I got 100 subscribers last week, but then like 3 since!?
Looking forward to the McCarthy video - I have the same exact set.
Also, since you seemed to really like Sartre, I wanted to recommend that you spend countless hours reading a thousand-page work of mad genius, The World as Will and Representation by Arthur Schopenhauer. He’s a very ridiculous person, but I think that his philosophy is one of the most perspective-changing things that a person could read. I’m not sure how familiar you are with philosophy (especially Plato, Kant, and Hegel are good to have an awareness of to understand Schopenhauer) but I really think that Schopenhauer’s philosophy is worth diving into if you want to blow your mind. I don’t think he comes to the right conclusion (endorsing asceticism) but Nietzsche picks up the thread where Schopenhauer leaves it and brings it to a proper, satisfying conclusion.
Nice video 👍
the set is soooo gorgeous. I will add The World as Will and Representation to my list !
I'd like to hear your thoughts on monetization. There is a difference between having a hobby and just wanting to get your thoughts out there versus doing TH-cam as a full time job. I was going to write a long winded essay in this comment but decided it's not worth the battery power and keystroke effort! 😅
Haha I feel like with booktube making it your job being ur mindset going in is unrealistic bc such a small percentage of book TH-camrs get to a lvl where it is your job. I’m also nowhere near that level so idk if I can really comment too much on that.
@@valliyarnl Fair enough. 🙂
You shouldn’t be worried about your age, because young and smart person is really respectable and kinda rare combination (as I am reading this it’s sounds like a comment from 72 years old grandpa). Anyways, like your vids, keep it up :)
awww that's so sweet, .... grandpa ;) 💞
Loved the vid. Refreshing to have someone who isn't pushing dichotomous thinking just to succeed in the algorithm. (I have joined the cult)
Glad to have u
@@valliyarnl if you join mine i'll send u a hat *bribe 100*
Comments like "she gets views because of her looks" are an unmistakable mark of not knowing how the world works. If you want to make anything popular you need to make it attractive to people (only groundbreaking stuff in this comment). Like what is she supposed to do? Wear a burqa to "level the playing field" with my ugly face? She'd probably still win, because she has a voice that's more pleasant to listen to and a (seemingly) trained way of using it properly. If you're in the mindset of handicapping others instead of upping your own game to compete - you need to change asap, because that attitude leads to bad results.
As an aside, as someone who did a bit of youtube some years back, EVERYBODY gets weird comments about sex and bodily functions. It just comes with the turf if you put yourself on the internet I suppose. Even if you're a fat, balding dude.
Oooo handicapping is an interesting way of putting it. Have you read Harrison Bergeron? Reminded me a bit of that. Anyway, the comments yeah they’re gonna happen and they’re gonna get blocked 💋does wonders for me haha
@@valliyarnl Can't say that I have. Lately I've only been reading technical books for work and spy thrillers for entertainment :) But yeah - it would ultimately be about handicapping those who happen to have natural advantages and I hate that mindset.
I relate it to a video by SpectreSound I watched a while back that was essentially (see what I did there) about "beautiful girl with basic skill in guitar and singing gets millions of views, while legitimate geniuses struggle to get 1% of that" and people being salty about it. And his point boiled down to what I said here. Nobody is owed success, everybody has to work for it and it would be dumb not to use all the advantage you have.
Presentation is important and sometimes you need to work on that, because succeeding on the merit of your knowledge/skill alone is going to be near impossible when there are thousands of people who you are competing against.
As always, you are wise beyond your years
Awww thank you Nev
I do not subscribe to existentialism but I find it much less damaging than other modern modes of thought and essentially pushed one of my brothers toward it as it coincided with his rather staunch American individualism or traditional western liberalism. So, I suppose I have a relative soft spot for it?
Either way, this video kept getting thrown my way by the algorithm over the last few days and I clicked on it this time and wasn't disappointed. I don't usually subscribe to channels that I would like to comment on once they're too big because it loses that intimacy usually but you seem to at least have that "authenticity" so I subbed anyway. Not that I'm any arbiter of who one ought to be subbed to.
On another note 10/10 Setup
Well I am glad the algorithm seems to be favouring the video haha. Thank you for subscribing 🫶🏻 and as for the set up haha thanks for that rating too :)
random bucko from nowhere: here
😂😂 hi
Being successful on TH-cam is very difficult. Being successful in any career is difficult. You could work for someone else, you could work in a supermarket, you could do anything you want to do in life. Personally I'd work towards a medical degree. There's more money in it.
that's exactly what im doing rn haha (and why I'll reply to other comments later 😁)
@@valliyarnl Kudos, you did. I know you are working towards a medical degree, that's why I made said comment.
EVERY booktuber is here lmao
Collecting them like Pokémons 😈
Being pretty will, generally, only affect initial clicks but won't significantly impact watch time or viewer retention. Wera is extremely attractive, that's not me simping or anything it's an objective reality. While being extremely attractive does help it doesn't bring success by itself. It's bait, you still have to have content to achieve viewer retention which within the whole "booktube" space viewer retention is more important as book content is always going to be longform and require keeping peoples attention for more than a few seconds. Also people that criticize a pretty girl for being a pretty girl in the thumbnail are fairly ignorant as it would be pretty dumb not to do that. It's a tool to draw people in so you have a chance to hook them with your content, it would be foolish not to use an effective tool if you have it at your disposal.
The fact that you are young is truly obvious, you not knowing what that question means, and how dare you have a life outside of youtube, touch grass and stuff!?
On a serious note: you are young and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, i find it refreshing to see someone young who's into reading these days,
the fact that you're inteligent and you look good is just a bonus.
Age does not an inteligent/smart/good person make, sometimes it makes one more experienced, relaxed and/or wise but ultimately age is not a guarantee for anything except getting older.
This Planet is full of pieces of fecal matter of all ages, sizes and colours.
In my opinion: just keep doing what you're doing and don't mind the trolls, they have their purpose on the internet, they help develop thicker skin which is a must in this day and age.
P.S: your first video i saw was "your The Witcher unpopular opinions are wild" and then The Witcher books ranked; in my mind i was thinking: "What!? A young woman interested in The Witcher and reading!? In 2024!? Count me in!". \m/
what would u tell someone that had the inner struggle to start a yt channel? what motivated you in the begining?
I always wanted to start a booktube channel but never put together the pieces, u make an excellent example that it can be done, maybe ill give it a try one day who knows
ps: how do u edit ur vids? (wich software?)
I don’t exaggerate when I say the quote that got me started was “it’s better to do it than to live with the fear of it”. At the start, your videos are gonna be bad anyway so it’s best to just put them out and learn from them. Like getting over the hurdle of putting 1 video out is massive and then video 2 will be less scary and video 3 will be less scary again. You can use your phone if you don’t have a camera.
I use iMovie for less intensive projects (like this video) or DaVinci Resolve (free but my laptop is on the older side and can’t handle it well) for more editing intensive projects (like my Cosmere unpopular opinions video)
Hope that helps!
@@valliyarnl it does! thank you
I like the way you handle negative comments. I imagine being pretty AND smart gets you a lot of hate. Probably mainly by wannabe alpha males who are neither pretty nor smart and only clicked your video because of a pretty thumbnail. Try to imagine their disappointment when they realize that you want to tell them something about books (eek!). But this seems to be the price all content creators have to pay, and the only way to avoid being harmed is exactly this one: try not to give a damn.
100% thank you for the kind words!
Daniel Greene is the Goblin King, he ain't a regular dude.
- 18:55
Im so sorry. You’re so right. How could I have been so stupid as to refer to THE Goblin King as just a regular guy. I’m stupid
I don't quite understand the reasoning behind the Mean Comments response, about the commenter "not really knowing you".
I think the criteria should be, rather, the quality of the argument presented in the critique (and its tone, secondarily, but not necessarily).
For example the difference between a mean comment like the one about trauma as a motivator, and the other just plain insults or completely irrelevant observations (rude or not), is that the latter offer nothing of value to the topic at hand and are cheap Ad hominem, or irrelevant commentary.
The former, while rudely formulated, at least proposes an argument relevant to the topic (ideally "attacking" the idea, not the person).
I also don't think they were directly trying to call you an idiot, but more pointing out the argument itself as "idiotic" which I'd say is different, though I would agree there is no reason for that kind of hostility, and they probably should've counted to ten and then reformulated the comment in a more respectful tone, before posting.
In other words: Personally I'd take a rude, but well argued point on the topic at hand, over an unsolicited comment about something irrelevant, be it an insult or even a benign compliment about looks, for example.
There is no need to worry on whether or not the person knows you, if you just focus on the content and depth of their argument, which for petty insults is equivalent to zero.
So I should’ve kept this in. I was NOT talking about trauma as a motivator at all in the video. I was talking about how books are marketed 😂 so it was an unrelated thing to what I was talking about in the video in the first place (so not really attacking my idea at all because I didn’t even talk about that in the video). Trauma as a motivator was NOT the topic at hand, the topic at hand was how books with romance and trauma are marketed. Of course trauma is a huuuge reason why people do and don’t do things!
@@valliyarnl I see, I saw that video you're referring to, but I didn't realize the comment was in relation to that video (if you mentioned it I missed it, apologies).
In that case it seems like a odd rant, and yeah it falls under my idea of unrelated as well.
Probably one of those "chip on the shoulder you can't wait to dump on the first that comes around" kind of rants.
I guess the larger point still stands about focusing on the content of the critique, trying to ignore the tone of it.
At least that's how I try to approach it.
Most times people forget that there is a person on the other side of the video. The mask of the internet helps them solidify it
100%
I don't know if I would agree and call it the "dark side" of TH-cam because what it is are strategies to make your content more available across the internet. It's just basic economics, really, and the only reason (I feel like anyway) that TH-camrs are calling it the "dark side" is because they're discussing the amount of effort and time it takes to create one video, while also implementing their strategy to market their videos (kind of like what you did for your Witcher video). I think you don't need to call it the dark side to sugar coat the idea that maybe what you're really doing is using your platform like it's a business. Your viewers are the customers and you're just doing your best to make good income. I just feel like calling it the dark side is another way to apologize to your viewers that they're basically a customer while you're the service. Honestly, there's nothing wrong with that. That's just how it works, whether it's TH-cam or not, and while you should be thanking your customer, just the fact that your video popped into my feed without ever hearing of you already makes me feel like I should be thanking you-because what you're really doing in this particular video is that you're just showing me how the algorithm works and how I can use it to my advantage. I haven't seen the rest of your content, but I already feel like you're good at runnning your business, and eventually, when you have enough subscribers, you can start merchandising (whether it's your own book or whatever). Please don't mistake this comment for being negative btw, I'm being literal and honest with what I'm saying and I hope you can take it positively.
There's zero reason to own books unless you intend to re-read them or reference them frequently. Tons of people have book collections with books they only read once (and will only ever read once) or they've never read them and likely never will. Don't be those people. My collection has a hard limit of 100 books that I've reread several times. There's barely a 100 genuinely good novels anyway.
Interesting thoughts, and I am going to to say something that some people may be offended but that's not what I intent. What do you thing about male watching female youtubers. This is badly phrase. What I mean is that I think there are youtubers (mainly female) that are highly invested on their art\love and they take advantage of it with low decots and such. The best example is Gunpla meli which talsk at lenght about Models (usually Gundam) but at some videos she really uses her decot and you can see a lot of commentaries in some of those videosabout people not even interested on their videos but on the person.
Everything is marketing to make money I mean that's propaganda all over it. There are some youtubers that I love that are badly known like SciFiScavenger while others I don't even enjoy (either they sound "fake" or "sold outs" because they receive a dozen books month and they can't really talk bad about them or lest they lose thier money. I mean I love Brian Lee Durfee character but I despise his reviews because he can't really talk "bad" about a book. This is something that I am trying to find, a "real" youtuber that doesn't have any problem saying I didn't enjoy this author\writer, because they are always afraid they may offend x person or some part of their audience. I've only watch two of your videos and I am contemplating subscribing. You are sincere (I've been following in goodreads so I already know of you) and one thing I immediately notice was that you have no problem of rating a book a one star or two stars and saying the motif. It's sad that people on youtube have to be aware of what they talk or else they may offfend X or Y person. This wasn't like this... Oh well, sorry for the rant
Great video. Looks like we have all joined a cult! 😂😂
Glad you’re here. Hopefully a Devils ARC will be here soon too 😈
@@valliyarnl that would be great! Abercrombie is also a favorite of mine!
I have expected that some comments can be really mean, but insinuation that your Polish nationality is fake, shocked me deeply. Now I understand why you have in one of your Witcher videos the part spoken in Polish.
Did you have an update to your Witcher tier list or you still waiting for other occasion to read “Sezon burz”? Any predictions for new Witcher book that Sapkowski recently admitted is done?
Nie czytałam jeszcze Sezonu Burz bo po prostu nie miałam czasu do niego dotrzeć haha ale muszę się za siebie zabrać bo chce zrobić filmik Wiedzminski niedługo 👀
@@valliyarnl O to czekam z niecierpliwością :) Zastanawia mnie jedna rzecz którą powiedziałaś w jednym z filmów o Wiedźminie: wspomniałaś, że tłumaczenie angielskie nie jest najlepsze. Czy chodziło o pracę obu tłumaczy, czy tylko tłumaczki zbiorów opowiadań, bądź też tłumacza sagi?
@@czterystaczterdziesciczter1676 chodzi o obu tłumaczy. Od innych komentarzy zrozumiałam że niektóre tłumaczenia na inne języki są spoko (hiszpański podobną jest git). Ale na przykład: Bitwa pod Brenną jest tak nazwana bo nie mogli ją nazwać Bitwa pod Starymi Dupami (miasto które było bliższe do walki). Dla nas to jest śmieszne bo… no stare dupy ile więcej trzeba gadać haha. To jest przetłumaczone na „Battle of Old Bottoms”… chociaż to jest w miarę dosłowne przetłumaczenie (chociaż ja bym powiedziała Old Asses jak coś) no to nie oddaje ten efekt komiczny. W opowiadaniach są podobne sytuacje gdzie tłumaczenie jest może bardziej dosłowne ale nie oddaje tego samego vibe-u. I jest też segment gdzie paragraf randomowo znika 😅
@@valliyarnl Bardzo szkoda, miałem nadzieję, że zmienili tłumacza po to żeby było lepiej 🙁Pewnie też są różne szkoły tłumaczenia, ale przecież o to chodzi żeby jak najlepiej oddać vibe tego co autor napisał w oryginale. Znikające paragrafy to już w ogóle jakieś nieporozumienie, które nie powinno się zdarzyć, choć tu zgaduje problemem był brak redaktorów znających polski u wydawcy, więc, jak sądzę, polegali za bardzo na zaufaniu do tłumacza.
Wera impressive.
Thank you!
I don't know how to say this without getting downvoted, but you don't have to worry about what's in the background of your videos. Not even a little.
Why would u get downvoted?
@@valliyarnl For some reason a lot of people on the internet have lost their minds a couple of years ago and can no longer handle when someone complements a girl on her physical appearance.
@@improvizor but you didn’t comment on my appearance 😂
@@valliyarnl I was being subtle by implying that no one's gonna focus on the background with you in the front. I'll try to be more explicit in the future.
@@improvizor awwww that’s no bother it’s sweet :)
Joining the cult just because your goals are so noble.
Thank you thank you. Say one thing about Wera, say she her goals are the noblest 🫡
"You're too young to understand X" sometimes just means "I'm older and don't understand younger generations views and don't want to hear them" 🤭
Good one^ 👆