BOOK COMMUNITEA: THE BINDERY FOLLOW UP [CC]
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- 💕 Join us on Patreon for: exclusive book reviews, book club, reading sprints, exclusive projects, and more: / jessowens
Hey hey! Yeahhh, this video is long overdue but I'm finally going over what I talked about with the Bindery people and going over the books coming out this fall that i'm going to read. Share your thoughts below!
Thanks for watching!
-Channel art by Senny: ...
-I don't own the rights to this music. Music from Royalty Free Music from Epidemic Sound
📲 find me:
-Business Inquiries: jessmowens@gmail.com | NOT ACCEPTING BOOKS FOR REVIEW
-Instagram: / saidbyjess
-Book CommuniREAD Discord: / discord
-Goodreads: / jesiowens
🌎 GLOBAL ISSUES
-www.thepalestineacademy.com
-Yassmin (on Sudan): www.tiktok.com...
-Bsonblast (on Sudan): www.tiktok.com...
-Subhi (on Palestine): www.tiktok.com...
-Awa (on Palestine and Democratic Republic of Congo): www.tiktok.com...
-John the Duncan video on Genocide - • Genocide
-Historian debunks propaganda video - • THIS PRO-ISRAEL VIDEO ...
-Eyes on Palestine: ...
-Bisan (currently living in Gaza): ...
-Plestia (journalist in Gaza): ...
-Motaz (journalist in Gaza): ...
-Sim Kern (Jewish author): ...
💕Affiliate Links & Codes:
-Bookshop.org: bookshop.org/s...
-Love audiobooks? Try Libro FM: libro.fm/referr...
-Scribd: You get 60 days free & I get 30 days: www.scribd.com...
-Stay hydrated with Liquid IV, 25% off and free shipping: Use code SAIDBYJESS at glnk.io/koyv/s...
-Protect your info with Surfshark VPN: Use code OWENS to get 83% off and 3 months free at surfshark.deal...
-Try Epidemic Sound for royalty free music here: www.epidemicso...
-Try the awesome bookish gear at Boredwalk! Get 10%
off with my link or use code JESSOWENS: www.boredwalkt...
Any video on my channel is reflective solely of my opinion and is for entertainment purposes only. Any copyrighted materials or excerpts are for "fair use" for such purposes as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. (Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976)
I'm sick of publishers (and movie studios) deciding to only produce stuff they've decided has a built-in audience rather than being willing to take a chance on anything interesting and original. This is how we get more and more of the same stuff over and over. And how the same people keep getting promoted rather than anyone fresh and new. Meanwhile, so many great authors and moviemakers will never get a shot because they don't have huge followings and don't have the "right" connections. (And yes, I'm generalizing, and I know there are exceptions, but I'm just so mad at creative industries in general right now.) Anyway, I just feel like things chosen and created by committee often becomes reduced to lowest common denominator content. Which is exactly what they want, really, since the broadest appeal = most sales?
I mean, I could be wrong when we actually read the books but I think Bindery is trying to get around that by circumventing traditional gatekeepers in publishing who have to pitch books they want to buy to entire committees of marketing and higher ups by a single tastemaker.
I'm not sure that i personally think all of the tastemakers actually have taste but quite honestly by combining a membership-style source of revenue with traditional book sales they can honestly afford to take more chances.
The thing is I feel bad trying to cope and decompress from everything happening. Knowing that Sudanese, Congolese, and Palestinian people don’t have the privilege to rest makes it hard for me to rest. Furthermore, it feels so dystopian to know about what’s going on and then have to clock in to my 9-5.
All that to say: I have been trying to read and play sims. Also talk about what’s going on within my personal communities to help navigate how we should go forward.
Ugh yess I feel guilty for taking breaks when they don’t get a break from their reality. But talking about it in your personal communities is a great thing!
I have a lot of skepticism about Bindery, I'm not sure it is sustainable. Are these tastemakers paid for their time, or are they only paid by the patrons of their imprint? Kinda seems like outsourcing a potentially full-time publishing salary to a dozen underpaid influencers. I think we've all seen many "influencers" come and go, many post consistently for a few years & then move on, etc. It doesn't seem a guarantee that a tastemaker will have a long-term audience and they will have to be opening/closing imprints on a very frequent basis. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the books!
exactly. it’s very much MLM SCHEMEY
The unreliability of influencers...That part 💯
@@scroogemcduckrich9705not every scam is an MLM but yeah, it'll be interesting to see if the imprints have longevity or are a flash in the pan.
I know some of the "tastemakers" have been making online content for more than 10 years but obviously some of them seem newer too.
And who knows how the possible death of USA tic tok will affect things.
I think it'll definitely be an interesting experiment!
Exactly. This feels like a ploy from the Big 5 publishing houses, they get to cut costs by firing full-time employees and dumping most of the on influencers while they hoard the money. And the influencer sphere is just as racist as everything else. Very few people of color are getting Cait Corain's deal despite having equivalent (or hopefully better) works.
It seems they’re just getting paid from the subscriptions. 🫠
I've been feeling the same (e.g. angry, helpless, depressed, guilty for not doing more). I also don't have a solution, but I appreciate you bringing the topic up ❤
🩵🩵🩵
It baffles me. People have all the power and leverage to change the world, if we worked together against our wicked overlords, but we just don't. We just allow them to remain in power and control us with what is essentially monopoly money.
Try not to put so much pressure on yourself. It's nice to want to solve problems but Earth is a big one. No one person can save the world.
Sending you strength of mind and peace for your heart and soul. A lot of us feel the same way. ❤
i remember reading something that's really stuck with me, it went like "you cannot feed bread from an empty basket, you cannot serve water from an empty pitcher."
so before feeling guilty about not speaking up "enough" about what's going on, be sure to be kind to yourself. be sure to look after yourself and how much trauma you expose yourself to in order to keep updated on current events. running on the fumes of your own mental health can burn you out and put you in harms way, so please don't forget to take care of yourself and your own needs ❤
The only advice I can offer is advice that many might reject out of hand. Stop watching the footage of the death and destruction or limit how much of it you see. That doesn't mean you stop caring or trying to help, but stop subjecting yourself to the constant flood of horrors. It is to easy to fall into doom scrolling and inflicting harm on yourself. And the further down that road you go the more and more hopeless you will feel. And you help no one by doing this. Instead, find a news source you trust to keep yourself informed but take a step back from the flood of images and give yourself a moment to breath and to recover some of your own strength and then start looking for ways you can help, good sources to donate or volunteer at. It is okay to take care of yourself first, in fact it is necessary for you to take care of yourself first because you can't be there for anyone else if you let yourself drown first.
Palestinians have asked nothing more of us than to bear witness, so that when Isra Hell try to say “that never happened” we can all stand and say YES IT DID. And bearing witness is hard. I have to be very careful of my PTSD, so sometimes I can bear witness for 10 seconds and sometimes it’s 4 hours. Everyone with a working soul is wounded by what they’re seeing. It should feel that way. That means our hearts are working 🖤❤️💚🤍
Ahhh yes. To be born with a soul and a conscience. We can see who is lacking both and we can also see that they could care less what we think of them. Soulless narcissists, killing indiscriminately with pride in their eyes. Seems like people should be okay with being called antisemitic at this point but...
🩵🩵🩵
Thank you for following up on the Bindery. I’m interested to see how it plays out.
And i 100% understand the feelings about Palestine. I’ve found that connecting to others, when possible, has really helped. If there’s a group you can connect with that’s organizing around Palestine, that might help. Sending you a big hug ❤
honestly for me i’m more concerned for the authors being used as guinea pigs. there’s been so many situations where it’s like oh this seems great but then it falls apart right after outset, they seem like the person of least concern in the situation. the centering of “tastemakers” over the writer of the book leaves a bad impression on me.
I would be curious what the contacts the authors sign say about reversion of rights!
A friend of a friend was with a big 5 imprint that closed and the rights just got subsumed by another imprint at that company.
Edit: Marina from MyNameisMarines has joined and has a book, she picked, coming out in June 2025. I'll definitely check her imprints for sure!
I’m super curious where Bindery will go in terms of publishing industry long term. It’s nice to have actual readers/communities having more say of what gets published but, there is only so much that can be influenced. Haha!
Also, thank you for reminding us to keep it top of mind. It’s easy to just swipe past, or ignore the news feeds because we do feel helpless, but we never know when we will have the opportunity to make a difference, and being informed for that moment matters
Yep, I think we will have to keep watching Bindery and see how it plays out over time
I utterly feel the same. I live in NC and I know sending another letter to my reps isn't going to do a damn thing. Moments like this I do what I can to educate those around me, continue to educate myself, and send money if I can. After I do that, I have to step away. I've read a lot of stories about WW2 and the homefronts for that war. People knew what was happening, but sometimes you'll come across little moments in people's letters were they're talking about their garden, or them being excited they had enough fabric to make a new dress. It's the little joys that keep the mind sane through horrific times. So, now I'll take a page out of their book. I'll make a cup of tea, looking videos for one of my hobbies, or play a game. If I was in a better place I would run a fundraiser, or do a charity to help more. But that's my battle. We all need to find ways we can help, but also we need to help ourselves when our souls need it.
Thank you for talking about this, you're one of the few creators I've seen being upfront about your feelings and it's good to know we're ot alone.
What helps me the most is focusing on the global support and solidarity towards Palestinians. That is what community is for, to draw strength from each other and lift each other up when we need it most. In the past couple of months we’ve seen a tremendous cultural shift not just in America, but in France, England, and Spain as well. That’s a total 180 since October, especially since our media just parrots the apartheid state. More and more people are calling it what it is, a genocide. They weren’t doing that before. They’re also speaking up on it now after Rafah, and seeing all the BS for themselves. For people to band together regardless of what our media and government are saying, that’s powerful. On top of that we have South America, Africa, China, The Middle East, and Australia who have been supporting Palestine since Day 1. This is the most support that Palestinians have ever had, and it will only continue to grow. Even when our politicians fail us, and they do (on multiple continents), the people shape the culture, and culture contains power. Look at the student protests all over the world; those started with just 1 school. Look what happened in Michigan (highest Muslim demographic in U.S) during the primary election, they voted undecided out of resentment just to send a message to Biden and he was then forced to talk about it in order to address it. He still messed it up, but my point is the people are out here doing things any way they can and there is so much strength to draw on, you just gotta refocus (which is hard, I know).
I think it really depends on the Tastemakers they’ve chosen. I’m so tired of the same basic romantasy being published over and over, so if they choose tastemakers who will choose those types of books, I’m not really interested. But if they choose TMs with more unique perspectives, then it could be really good.
I hope we get some fresh concepts and stories!
Yesss I’ve been wanting a bindery update (btw I didn’t know you were planning on one so I don’t mean to pressure!). I don’t frequently hear this opinion on it and I think it needs to be critically discussed 👏
I mean I can’t speak on the business model but the book covers definitely impressed me!! I might try some of them out if they’re at my library
I'm planning to check some out from my library too! Hopefully they're good.
Yeah this idea makes me a little nervous but I hope it works.
It's interesting that one of the reps you talked to was previously at Girl Friday because they are a "pay to play" publisher.
I think this is really fun. It's a new approach to publishing. It kind of reminds me of Swoon Reads.
I think what you're doing now by sharing what's going on, sharing links to donate and I know some of us are praying is something we can do for now. I learned a long time ago that I know our government listens, but they don't always act so I never bother with them. I try to help in other ways, but I know seeing those pictures especially of babies is heartbreaking. Do you know what broke me? Back when Russia invaded Ukraine they showed a video of a man weeping at the side of his dead mother. The heartbreaking sobs and wails of this man tore my soul. I took a sabbatical from the news for my peace of mind. Yes, stay informed, but take a break from it to give yourself time to process and heal. Humans are going to be humans, we are an invasive species we do horrifying things not only to our fellow animals, but to ourselves as well. What we can do is acknowledge that we don't want the negativity to impact us, but remind us that there are others who need our love and prayers and virtual hugs, even the ones causing this negativity. If you meditate then just keep putting love, peace, and positivity out there. I know that's hard because it feels like most days the angry people are just out and about, but we can always keep trying. I hope this helped and much love and virtual hugs to you and Nigel. 😊🩷🩷🩷
🩵🩵🩵
Thank you for sharing this. I received an ARC of House of Frank and am very interested in the book itself. I had no idea about the background of the publishing house. Knowing this I’ll make sure to look into it closely and address it in a final review. thanks
you're so right about everything. it's hard to carry on and unreal. but we have to bear witness. Free Palestine. Free Sudan. Free Congo. Sending you support, even though I'm struggling too.
Bindery still seems sus 🤷🏽♀️
Also the author advances are tiny. And while it is wise for these influencers to not have editing power, how do they know they when the book is in edits, creative choices won't be made that they don't like? And doesn't the author split royalties with the influencer? I'm sorry but that is wack (if I'm understanding correctly).
That’s what it seems like, I still don’t fully understand it but from what I’ve seen, I’m concerned
i went to a whole bunch of marches and got connected with similar minded folks who want to help; just getting out there and doing something usually makes you feel better
Bad Robot is JJ Abrams production company. They are responsible for Aliqs, Lost, Westworld and a ton more success things
I checked in Edelweiss, since that's where a lot of booksellers access galleys or order for their stores, and the Bindery imprint is in there now. (and the galleys) It doesn't have the tastemakers names directly but the links to their Bindery pages are in the links section.
In terms of the books and publishing: at first I kind of hoped that Bindery might at least be better than big 5. (Though now seeing how dominantly white the influencers they have are makes me less hopeful) but at the end of the day I just wish people put more intention into exploring self-published books.
In terms of palestine: I see a lot the reccommendation to participate and engage with your local community. Volunteer work or community (covid safe) events where you can come together and help/bond with the people in your space while still supporting the people dealing with things bigger than us.
I'm high risk so those things aren't typically an option, but what's helped me is talking about/doing videos about what's going on. Either just talking about the genocides and politics without pressure to say something new, just condensing information that we have, or trying to give real reccomendations in terms of alternatives to boycotted/profitting from genocide companies and such. Maybe you could do a video of "books to read instead of these ones by zionists"
I think the Bindery thing is a nice concept, but I do think that it will deteriorate rather quickly. The only thing that keeps popping up in my mind is the book Light Lark and how terrible that went. Having influences make these kinds of decisions on book ideas and their own imprint without any professional background or qualifications seems irresponsible.
Yeah, I feel trapped between “influencers are not the people I want deciding what a good book is” and “big 5 publishing has a lot of systemic issues”
the tastemakers better read their contract this sounds very much like MLM Herbalife scam 😂
Everything is a scam in 2024. My ability to trust has shriveled down to the size of a mustard seed
I hope they read it multiple times!
@@JessOwens 😂😂
Something I've heard from Palestinians is that it's unfair to them to feel despair. they are the ones suffering and remain hopeful they will be free. we as witnesses have no choice but to also feel hope. Easier said than done, because what we are seeing is horrendous. I know when I start feeling hopeless, I have to tap out for a bit. I am no good to all those suffering when my mental health starts suffering. So i take breaks, get my mind back in order, and go back in. Don't feel guilty about what you're doing, Jess. You're doing as much as you can
I havent forgotten either.
💜
I'm so excited for this follow up!
I feel like we need another Husband Describes Book Covers for Me To Guess video soon 😛
I think at this point we can only really know what's public on the Bindery website or what the tastemakers say but I'm cautiously optimistic because their profit model is mostly based on the subscriptions, which already work on TH-cam, Twitch, Patreon, etc. With the books as kind of a bonus. Hopefully this incentivizes taking more risks with the books they choose but we won't really know until we can read them. Looking forward to your thoughts when you read them!
As for Palestine, thank you for taking the time to say something. It can definitely feel like we don't have much control but public opinion, pressuring those who do have control, and talking to friends and family can help.
I'm mostly just donating to GoFundMes at this point so I'm really grateful to the influencers picking families to highlight because it gives me a direction.
I think with what's happening in Yemen and other places it does feel like there are fewer concrete actions to take so i definitely need to figure out what actually would help there.
This is very interesting. I’m not sure but can say I find the YT doing this distasteful. Looking forward to your reviews.
Thank you for another fantastic video
Bad Robot makes movies, or is involved in them, i don't know if they also make other things or what their specialty is, but they're one of the little banners you see in the opening credits of movies.
I've actually heard of Strange Beasts from some BookTube 2024 New Releases videos, had no idea it was a Bindery book. Idk, I would be surprised if they are of a significantly higher quality than trad pub but we'll see. I know a few of the Tastemakers, I love Marines so I'm happy with them picking her
The concept is very interesting, very...busy. But is pyramidal construction, and after a short time problems will appear. Only to think at the competitive side of an influencer and the drama they are always creating, even involuntary. In the end, it is about money, and where are money, is ego also. The following of each...taste maker (so cringy indeed) have bigger egos. A pyramidal scheme works for a while, and the book moods and taste of the readers are in continuous movement, which gives no stability to a project. All this said, their intention is commendable because it is tailored for the younger people, which are the consumers of these new and newer authors. The industry must be fluid and flexible, to look always for new ideas.
The industry definitely needs a shake up, I just am not sure this is it. But only time will tell
about the bindery thing, i think its a smart and cautious move to only publish 4 books for the first round just to see if there are any obvious and major flaws that could be remedied going forward. to me this is rather a green flag than anything else but lets see.
dont have anything to add about the ending of the video, i mean it is simply devastating and constant. all we have is hearing and seeing each other so we know we are not alone and we are not crazy. the gaslighting from media and politicians cant have as much of an effect on us if we continue to share our humanity in spite of them. and in that vein, thank you for sharing and talking.
Book vendors need to realize that what constitutes a good book is subjective, depending on the reader. Big 5 is played out but they are also well established. Sort of like, the devil we know. I don't trust new companies in this dog eat dog world. Everyone is out for themselves but we'll see. I tend to support any entity that promotes reading diversely. We can learn so much about each other through books. Better than learning the hard way in the real world.
It feels so dystopian to be just going to work and normal life in the midst of all of what is happening. I call my state reps but even that feels like it doesn’t move the needle whatsoever, I feel like they don’t care what we want or say. At the federal level it’s even worse.
I also saw the video Motaz posted and I sat in silence for about twenty minutes, I couldn’t move. I feel guilty when I can’t watch or educate myself further because I have the luxury of “turning it off” and thousands of people don’t. From an individuals side I don’t think there’s any good answers. I feel hopeless honestly.
Truly wild to clock in to a job after we just scrolled our phones and see all of the d3ath and violence
All the book premises really intrigue me but I'm so wary that they will deliver what they promise after so many popular, heavily promoted books from Tiktok and TH-cam don't live up to the hype.
How diverse are the book tastes of the communities they’ve tapped? If they’ve gotten a lot of tastemakers from TikTok, what are the odds for anyone who does not write romance and romantasy?
This feels reductionist. Already they have Jananie, Ezeekat and Marines who are very great book reviewers and read diverse genres and authors
You can read the descriptions of the first four books already and only one has a Rebecca Yarros blurb so... Fewer Romantasy than you think.
Yall, I also support Palestine, but please STOP doom scrolling obviously that's gonna be bad for your mental health 😭🤦🏽♀️ (Also, social media "activism" only goes so far and is pretty meaningless in my humble opinion as unless politicians develop a freaking conscience, then nothing is gonna change 😐)
FreePalestine. Free Sudan. Free Congo.
My only issue is that this may have the tendency to release even more books that are no more than, "beautiful gowns" as you so rightfully put it.
Because I like most of these covers but I’m nervous about how the actual story will be!
still sounds MLM- esq to me..
This entire idea treats books as though the thing that makes them good is a slew of tropes and a plot idea; not the actual writing and prose being the heart of a book.
Yesss and I’m so tired of the focusing on tropes and not the writing and story itself
usually i agree with you but you should have done your research by reading the website and interviewing content creators who use bindery before calling it an MLM/pyramid scheme. your audience is much wider than some of the creators on it and misinformation like this can kill brands competing against content giants like patreon and ko-fi. even equally large content creators have seen people turn away because people think it's an MLM which it's not. it's literally just patreon except 75% of the profits go toward the content creator and their imprint. it provides a platform that makes it easier for creatives to post across platforms while providing extra content to financial supporters. the model is explained indepth on the website and i think you should rectify this by doing thorough research because this was mad irresponsible.
Exactly this, I was skeptical but I saw MyNameisMarines's video and it cleared up a bunch of questions. An MLM is a serious, horrible things and the term should not be thrown lightly. Words have meaning and thus have power-how many people are going to see this video's title and subconsciously hold the belief about bindery being an MLM when it's not? I feel like this type of behaviour is harmful to the book community. Thank you for your comment, I really hope Jess sees it!
🍉
I don't know... I just don't get this concept 🤷♀️
I’m still confused 😂
Who wants to bet they will cut corners on marketing and depend on their "partners" to do a lot of free labor?
still sounds like an MLM to me 😬😬😬
"I don't need to go into it's black people so naturally there's going to be less inclination to pay attention. that's just a fact." sigh. ain't this the truth though. i mean I'm not condoning what's happening in gaza but like you said there's so many other genocides happening that aren't getting as much attention. the world is literally burning and humanity has lost the plot.
but I hope you get to take care of yourself and feeling like you're not doing enough is valid but also here you are talking about it and addressing the issue so that in itself is better than doing nothing.
I don;t like any of those covers hm
That Strange Beasts book cover looks like it's AI generated, which is revolting. I don't understand how authors can get mad at ChatGPT and our Orwellian future on one hand and then embrace the exact same technology in a different format with the other. It's all so disappointing.
Possible future BookTube topic could be about all of the authors embracing AI regurgitated images. Right now on Meta/FB/IG/WhatsApp there's a call to remove all original artowk from the platforms because they will be scraping the content in order to train their proprietary AI. Because the US has almost no privacy laws in place against this practice US artists have no recorse, we can't opt out, by posting anything on the platform we've agreed to let them use any artwork/ photography, video, and writing samples.
I’m definitely wary about AI book covers, but looked it up and the Strange Beasts cover was actually hand drawn! The artist is Zach Meyer who also did the art for Anatomy. He’s just got that surrealist/illusionist style
Love to hear this!