Authortube Part 4

[Justanotherreader99]

Who here has actually read Authortuber, Booktuber and/or YouTubers books, and thoroughly enjoyed them? I know some have been mentioned a ton but which ones, in your opinion, are actually worth their salt? Also, are there any self published ones that you think should have been traditionally published or, at the very least, could have been if the author tried? I often wonder what other people’s thoughts are surrounding this topic. I know I think about what The Stolen Kingdom (and other AT books) would be like if it were traditionally published. Would they sell more or less, would they be better known authors. Now that would be a great experiment to see on authortube. Some how self publish a book and then later down the line, if it were at all possible, get the same book or the next one, traditionally published. And find out which one turned out better.

I know people like to look down on self publishing, but I kind of lean more to that sort of route than traditionally publishing, even though that brings its own pros.

[smokingandangry]

The last I heard about Lainy is that she was working on some pirate book. I wonder if that’s the one that got her an agent. I’ve since stopped watching her a year or so ago. But cool she finally got one. I wonder if she had help from her friend Alexa. She has the connections to her her friends at least heard or looked at.

That's so incredible that networking has really shown to PAY OFF in the writing world. After all, aspiring authors have been cold-querying agents and networking at in-person conferences for DECADES! Lainey was so smart to get involved in Author Mentor Match and I can definitely tell that she takes her work seriously. Probably because she spends so much time actually doing the hard work and less time running her mouth on the internet! It's amazing what you can accomplish when you aren't so bitterly self-absorbed in your own failure that you can actually be happy for others, make good friendships, and connect with others in a meaningful way.

Have you ever considered doing that? Connecting with others in a meaningful way? And by that, I mean having at least one conversation in your life Katharine that isn't founded upon vitriol, social conspiracy theories, and your own insecurity? You should really try it out. You might actually...you know...finish a project and have it go somewhere.

you're my favorite commenter in the authortube threads because you're anti-anti-authortube. (i'm not being sarcastic, it's genuinely refreshing to have someone who cares about the community.) and I also appreciate you calling out something the rest of us are thinking but... shrug emoji. it's not worth the argument it'd cause to rehash it.

i'm excited by the traditional publishing trend in authortube too tbh! i'm optimistic we'll get some cool inspiring content to come.

[OneMoreMessyReader]

I know people like to look down on self publishing, but I kind of lean more to that sort of route than traditionally publishing, even though that brings its own pros.

I know I can come across as very anti-self publishing, but I don't mean to. I think most people here don't have a problem with self publishing so much as they don't like when it's used to scam or when authors with platforms put out rushed books and rely on their fans to buy and fellow authortubers to praise them. That's me, anyway.

Because anyone can self publish it is both its biggest boon and greatest downfall, because it only takes a few people who don't take it seriously to give a bad impression. I've been burned by lots of self published books that were full of errors and poorly formatted. At last with Traditional publishing, even if I end up hating the story, the objective formatting and line edits of the book are always good.

I think self publishing also suffers from a bit of bias. Sometimes a book just isn't for someone, or just a good read but not a great read. And they could be on par with a traditionally published book, but we tend to subconsciously go "traditional publishing would have fixed it" when the reality is traditionally publishing would have cranked out the same book, it's just the book itself. It's why I tend to stick up for Jenna Moreci and Bethany Atazadeh on the objective quality of their books, even if their books aren't my favourite and there is aspects of their platforms that trouble me. Objectively, I think their quality is on par with the market. It's just not for me so much personally (especially Jenna's book. I've only read the preview admittedly because it just wasn't my thing.) I suspect Abbie Emmons is also in this camp, but I have never even read the preview of her book.

That being said, I have still read some amazing self-published books (usually in sci-fi and thriller genres) that I adore. There are also genres and books ideas I have that even I would personally consider self-publishing. Some stuff just does better and is the market for it! Don't feel ashamed if that's where you want to go. We're just a bunch of anonymous people on the internet - you need to make an informed choice for you, not us. (That's the other problem the forum tends to have with the self-published authortubers. Sometimes feels like they pick these because their friends did, or because they can't let go of a book, or as plan B, or because they're scared to Query. Basically any reason other than "it was the best decision for me and this book".) I don't even think you have to make the perfect first self-published book out of the gate, or that you can't have room for growth and learning. Just don't claim to be a best selling author on a public platform while you sell writing advice and marketing before your first book is even out.

[Justanotherreader99]

There is so much to unpack about this topic.

1) I totally agree with you on authortube rushing to publish, I personally think the majority of new authors tend to have this idea that if they publish quickly it’ll help get them ahead. Then it quickly backfires and blows up in their faces. It becomes a huge embarrassing moment when the real reviews come in. And honestly, I feel bad for them on some level. Yes they are in full control of their self publishing time lines but I can only imagine the embarrassment they feel when things go bad. I may be outspoken and blunt but I do have a heart, I can be emphatic, I’m just on a trash talking gossip site. Harsh things have been said by all.

2) No one should apologize for their opinions on a gossip site. Contrary to popular believe, I actually like hearing both the good and the bad about authortube and booktube. It just seems like if you don’t run with the majority then you’re the odd man out and become an easy target, which I’m not okay with. I can only speak for myself here, but I don’t take anything said on this site as serious must do’s to achieve anything in the world of writing, reading, and beyond. I mean, this is a gossip site after all where pettyness runs rampant and lies are fed to the public, unless there is solid proof of scamming and lying about credentials to make easy money, courses, and other scams, I brush it off as just petty gossip. This site isn’t that serious, it’s not that deep, again this is my only my opinion no one has to agree with me.

3) I’ve also been burned by self published books in the past and it really put a damper on ever wanting to read self published books, but then again, I’ve found some really good self published books that aren’t by authortubers or YouTubers. The good ones are there, you just need to really look for them sometimes. It’s the needle in the haystack.

4) About last night, I only have one last thing to say because I’m not into arguing over any of this. It’s pointless. The acknowledgement of Lainy getting an agent. Just because I said, “I wonder if Alexa helped her out.” Doesn’t mean I’m not happy for her. I’d be happy even if I found out my enemy got an agent. I have a number of author friends who worked their ass off to get an agent and through their stories I fully understand how hard and frustrating it can be to find an agent and to sell their book. So I want to throw out there that just because I’m not the cheerleader type doesn’t mean I think she doesn’t deserve it if she put the work in. I didn’t even watch her video to find out her “publishing journey”. The last time I watched her channel she was talking about writing a pirate book, so I figured she must have finished it and got an agent. But I do find it odd that people have the mind set that if you aren’t part of the majorly on this site then you are the problem versus everyone being able to voice their opinions freely. If this is a site for anonymity then it should remain as such. I mean what would be said if I claimed iwriter was Alexa her self or even Laine and they just wanted to promote it here for everyone to see. (Not saying that is the case this is just an example) Would you all immediately jump on them for it? I honestly don’t care who’s on here and who isn’t and it certainly not anyone’s place to try to find out who is who or claim anyone is anyone, that’s how innocent people get hate. This really isn’t that serious and it isn’t worth fighting about. I’m only here to trash talk authortube, it’s not my fault that I haven’t heard about half of the people you guys talk about or praise. That’s pretty much it.

If people want to have a civil conversation then I’m all for it, but if you want to come at me with hostility and start drama then don’t except me to respect you or respond to you for that matter. I’m much too old for that shit.

In other authortube news, I finally got around to Bethany’s video about her 12 different passive incomes video and in it she stated she’s going to develop a course. Not going to lie, this made me roll my eyes. I get that Authortube wants to make all the money they can but I’m so over these courses being offered. And on top of that Meg is posting about her query letter class. I may not like Alexa, but I have some respect for her not coming out with a class. But if she ever does come out with her I’ll get to roll my eyes even more.

[OneMoreMessyReader]

I am REALLY done with all the courses being offered. I have no problem with a free course or even like a skillshare course... but so many of these courses feel overcharged. I've learnt more from writing in Brandon Sanderson videos and a few well-picked craft books. I don't mean to say that no one can make them and none have merit. I'm just sick of the advice books and courses from people who have only ever published a handful of books with ratings that haven't even broken 500. The things they are going to "teach" you is some basic beginner mistake stuff which is alredy on the internet for free, AND on Authortube itself.

I guess what really bothers me is that it feels like the people running these courses are often touting their "success" as an author as their credentials, but they're only making the course because they can't survive off of their publishing income alone. Like, doesn't that feel just a little off to people? Is it just me?

I don't mean to say that to be successful you HAVE to make a fulltime income with books. You absolutely don't! And even if that is your goal, the possibility of going that quickly is a million to one. But if your credentials are linked to your success, and you're making money off of Patreon, YouTube, Sponsorships, a podcast, and just a million other things... I don't know if that's the kind of advice I personally want to pay for. I want someone who has multiple successful books under their belt IN the genre(s) I want to write. And I guess there is always going to be a link to teaching be a second income stream for the Teacher/Author. They're not just going to make one to be "nice" and give out the info, and that's fine. I'm just more picky about who I want to pay I suppose.

I guess I don't really believe it's fair to police them and say they can't. It's their right to make a course. I just don't like it when they also overinflate and lie about their credentials to sell it. I just hope people do their research before paying.

[Justanotherreader99]

Speaking of course, I just looked on IG and Brittany Wang is now promoting that Publish and Thrive course. So that makes Bethany and Brittany. I wonder who else is promoting it and what kind of kick back they’re getting. Free course to try it out and promote it from experience or are these just her friends helping her out with promotion? I really hope this isn’t another Thrive course like Kristen Martin had. Has anyone taken it? Is it worth the price?

I agree if it’s a free course then go for it or if it’s Skillshare, find but I honestly wouldn’t take it mainly because you can find the same content for free on YouTube. And yes you’re so right! They only have these courses because they can’t survive off their book sales. And they have all their other passive incomes because they can’t survive on their book sales. So I ask you this, are they really full time authors if they can’t survive off their book sales or are they YouTubers who write books as a hobby and their main “job” is making content that gets views.

[WanderingWeirdo2]

Bethany's making a course? No shock there, considering she's buddies with people like Mandi Lynn and Brittany Wang who are pretty scammy. My only shock is that it took Bethany this long. Not trying to imply all courses are scams, but as OneMoreMessyReader pointed out, it's usually people who can't make a living as an author trying to tell you how to make a living as an author.

As for the self publishing topic, I personally find it more appealing than traditionally publishing, and it's probably because I was trad published and the experience was just shy of awful. It made me realize that, unless I am agented and get picked up by one of the big 5, everything a smaller publisher does I can also do and make more money on top of it. The only appeal with trad is I'd be paying nothing. But when you consider the cut into your royalties, in the end you are paying them.

[Justanotherreader99]

Yeah. And I think if I remember correctly, it might actually be free. I’ll have to go back and watch it again to fact check but I could have sworn she said it would be a free on on YouTube or maybe she was talking about the content she’s hiding behind her Patreon paywall. Honestly cannot remember now. There were so many passive incomes she was talking about. I just remember her saying, “and I’m making a course for writers soon but I’m not going into too much detail now, but I’m making one.” Then she talked about if people want to know what her sale numbers are like they can check out her patreon. And I rolled my eyes again. Everything worth watch from Authortube is always hidden behind some sort of paywall. I need to find more/new Authortubers to watch.

And I agree about the pros for self publishing! The idea about you making more money at the end is nice to think about. But then you’re literally paying for everything upfront. And traditional publishing pays everything, but get a cut of your sales so, like you said, you are still paying for it. Then again you might get a good sized upfront check. When you really break it down and look at both sides critically there are so many pros and cons to each side.

[May14159]

Speaking of BWs video about publish and thrive. I get second hand embarrassment from the faces these people are making in their thumbnails. Girl, close your mouth!

[Justanotherreader99]

Speaking of BWs video about publish and thrive. I get second hand embarrassment from the faces these people are making in their thumbnails. Girl, close your mouth!

I feel the same way in all of YouTubes try hard thumbnails. There is certain formula with thumbnails the bigger channels always use. They bank on the over exaggerated shocked faces or frowns or grins. Then you have the white line outlining the person. That is a huge trend in thumbnails.

[DeathArcana]

Speaking of BWs video about publish and thrive. I get second hand embarrassment from the faces these people are making in their thumbnails. Girl, close your mouth!

I feel the same way in all of YouTubes try hard thumbnails. There is certain formula with thumbnails the bigger channels always use. They bank on the over exaggerated shocked faces or frowns or grins. Then you have the white line outlining the person. That is a huge trend in thumbnails.

to be fair, it must be getting clicks since everyone does it. and if you want more viewers, you kinda HAVE to play into what everyone else is doing. It's why the channels that grow the most do the basic stuff + talk about the same things

[Justanotherreader99]

Speaking of BWs video about publish and thrive. I get second hand embarrassment from the faces these people are making in their thumbnails. Girl, close your mouth!

I feel the same way in all of YouTubes try hard thumbnails. There is certain formula with thumbnails the bigger channels always use. They bank on the over exaggerated shocked faces or frowns or grins. Then you have the white line outlining the person. That is a huge trend in thumbnails.

to be fair, it must be getting clicks since everyone does it. and if you want more viewers, you kinda HAVE to play into what everyone else is doing. It's why the channels that grow the most do the basic stuff + talk about the same things

True. But at what point do people think, “I don’t want to blend in anymore. I don’t want to be forced to do or like what everyone else does or likes. I want to focus on the things that I enjoy most.” I mean someone had to have come up with all these trends in the first place. So while everyone is off doing the same things for views, talking about the same YA books for views, someone has to take a chance with something new. This is how I found some of my favorite authortubers and booktubers, they stood out and talked about different things than everyone else was, even if their thumbnails weren’t up to par with the bigger channels. Then again this is just my personal preference, people can do whatever they want with their channels.

[Mimixoxo]

I tried watching romance book live session.. whats up with so called vloggers crying they are not getting free books. Go buy the book like the rest of us

[nonfriction]

Does anyone else just not care about Milwordy...at all? I should say first: like Kate C. I think she has great energy, makes great videos about a lot of interesting things, and I really love, in general, all of her writing experiments. I really enjoy videos from authortubers where someone challenges themselves to try and write 10k in a day, or try and commit to writing a poem every day for a month, and things like that - Becca's recent video where she did a whole book in 3 months was the best thing I've seen on authortube in a while, it was so interesting. And I admire Kate's commitment to her craft. She's always pushing herself, and is always writing. There are lots of authortubers that I love but who I sometimes wonder if they would have quit writing completely if it weren't for Authortube because they never seem to actually get a lot of writing done, just a lot of talking about how they're going to do it this year you guys, and writing outlines, and then a few months later they release a video like, "Why I needed to give up on that project and start something new", and on and on and even though I've been watching for years they never seem to go anywhere.

True, that Kate C's writing hasn't yet "gone anywhere" (that we know about, I wouldn't be surprised if she's already published things under a pen name, I think she's hinted as much) but I don't see her giving up, and she seems to have endless enthusiasm for all her projects. It's great to watch. I'm really excited that she seems to be prioritising finishing projects this year, too, and looking at publicly publishing, as that's obviously been an area where she's been going around in circles.

But. I just do not care how many words anyone writes in a year. I don't care how many words I write in a year! If you told me that over the course of my life I've written 4, 10, 90, 500 million words...this would mean nothing for me. It doesn't mean anything, it doesn't tell me anything useful. What means something to me is whether I've finished things I've started, whether I've written things I'm proud of, whether I've stuck with writing and showed up to write even when I don't feel like it, etc. Don't get me wrong, I love tracking, and as I said above, I love challenges (both participating in them and watching others' videos about them.) I do NaNoWriMo and set myself word goals outside of NaNo and think it would be interesting to track how many hours I put into one particular project. But someone trying to write a million words over creative works, emails, and all the different areas she's counting towards this - what's the POINT? I know a lot of other people are into it, and that's fine, not everything has to be for me. But I seriously just don't get it. It seems like such a mental distraction to spend so much of your mental energy and actual time tracking how many words in emails you send.

[DirtyB]

Long time lurker, first time poster...

About Publish and Thrive...Bethany and Brittany both took the course (i can tell because I'm in the group of alumini) and I'm assuming they paid full price for it. I've taken it and feel it is worth the price if your want to self publish. Perfect for someone who hasn't published yet. Or isn't seeing great results. I learned so much from it.

But after you complete it and she opens up a new round of it alumni of the course can get a code to be an affiliate of the course. That's why they post it the way they do. If people use their code they earn some money. I can do the same.

But again I loved the course and I recommend it whenever I can.

On a second note Kim Chance is moving her videos to a new platform. She sent out a newsletter about it and the link. Its password protected...so you'd have to join her newsletter to get access.

[Justanotherreader99]

1) I don’t understand the whole milwordy thing. You count email words? What? I only know there are multiple authortubers doing it. What exactly is it? How are emails involved? I thought it was something like write as many drafts as you can by the end of the year.

2) I’m personally not a Kate C fan. And haven’t watched her channel in a long while. I enjoyed her “I wrote like....” vlogs for a bit but then they felt stale and overdone. And the moving of the camera and her laugh became annoying, as others pointed out on these threads. I just don’t see the appeal in her channel anymore. Then again there are a lot of bigger channels that have become all fluff and no substance.


3) publish and thrive. What exactly do you learn? Can you do a break down of everything that’s involved? Kind of like an inside scoop. Someone did this same thing with Kristen Martin’s classes on one of the past threads that I read. They gave all the details and really broke things down.

4) I got the same news letter from Kim. I don’t understand her reasoning behind this. Is she scared of people watching her videos? Also she mentioned she was going to get back into editing and pointed out that it would mainly be developmental editing and outline, query, and other critiques. Now I wonder if this is why she is moving her videos, she wants to get back into the editing pool.

[chocolatebunny]

I also don’t care about milwordy and I rarely watch Kate C anymore. I enjoy her writing routine/write like an author vids but every time I watch her I feel like I need to clear my throat every two seconds (I think this might have been mentioned before?). Nothing against her, but I agree her videos feel repetitive and borderline pointless now.. I honestly don’t understand the point of milwordy either.

How would moving her videos (Kim C) help her get into the editing pool..?

[DirtyB]

Honestly her course website breaks it down pretty well.

https://heartbreathings.teachable.com/p ... and-thrive

I love the way she breaks it down and she has videos that walk you through the steps...like creating author accounts and how to upload your books. I loved the business module. She gives you worksheets that she uses for her business and shows you how to use them.

She also said she’s adding things to this round. So I’m excited for that. As an alumni you get life time access to the course. So anything she adds you automatically get access to. No extra hidden fees! Then she does a live Q and A each week on the modules. As a newbie it’s a great class. I knew a lot of things, but I also learned so much more.

[nonfriction]

1) I don’t understand the whole milwordy thing. You count email words? What? I only know there are multiple authortubers doing it. What exactly is it? How are emails involved? I thought it was something like write as many drafts as you can by the end of the year.

I will admit I'm not 100% sure, simply because I watched a bit of the video announcing it, thought, "Wow, I don't care about this at all," turned it off and haven't watched another video that's been explictly "about" Milwordy since. However, from what I gather, it's trying to tally all words that you write, like pretty much at all, in an entire year. Again, I'm not really clued in about this, so can't tell you the rules or parameters, but I feel like I've seen Kate C explicitly mention before that she's including almost everything related to writing/YouTube including things like emails to publishers, posts to her patreon etc. It's not just the actual drafting that counts. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[Justanotherreader99]

I also don’t care about milwordy and I rarely watch Kate C anymore. I enjoy her writing routine/write like an author vids but every time I watch her I feel like I need to clear my throat every two seconds (I think this might have been mentioned before?). Nothing against her, but I agree her videos feel repetitive and borderline pointless now.. I honestly don’t understand the point of milwordy either.

How would moving her videos (Kim C) help her get into the editing pool..?

She’s only offering editing services to her news letter subs and no one else. I really wish she’s say something other than mental health reasons. Did I miss anything with her YouTube channel? Did someone attack her or show up at her house and it triggered her into a mental health set back? Or did the stress of running a channel finally take a toll on her. I thought she was one of the most loved authortubers, unless I’m completely in the dark about something. She was with all the wander writers right? So she was in that whole crowd. I’m just confused.