Why Book Blogs Still Matter In an Age of BookTok

I’ve been connected the bookish net for much than 15 years, and successful that time, I’ve watched platforms emergence and fall. I retrieve talking astir books connected Livejournal, for Sappho’s sake. I started a publication blog called the Lesbrary successful 2011, due to the fact that I couldn’t find an LGBTQ publication blog that wasn’t 90% M/M books. Of course, I started an accompanying Tumblr for it astatine astir the aforesaid time, due to the fact that I spent astir of my clip there. Years later, I’d articulation BookTube, and years aft that, I adjacent gave BookTok a effort for a spot earlier dilatory backing away.

Over that time, I saw the bookish net turn and evolve, allowing for much niche spaces (like a sapphic publication blog, for instance), for antithetic formats, for caller personalities. I loved the passionate debates happening connected Tumblr astir representation, separating the creation from the artist, and much prickly fandom disagreements…and past I loved those conversations importantly little erstwhile they popped up again and again, connected Twitter and Tumblr and YouTube and TikTok, with perfectly nary advancement made implicit time.

All done these moments of dipping successful and retired of antithetic bookish spaces online, though, I kept the Lesbrary. It began to look much and much outdated. Who follows publication blogs anymore? Who reads their online contented anymore, alternatively of watching videos? (Hello, reader!) More significantly, I began to uncertainty whether determination was a request for a sapphic publication blog similar excavation anymore. More sapphic books are being published present than ever before, and much radical are speechmaking and promoting them. BookTok has a lively sapphic books section. I consciousness similar I, successful immoderate tiny part, contributed to this environment, which I instrumentality pridefulness in: if I tin marque the Lesbrary wholly obsolete, I’ll beryllium happy.

I haven’t packed up my blog and shuttered the windows, though. Because arsenic I watched the aforesaid conversations play retired implicit and implicit again connected antithetic platforms, I truly started to recognize however ephemeral astir of them are. BookTube and BookTok are large for browsing and following, but they’re not casual to search. You mightiness beryllium capable to find wide topics (like queer books), but looking for thing circumstantial is trickier. The platforms conscionable aren’t designed for that. TikTok particularly is not meant to beryllium a repository of knowledge, an archive of opinion. It’s a firehouse of content, and you’re meant to beryllium keeping up with what’s new, not exploring what came before.

The newest level is besides usually populated with young voices, particularly teenagers and radical successful their aboriginal 20s. Most of them person not lived done the Livejournal days, and they’re not digging into the WayBackMachine to spot what was happening successful their country of the net earlier they got determination — I surely ne'er did. There’s thing incorrect with that, but it does person immoderate pitfalls, similar repeating the nonstop aforesaid mistakes arsenic the level that came before, with the aforesaid arguments and schisms emerging.

It besides means, successful the bookish broadside of things, that astir of the radical making contented connected BookTok aren’t alert of books published 5 oregon much years agone unless it’s Catcher successful the Rye. There are immoderate unthinkable books coming retired now, of course, but the recommendations you get determination mightiness permission disconnected immoderate of the champion books ever written successful that sub-genre/trope/category/etc due to the fact that they were published earlier that idiosyncratic got online.

While of people I’m nostalgic for the days erstwhile publication blogs were the biggest country of the bookish net — not slightest due to the fact that they were not babelike connected a singular elephantine corp — I deliberation their worth is much than conscionable nostalgic. Text-based contented is easier to search, to propulsion up astatine the room oregon bookstore. There are besides plentifulness of contexts wherever you mightiness privation to work a blog station than ticker a video. Blogs tin beryllium longer lasting, too: the Lesbrary has seen the emergence and autumn of respective platforms, similar Tumblr. They besides tin enactment arsenic a benignant of archive — not to brag, but the Lesbrary is really included successful the Library of Congress integer collections. Even without that, though, blogs are little apt to vanish without a hint than video contented is — adjacent erstwhile they’re taken down, they whitethorn inactive permission a ghostly content connected an archive somewhere.

There’s besides a batch of positives for creators. I find a publication blog much, overmuch easier to support than a BookTube oregon BookTok account. Being successful beforehand of the camera is exhausting, and it tin beryllium expensive, depending connected however overmuch you privation to put successful bully video prime and editing. Book blogs are cheaper, and they don’t necessitate astir arsenic overmuch vigor to marque content.

For radical making bookish contented online, mightiness I urge a tie-in blog? It tin beryllium a large spot to signifier your content: for instance, if you urge your favourite queer mermaid books successful a TikTok, you tin embed the video connected your blog and enactment down the titles and authors, making it casual to notation later. You tin adjacent adhd immoderate affiliate links for the accidental of getting a small spot of wealth retired of that work, depending connected the size of your audience.

As we spot this long-anticipated online pivot to video, I’m not acceptable to accidental goodbye to publication blogs. And if you’re speechmaking this, it looks similar you astir apt aren’t either.

If you privation tips connected however to commencement a publication blog and marque wealth disconnected of it, cheque retired What I’ve Learned From a Decade of Book Blogging and How To Make Money Blogging About Books.