Want to know how to start a BookTube channel? It may be a lot easier than you think, and I am here to help walk you through everything bookTube from start to finish! So let’s get you going and get that first video posted!

How to Start a Booktube Channel for Beginners

The other day we talked about how to start a book blog, so now I wanted to talk about how to start a BookTube channel.  This can be a really fun hobby for readers. Booktube is a great way to meet others who like to read and gives you a fun community online that you can talk to.

I know a lot of people who want to start BookTubing are a little overwhelmed, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I want to talk you through the simple steps to starting a BookTube. You don’t need fancy equipment, it doesn’t have to be perfect. All you need is a camera or phone, some books, ideas, and a little bit of time!

What is Booktube?

So if for some reason you landed here and don’t know what BookTube is, I am here to answer. Booktube is a small community on YouTube where people talk about books. Really, that’s it.

There are multiple different sub-genres in the Booktube community too. There is the fantasy BookTube, which is where I personally reside. But there are also communities for pretty much every imaginable book genre out there.

So if you are a reader and you aren’t on BookTube, you are missing out on some really awesome content!

So, How Can I Start a BookTube?

Starting a BookTube is so much easier than most people think. Really, starting any YouTube channel is pretty easy. You don’t need to have an expensive camera, nor do you need to be an expert at videography and editing. All you really need to start a successful BookTube channel is to try!

BookTube Equipment

When it comes to starting a BookTube, you will need some equipment. The main things you are going to need are:

• A camera or smartphone to film on.
• Video editing application, either on your phone or computer.
• A tripod or something to place your camera or phone on.

For your camera, you can use anything you already have to film on.  Smartphones are fantastic, and most people already own one. So don’t go out and buy a brand new camera just to get started. Use what you have! Honestly, smartphones right now have some pretty amazing cameras. I still use mine to do photos and vlogs even though I personally own a Canon DSLR.

Video editing is another thing you can do for free or cheap. There are a lot of free editing apps for your phone and computer, you just have to look. Start by searching the app store for free editing apps. I found a blog with free video editing apps that was really helpful that you can check out.

Then you need a tripod or something to set your phone on while filming. You can pick up some really inexpensive phone tripods on Amazon that will last you a very long time!  If you don’t have the best natural lighting in your home, then you can even pick up one of these ring light phone tripods for under $40!

That’s it. Those are the three pieces of equipment you need to start your channel! You can pick up some extras like lighting and props for photos if you want, but they aren’t really necessary.

BookTube Filming Setup

Once you have some filming equipment, you need a filming spot. Most BookTubers film in front of their bookshelves, but it isn’t a necessity. 

Pick somewhere in your house with good natural light, set up, and film. When I started out, I filmed in front of my single bookshelf in the corner of my office. It has grown a lot since then, but these things take time. 

I will say, having books in your filming setup is pretty helpful. It is nice, as a viewer, to see books from your preferred genres and authors in the background of all your videos. It helps viewers get a feel for your content at a glance. 

The main thing I want you to keep in mind is that it does not need to be perfect. You are starting out, this is a learning experience. Learn as you go. You can always change your setup as you go. 

Coming Up With BookTube Video Ideas

You are set up and have what you need, now comes the hard part, coming up with BookTube video ideas. I say it is the hard part, but really it isn’t that bad. 

You may think you will have to be super creative and that you should avoid the “typical BookTube videos”. That can’t be farther from the truth though! Those typical videos are fine. Make your book hauls, wrap-ups, TBRs, and tag videos. They are easy and fun to do, plus, people expect them and they get views! 

Round that up with things like reading vlogs and single-book reviews. You can even do what I do and do book recommendation videos. I will pick one popular fantasy book trope and then share 5 or so books that fit into that trope. It is really great and a helpful way to suggest books to people.

You aren’t recreating the wheel here. Just film what you want and have fun with it.  

Time to Film your BookTube Videos

We are finally ready! It is time to sit down and film your first BookTube video. At first, it may feel a little strange to sit there and talk to a camera. You will want to make sure everything is perfect, but don’t because nothing is ever perfect. Your first few videos will be a learning experience, and that is fine! What is important is that you get that first video done!

One thing I still do when filming is use notes. Not really a full script but points I want to make sure I hit. I keep those on a little paper next to me and glance over once in a while to make sure I am still on track. For example, when I do a book review, I make bullet points of things like the pros and cons that I want to touch on. 

Another little tip is to look at the camera not the viewfinder of your camera. It is really tempting to look at yourself in the viewfinder, but looking directly at the actual lens will make it seem like you are actually talking to whoever is watching your video when it goes live.

Just remember, you can always edit out any pauses, glances at your notes, or anything else you don’t want to include in the final cut of your BookTube video.

Editing BookTube Videos

For me, this is still the hardest part of BookTube. Editing is a skill you have to learn over time, and there really isn’t a quick and easy way to get started. 

What I did was look up how to use my particular editing software on YouTube. I watched so many videos on “how to use Sony Vegas for beginners”. Those videos really helped!  I would practice editing while watching these tutorial videos and eventually it started getting easier. 

The biggest piece of advice I can give you about editing is to keep practicing and don’t get frustrated. This is a skill that takes time to learn. You will keep getting better the more you do it. 

Make a Thumbnail

Your first video is filmed and edited, time to make the thumbnail.  Like editing, this will get easier over time. I use Canva to make all of my thumbnails. It is a free website where you can create all kinds of fun graphics. They even have templates and sizes for all kinds of social posts, including thumbnails. 

To make my thumbnail I just take a picture holding the books I am talking about in the video. Then I upload it to Canva and have fun. I recommend playing around with the text and templates that they have there. 

Upload and Promote!

You are ready to upload your first BookTube video. Head to the creator studio with your video and thumbnail and follow the prompts for upload. It is super easy and YouTube walks you right through the process.

Make sure you have a decent description and a catchy title. Once you have uploaded the video, you can promote it! Share your video to all of your social media channels! This will help with the circulation.

You can also comment on other BookTuber’s videos. BUT If you do this,  DO NOT mention your channel, your video, or ask for people to watch or subscribe. Leave a genuine comment about that creator’s video then move on. This will help you make connections and grow a community.

NO ONE wants to see “check out my video” in the comments of their own video. It is much better to make actual connections. Make friends with people in your sub-niche and go from there.

Starting a BookTube Channel

Now you have all my tips on how to start a BookTube channel. It is all on you now to go out and just do it! 

Just remember to be patient, be kind to yourself, and learn as you go. If you look at BookTube as something fun, a community where you can make friends with similar interests, and a learning opportunity, I can promise that you will succeed! 

If you start a BookTube, let me know! Leave your links in the comments so I can check out your new amazing channels!

Booktube is a fun bookish YouTube community, but do you want to know how to make money on Booktube? These simple tips will get you started!

So I have been around the internet for a while now. I started my first website in 2016 and grew that into a full-time income in just a few years. So when it comes to making money online, I know a thing or two.

This may not be my normal bookish-related content, but I wanted to talk about how to make money on BookTube. We won’t be talking just about BookTube though. I will also be diving into other social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, as well as blogging, and all of the other avenues you can use to make some income with your bookish hobby!

Make Money on BookTube for Beginners

You don’t have to have a massive following or be an expert in order to make money with your bookish YouTube channel. All you need is a little patience, some extra time, and the drive to really work hard and always keep learning.  This isn’t going to be quick or easy. You are building a business, and that takes time. So if you expect YouTube, especially BookTube, to make you money quickly then you should probably back out now. 

If you are ready to do this for fun for possibly years before making a significant income, then let me teach you all the ways. I don’t want to discourage anyone from starting a BookTube channel, but I do want to be realistic about monetary expectations. 

What is BookTube?

So just a little overview, BookTube is a little corner of YouTube where people talk about books. There are people who talk about every genre imaginable. Personally, I discuss fantasy and sci-fi books, but if you want to talk about romance or thrillers, then there is a space for you too! 

Typical BookTube videos include book reviews, book hauls, reading wrap-ups, TBRs ( to be read lists), recommendations, and reading vlogs. Really, your only limit is creativity! There are so many fun concepts that you can create. Bring your creativity, talk about your favorite books, and build your online bookish community.

So, How Do I Start a BookTube?

So this is quite the question, and I will answer that in lots of detail in my “how to start a booktube” post. That will tell you everything you need to know, from the smallest detail to the biggest hurdles. Not ready to be on camera? Check out how to start a book blog!

For purposes of this post, we will just give an overview, shall we? You start a BookTube channel by simply creating a YouTube and talking about books. It doesn’t need to be perfect or fancy when you are getting started. The important part is that you start, the rest can come later!

So go ahead, get started! Grab your phone, turn on the camera, and start talking about your favorite books.

Alright, How Can I Start Making Money on BookTube?

Now we are getting to the meat of the conversation, how to make money on BookTube. As I said earlier, do not expect this to be a quick process. It can take years to start making a significant amount of money with any online creative endeavor. Just stay the course, stay consistent, and keep working at it.

Do I Need a Certain Amount of Followers to Make Money on BookTube?

This isn’t a simple yes or no answer. It is more like a yes and no answer. I will explain. 

If you want to make money through Google Ads running on your videos, then you need to have 1,000 followers and 4,000 watch hours to qualify for the YouTube partner program. While these are great, they really don’t give you a lot of money. I have a small channel and I think I make about $20 a month from ad revenue right now. You also don’t get paid until you reach a $100 threshold. Once you hit that, the money will be deposited into your bank account. 

Other than that though, you do not need a specific amount of followers. You can start making money with a very small channel, it isn’t easy, but it is possible. There are multiple ways to make money, such as sponsors, affiliate income, Patreon, and selling merch. These methods don’t technically require a large follower base, you just need to know what you are doing. 

Making Money with Booktube Sponsors

One of the most popular and lucrative ways to make money from any YouTube channel is to work with sponsors. While you don’t need a certain amount of followers to do this,  most brands will want to see that you have an engaged following. They may even want you to have a certain number. But you won’t know until you ask!

I have actually written extensively all about working with sponsors that you can read about on my Coffee Mom website. I actually write quite a bit about becoming a professional blogger, so check it out!

When it comes to BookTube specifically though, you will want to reach out to companies that fit your regular content. Don’t try to talk about something you don’t really like. I promise people will notice.  For example, if you wear glasses, reach out to companies like GlassesUSA.  Think of companies your audience would love. Also, watch other videos to get an idea of what companies are currently sponsoring BookTubers. 

When you find a few companies you want to work with, do some research on them. Find out what kind of content they post on their own. See if you can find a question you can answer for them or a problem you can fix. One example would be a company selling bookshelves. You can help them with a problem, that problem is getting attention to their company from book lovers who would be interested in purchasing new shelves. 

Then you need to find their email address. This can be pretty easily done through Google searches and using LinkedIn. Now craft your pitch. Don’t be super generic here! Tell the company who you are and, most importantly, what you can do to help them. This is about the company and your audience, not you, so remember that. 

Don’t get discouraged if you get a no or no reply at all. You can always follow up later. I take every “no” as a “not right now”. 

Affiliate Income and BookTube

Affiliate income is another great way to make money with a small BookTube channel. Most affiliate programs do not require a specific follower number to join, making it perfect for new and smaller channels. 

A few affiliate programs that are perfect for BookTube include:

• Amazon Affiliates: Link to any amazon product!
• Share-A-Sale: A platform with an endless number of affiliate programs to join.
• Book Depository: Very similar to Amazon’s program.

These are just a few to get you started. If you really love a company, you can always email them to ask if they have an affiliate program. You may be surprised, that even a lot of small companies will offer affiliate programs. 

Most affiliate programs don’t have large percentages that you will earn. But over time you can earn a hefty amount of people buy things through your links.

Start a Patreon to Make Extra Money as a Creator

One way that a lot of bookish creators are making money right now is through Patreon. Patreon is a fantastic platform for all creators. It allows you to sell exclusive content to your most enthusiastic followers. 

I created a Patreon myself recently. If you need some ideas of what to do and offer with your bookish Patreon, you can take a look and see what I offer for mine. 

Most of the time, bookish creators will have relatively inexpensive monthly prices. $5 a month seems to be about an average. You can offer exclusive vlogs, behind-the-scenes footage, a book club, and live shows just for Patrons. 

When you decide to start a Patreon, make sure you can commit. You don’t want to offer things you can’t fulfill. Start small, then gradually move up. Even if you are a small creator, there will likely be dedicated fans who want to join and support you!

Selling Merch for  BookTube

One more way you can make money with BookTube is to make and sell your own merch.  I know it sounds intimidating, but it really is a lot easier than it sounds. 

You can use Canva to make some cute designs. Then you can use a site like Printiful or Redbubble to turn those cute designs into merch you can sell on your BookTube channel!

This is called drop shipping. You will never have to actually have the product on hand because orders are fulfilled and shipped by a third-party platform. This means they take a decent cut of the profit, but you don’t have to do any of the hard work.

As a small creator, you probably won’t sell a ton to start, but it is a great way to diversify your income on BookTube.

There is no one best way to make money as a bookish creator. It isn’t going to be super easy or super quick, but as long as you enjoy what you are doing you are doing something right.

 

Ready to learn how to start a book blog? I will show you how to get started with book blogging with just a few simple and inexpensive tips!

If you want to talk about your favorite books, then you should think about starting a book blog. There are so many different social media platforms out there now, but blogging is still one of the best ways to really reach a large audience. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t use social media platforms to amplify your blog content though.  Use everything you can to really expand your reach, but there is something unique and special about having your own book blog. Especially if you want to eventually make money and work with sponsors.

So today I am going to walk you through the easy and inexpensive way to start a book blog from scratch. Sit back, read on, and you will be one step closer to becoming a book blogger!

How to Start a Book Blog from Scratch

You don’t need to be a tech expert to start your own book website. All you need is a little patience, a few dollars, and you will have a shiny new blog in no time flat!

Book Blogging: How to Get Started

1. Think up a name for your blog.
2. Pick a platform ( I prefer WordPress with BlueHost)
3. Set up your blog.
4. Write posts!
5. Share your posts on social media!

Those 5 simple steps are really all you need to start your very own book blog!

Come Up With All Your Book Blog Ideas!

The first thing you need to do is have a plan. Come up with what you want to do, what you want to call it. Start pre-planning and I promise it will make the whole process a lot easier.

When I recommend doing is grabbing a notebook and just writing down all of your ideas. Have a brainstorming session and just get everything out on paper. Then you can start to organize those ideas into something usable.

From here you will come up with a few different blog name ideas and some initial post ideas. I recommend coming up with a few names you like because you want to make sure what you want is actually available.  

You can use sites like GoDaddy to check the availability of domain names. Once you find one you want, you are ready to move forward with setting up your book blog!

Setting Up Your New Book Blog

As I said, you don’t need to be a tech expert to create a website. Really most places will walk you step by step through website setup. I prefer WordPress as a blogging platform, so that is what we are going to go with today. 

The things you need to create a website or blog include a domain name, hosting, and a website theme. It may sound confusing, but you can get pretty much everything you need in one place. 

When setting up my own book blog, I used BlueHost to set everything up and they made it so easy.  For less than $3 a month, they will host your website, you get a free domain name, free SSL to secure the site, and walk you through a 1 step WordPress install. Not to mention you get their 24/7 customer support. 

Getting the website itself set up is probably the most complicated part. With BlueHost though they pretty much do it all for you.  Just head to their website, click on “host your site” and select the plan you want. The base plan is $2.95 a month and really all you need when you are starting out. You can always upgrade your plan at any time. 

Write Bookish Blog Posts!

Now that you have an actual website ( go you), you can start taking those blog post ideas you wrote down earlier and make them into long-form blog posts.  For your initial posts, don’t stress too much about making everything perfect. Just go for it!

Your writing will get better with time. You will learn more about book blogging, SEO, content layouts, photos, etc as you go. Of course, you can do research on SEO for book bloggers. I recommend it actually, but don’t get caught up in the nitty-gritty and forget to just go for it.  Never wait on perfection. It isn’t attainable and you will improve overtime as long as you just go for it!

If you need some ideas about what to write in your new blog, start with what you know! Pick up a few of your favorite books and write out some book reviews for them.

You can also make recommendation lists. Come up with a list of five books from a trope you love and post about it! You can even do blog posts about your most anticipated book releases. The possibilities are endless, so go on and get writing!

Share your Book Blogging on Social Media

Now you are ready to start sharing your blog posts. You don’t need to have a lot of content at first, just share whatever you have created. 

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and even YouTube are fantastic bookish social media platforms to start sharing your content. Sharing on social media will help your content get seen by more people. Each platform is different though, so you will need to know the specifics of each one. 

First, set yourself up with social media accounts that match your blog name. For me, I am The Bookish Mom everywhere. This makes it easy to connect all of your platforms to one creator. 

On Facebook, share your content to your page with a link back to your post. For Instagram, there isn’t an option for links in feed posts, but you can add a call to action to tell people “check out the full post through the link in my bio”. You can also link directly to Instagram stories. 

Pinterest is my personal favorite social media for sharing blog posts. Go to Canva and make a simple Pinterest-sized graphic. Share it to Pinterest with a good title and description and link back to your post! Canva has easy templates you can use so you will always have the right size. 

Finally, there is YouTube. I try to make videos and blog posts that go together. For example, I will write a blog post about my favorite Fantasy competition books and then make a YouTube video with the same concept.  I will then link the blog post to the description of the YouTube video and embed the video into the blog post.  This not only helps get more eyes on your content but also will help improve your website’s SEO value in the long run.

You can also start making TikTok videos, YouTube shorts, Pinterest ideas, and Instagram Reels. Really, the sky is the limit!

You are Ready to Get into Book Blogging

Now that you have all of the simple steps, you are ready to enter the world of book blogging! If your goal is to eventually make money with your book blog, you are on the right path. It won’t be quick, and it won’t make you rich, but as long as you are having fun then this may just be your new side hustle! 

If you have any more questions about book blogging, social media, or anything along these lines, feel free to join my email list for book blogging tips. You can also ask me in the comments here r hit me up on any of my social media channels. 

No secrets here! I really want to share everything I know to help you make your book blog a success!