The Struggles of a Booktuber: Confessions from a Creator

As I sit here reflecting on my booktubing journey, I am reminded of all the things that make me want to pull my hair out. From author names that are impossible for me to pronounce, to lighting issues that plague every single video I film, and from coming up with fresh ideas to following through with them, I've got a laundry list of struggles that I'm sure many other booktubers can relate to.

My first confession is that I have a hard time pronouncing author names. Yes, you read that right - even grown adults like me struggle with this! I remember when I was 13 and first started reading the Harry Potter series, I thought Hermione's name was pronounced "hormone" (no lie). It wasn't until the movies came out that I realized it was actually spelled H-E-R-M-I-O-N-E. And let me tell you, that was a moment of relief! Ever since then, I've had to deal with the embarrassment of struggling to pronounce names in front of my readers.

Another thing that drives me crazy is lighting. Lighting is probably the most complained about issue on this channel, as far as comments go. Every single video I get seems to have someone saying "it's too bright" or "it's perfect." And honestly, I get it. Lighting can make or break a video. But what they don't realize is that filming by a window is actually my favorite light source! The natural light is so flattering and brings out the best in my face (and my books). However, sometimes it doesn't cooperate, and I end up with a video that's either too bright or too dark. It's like trying to please everybody - impossible!

But lighting isn't the only issue I have when it comes to filming. As someone who works primarily by natural light, I've learned to rely on a monitor to help me focus and adjust the lighting. However, my camera doesn't have one of those fancy flip screens that make it easier to frame shots. So, I end up relying on the monitor to get the shot right - which sometimes means that the lighting in the video is different from what's happening in real life. It's like a little white lie, but hey, it gets the job done!

Coming up with new ideas is also something I struggle with. As a booktuber, I know that there are only so many ways you can talk about books before it starts to get repetitive. But at the same time, I have so many ideas swirling around in my head that I don't know how to bring them all to life! I'm creative, but sometimes that creativity just isn't enough. That's why you might see videos popping up on this channel that are a bit different from what you're used to - it's because I'm trying to think outside the box and come up with fresh ideas.

But even when I do come up with great ideas, there's often a problem: following through with them! As someone who gets easily distracted, I have a hard time staying focused on one project for too long. Sometimes I'll start brainstorming an idea, but then get sidetracked by something else (hello, cat videos!). It's like my brain is constantly jumping from one thing to another, and before I know it, the idea has slipped away.

Finally, there's the issue of responding to requests from readers. As a booktuber, I have so many amazing fans who are always asking for more content - and I want to deliver! But sometimes, life gets in the way, and I just can't keep up with all the requests. That's why you might see videos popping up on this channel that I've been putting off for weeks (or months). It's not because I'm avoiding my responsibilities as a booktuber - it's just that sometimes things get tough, and I need to prioritize.

Overall, being a booktuber isn't always easy. But despite all the struggles, I wouldn't trade this job for anything. There are days when I feel like giving up (like today, when the sun kept shining in my eyes and making it hard to film!), but then something amazing happens - a reader reaches out with a thoughtful comment or shares their own story about why books matter to them. That's what keeps me going, folks.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: entoday i'm here to give you a somewhat of a tag a different kind of video i don't know today's video is booktubing things i suck at i believe this was created by chapter chicks and i know a ton of other booktubers done it jessie's done it cat's done it i don't know who else has done it but yeah i'm just going to give you five things that booktubing that i suck at and there's probably a longer list out there for me but these are just the five i think that are most relevant and most you know true so yeah here we go first things first the first thing i suck at is pronouncing titles and pronouncing authors names i think every booktuber out there will probably have this on their list because it's true i mean sometimes you cannot pronounce the name correctly i'd say 90 of the time i am not pronouncing the name correctly i mean there's so many books out there that have crazy author names and i can't help it i feel sorry because the author is so great and i just can't pronounce their name and always gets tons of comments saying this is how you pronounce it chit star that's how i pronounce it forever when i was 13 i when i first started reading harry potter i thought until the movies came out yes until the movies came out i thought hermione's name was pronounced hormone no lie and that is what i called her until i figured it out so i've had bad pronunciation all my life apparently so that's the first thing in a second number two lighting lighting is probably the most complained about issue on this channel as far as the comments goes every every video i get so you see it's too bright so you see it's perfect so let me see it's too dark it's hard it is hard to please everybody that's all i'm going to tell you guys i film right by a window and it is a great light source i do not want to buy lights for um my house i already have enough crap i don't need to add lights to it i think the light um this light source is a great light source i have my back door over there and most of the time the sun is great it's it cooperates well like today today you're doing great sun but sometimes like i think in my um booktubeathon wrap up it kept going down up down up i can't control that guys that is literally the sun and as far as writing as far as brightness and stuff goes i like videos on the brighter side but sometimes i um but sometimes they are a little bit too bright so i agree with you and another thing that brings me to that is i have in order to be in focus my camera does not have one of those turn flipsing knees so i rely on a monitor right here to insurance focus and this right here does not give me the correct lighting as what is truly being recorded on my camera this is somewhat darker and i'm trying to fix that so i think that lighting's okay on this when i film it and then when i go to edit i notice it's very bright so you know it's a ton of technical things i'm working at it so just please forgive me on the lighting stuff you know forgive me that's all i can say about that number three i would say my third booktubing thing i suck at is coming up with new ideas this is so hard i think a lot of booktubers struggle with this because you know you can only talk about books so much but i know i have so i just i want to come up with more fresh new ideas but i can't i'm creative but i'm not that creative and that's just the thing i struggle with so i'm sorry if you keep seeing the same videos here over and over again i'm just really trying to wrap my brain with it which leads me to number four i come up with some great ideas but i have a hard time following through with them i can't i have tons and tons of great ideas for you guys like on the horizon i don't want to spoil because i'm so excited to film them but it's going to be a challenge filming them because it's going to be a challenge obviously i have i just don't ever follow i just i don't know i just uh need to follow through with it i need to follow through with it that is the number number four thing i think that when i come up with ideas i need to film them i need to follow through with them and all that stuff and i guess that type of number five i could tell you guys requesting me to do a ton of videos and i don't always do them and i'm sorry for that i have a list of videos that i want to do and it's very hard to do it filming is quite a process here on this channel um it's not like you can turn the camera on and there i go that's not it's that's not how it is here and i know a lot of people say get a different camera one that's not that great but i love shooting with my 5d mark ii i have just so many ideas for this channel so many videos and all that kind of stuff so yeah number five i will try to do more requested things i guess so yeah those are the five booktubing things i suck at and i'm sure there's like tons more tons tons more um but those are the five i could think of right now um yeah if you're a booktuber out there and you struggle with sucking at things i feel for you there because we're all in the same boat here but yeah i will talk to you guys later and yeah sorry i suck at these five things bye incomplete they say itoday i'm here to give you a somewhat of a tag a different kind of video i don't know today's video is booktubing things i suck at i believe this was created by chapter chicks and i know a ton of other booktubers done it jessie's done it cat's done it i don't know who else has done it but yeah i'm just going to give you five things that booktubing that i suck at and there's probably a longer list out there for me but these are just the five i think that are most relevant and most you know true so yeah here we go first things first the first thing i suck at is pronouncing titles and pronouncing authors names i think every booktuber out there will probably have this on their list because it's true i mean sometimes you cannot pronounce the name correctly i'd say 90 of the time i am not pronouncing the name correctly i mean there's so many books out there that have crazy author names and i can't help it i feel sorry because the author is so great and i just can't pronounce their name and always gets tons of comments saying this is how you pronounce it chit star that's how i pronounce it forever when i was 13 i when i first started reading harry potter i thought until the movies came out yes until the movies came out i thought hermione's name was pronounced hormone no lie and that is what i called her until i figured it out so i've had bad pronunciation all my life apparently so that's the first thing in a second number two lighting lighting is probably the most complained about issue on this channel as far as the comments goes every every video i get so you see it's too bright so you see it's perfect so let me see it's too dark it's hard it is hard to please everybody that's all i'm going to tell you guys i film right by a window and it is a great light source i do not want to buy lights for um my house i already have enough crap i don't need to add lights to it i think the light um this light source is a great light source i have my back door over there and most of the time the sun is great it's it cooperates well like today today you're doing great sun but sometimes like i think in my um booktubeathon wrap up it kept going down up down up i can't control that guys that is literally the sun and as far as writing as far as brightness and stuff goes i like videos on the brighter side but sometimes i um but sometimes they are a little bit too bright so i agree with you and another thing that brings me to that is i have in order to be in focus my camera does not have one of those turn flipsing knees so i rely on a monitor right here to insurance focus and this right here does not give me the correct lighting as what is truly being recorded on my camera this is somewhat darker and i'm trying to fix that so i think that lighting's okay on this when i film it and then when i go to edit i notice it's very bright so you know it's a ton of technical things i'm working at it so just please forgive me on the lighting stuff you know forgive me that's all i can say about that number three i would say my third booktubing thing i suck at is coming up with new ideas this is so hard i think a lot of booktubers struggle with this because you know you can only talk about books so much but i know i have so i just i want to come up with more fresh new ideas but i can't i'm creative but i'm not that creative and that's just the thing i struggle with so i'm sorry if you keep seeing the same videos here over and over again i'm just really trying to wrap my brain with it which leads me to number four i come up with some great ideas but i have a hard time following through with them i can't i have tons and tons of great ideas for you guys like on the horizon i don't want to spoil because i'm so excited to film them but it's going to be a challenge filming them because it's going to be a challenge obviously i have i just don't ever follow i just i don't know i just uh need to follow through with it i need to follow through with it that is the number number four thing i think that when i come up with ideas i need to film them i need to follow through with them and all that stuff and i guess that type of number five i could tell you guys requesting me to do a ton of videos and i don't always do them and i'm sorry for that i have a list of videos that i want to do and it's very hard to do it filming is quite a process here on this channel um it's not like you can turn the camera on and there i go that's not it's that's not how it is here and i know a lot of people say get a different camera one that's not that great but i love shooting with my 5d mark ii i have just so many ideas for this channel so many videos and all that kind of stuff so yeah number five i will try to do more requested things i guess so yeah those are the five booktubing things i suck at and i'm sure there's like tons more tons tons more um but those are the five i could think of right now um yeah if you're a booktuber out there and you struggle with sucking at things i feel for you there because we're all in the same boat here but yeah i will talk to you guys later and yeah sorry i suck at these five things bye incomplete they say i\n"