Do you have a YouTube author channel?

[Ned Marcus]

I plan to begin a YouTube author channel and have been researching fantasy author channels on YouTube, but haven't found a lot. There are a lot of book review channels, and some writing craft channels, but surprisingly few author channels.

Do you have a YouTube author channel?

If you do, how's it going? What kind of content do you publish?

 

[Finchbearer]

One of the main things I watch is YT - although I don’t watch very much of the book review / writing craft videos I watch other things. I’d say that author channels - unless you are a very very popular author - are kind of pointless to be honest. I don’t think people would want to watch someone constantly promote their own books, unless you are giving something else into the world, such as sharing your worldbuilding process, relaxing fantasy ambience videos (like Blue Turtle does) or something else that is not all about you.

 

[Ned Marcus]

Of course an author channel would have to give something to the audience beyond self-promotion. The question I'm working on is what.

 

[Finchbearer]

What would you be passionate enough about to want to share? The craft of writing? Worldbuilding? The publishing process?

 

[Prince of Spires]

The biggest (Fantasy) author channel is Brandon Sanderson's. And he mainly does it because he doesn't have a lot of time to travel and meet all his fans and keep them updated, so this is the next best thing.

Many Youtubers started the other way round. They first created a popular channel and then became an author (like Daniel Greene and Shadiversity). Their channels tend to be related to books or Fantasy, but not directly about their own books.

The main issue I see with most other Author Youtube channels is that they mainly target other authors. They go for writing craft and worldbuilding and those kinds of videos. Which is great, but it's not going to be a lot of use to sell books. At least, not compared to the effort you need to put in I think.

 

[Finchbearer]

Yeah I like Sanderson’s channel - but he is an educator and lecturer, and has a passion for teaching, and so it makes perfect sense for him to utilise YouTube to deliver free writing resources for the aspiring fantasy author, along with updates about his books which also serves as self promotion, but no one minds that because he is a. Well known b. Already giving a lot back to the community.

IMO, to start a YouTube channel you really have to have a passion for delivering something to an audience, you’re unlikely to reach your audience is it’s only made out of self interest.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I have one, but I just don't use it much. That may or may not change in the near future. Good intentions and all.

 

[pmmg]

I do not have a channel, and I think I would not find the passion for it if I did. I am not sure what I would say, cause YouTube is already full of Vids on every writing topic known to man. I would be just more of the same noise. Plus, I am not as pretty as those I am already following. I wont say never, but I think it is unlikely I would do one.

As far as making one though...Have an Ipad, a place to sit...that's enough to get started.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

If I do a channel religiously, it would have to deal with my books and universe because those are topics I'm good at, heh heh. Throw in book reviews and if I end up traveling, then I could do interviews with authors around the country in person as well as virtual. And do it in a way that isn't boilerplate. I've never been interviewed by someone who has read my books, LMAO. So, I'd at least start books and research them before doing an interview.

I do not have a channel, and I think I would not find the passion for it if I did. I am not sure what I would say, cause YouTube is already full of Vids on every writing topic known to man. I would be just more of the same noise. Plus, I am not as pretty as those I am already following. I wont say never, but I think it is unlikely I would do one.

As far as making one though...Have an Ipad, a place to sit...that's enough to get started.

 

[Finchbearer]

There are actually many author / aspiring author channels, but what essentially makes them so successful is the content they are producing - mostly on the subject of the writing craft and navigating a debut publishing deal. Those content creators are usually people who have had mild to moderate success having their own work published, but they probably earn more from YT viewings, sponsorships and of course more people will have bought their books just from watching their channel.

 

[pmmg]

Yeah...If I did it, I would view it as a marketing tool.

 

[Ned Marcus]

What would you be passionate enough about to want to share? The craft of writing? Worldbuilding? The publishing process?

I used to teach creative writing but have no interesting in speaking about it, nor any interest in speaking about publishing. Since posting the question, I've researched more author and fantasy channels which have given me more ideas, even though no author I can find is doing exactly what I'm thinking of.

Mostly, I'm thinking of two things. None of these are developed thoughts, and I may drop any of them. I'm kind of brainstorming ideas aloud.

First, it may be interesting to talk about the themes and topics of some of my stories + a little about world building. I'm interested in topics like divination in fantasy, or why science can't understand it. Free will vs fate in fantasy might be another topic; the sources of magic another. Or how I became Christian while writing a particular fantasy short story, which was a strange experience because I'm not Christian. Things like this; so I guess it would be spiritual/religious/psychological topics, sometimes related to fantasy and sometimes not.

Second, I'd like to try reading some of my stories aloud. Author audio versions.

To be honest, I don't think there's any way of knowing what I'd enjoy without just doing it. I'll probably record several videos just to see how I feel. After all, no one will watch them. Invisibility will allow me to experiment more freely.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Eeeyaah, my idea is kind of shoot video and see what sticks with me... if I can stand myself, heh heh. If a person doesn't enjoy this sort of thing, the audience will pick up on it. Plus, if I don't enjoy it, I'm not going to do it enough to make it work.

 

[Prince of Spires]

I think the main issue with doing stuff like a Youtube channel is that if you want to gain any kind of traction, then you need to post on a very regular basis. You're competing against people who do it as a full-time job. And you'll likely be shouting into the void for the first few months. Of course, not everything you post has to be a winner, but posting twice a week means you already need 104 topics to get through your first year.

It's easier if you already have a fan-base who wants to hear from your. It's how Sanderson managed to grow so fast so quickly. He already had people who wanted to hear him talk. He also had 2 other advantages which are very hard to copy. The first is that he had a lot of experience creating online content. Before he started his channel, he already had a decade of experience creating a very popular podcast. And the second is that he had a whole team working for him, who can take care of all the fiddly bits like editing and setting up equipment and all the other boring stuff that goes into creating high quality content on a regular basis.

I've never been interviewed by someone who has read my books, LMAO

I've read one of your books. I'd interview you if I knew which questions to ask...

 

[Ned Marcus]

It's easier if you already have a fan-base who wants to hear from your. It's how Sanderson managed to grow so fast so quickly. He already had people who wanted to hear him talk. He also had 2 other advantages which are very hard to copy. The first is that he had a lot of experience creating online content. Before he started his channel, he already had a decade of experience creating a very popular podcast. And the second is that he had a whole team working for him, who can take care of all the fiddly bits like editing and setting up equipment and all the other boring stuff that goes into creating high quality content on a regular basis.

Sanderson's on another level of success and marketing. I can see how having a podcast would help with a YouTube channel. Just appearing as a guest on a few podcasts has helped me develop ideas.

 

[weida]

I am thinking of starting a YT channel and uploading animated versions of my stories, using AI tools to generate the visuals and voiceovers. Not sure if it would appeal to the audience. But it seems worth a shot.

 

[Finchbearer]

I am thinking of starting a YT channel and uploading animated versions of my stories, using AI tools to generate the visuals and voiceovers. Not sure if it would appeal to the audience. But it seems worth a shot.

This is not to dissuade you to start a YT channel, but as a regular viewer myself, one thing that turns me away from watching a video is if any part of it is AI generated.

 

[weida]

This is not to dissuade you to start a YT channel, but as a regular viewer myself, one thing that turns me away from watching a video is if any part of it is AI generated.

Haha...that sounds reasonable. Which do you think is worse, a voice actor with a foreign accent or a faultless AI voice?

 

[Jackarandajam]

Haha...that sounds reasonable. Which do you think is worse, a voice actor with a foreign accent or a faultless AI voice?

Foreign accents rock.
But honesty, this is one area in which AI doesn't bother me so much; the cool, kinda dreamlike visuals and a DECENT ai voice are an acceptable way to turn audio into something YouTube worthy, as long as it isn't an AI voice that sounds like I'm trying to pay a bill and having to press 1 over and over.

 

[Jackarandajam]

I plan to begin a YouTube author channel and have been researching fantasy author channels on YouTube, but haven't found a lot. There are a lot of book review channels, and some writing craft channels, but surprisingly few author channels.

Do you have a YouTube author channel?

If you do, how's it going? What kind of content do you publish?

Go for it. Wear a hat. Be concise. Drink a lot of coffee and act like you're happy to be there.

HelloFutureMe is the first authorish YouTube channel that pops into my head.
It started out as mostly a love letter and deep dive into the Avatar show and went from there. He wrote a book on writing and worldbuilding that was pretty good and sold well because of his YouTube following.

It's funny Sanderson came up: I think he has a BA in the arts, but his YouTube stuff 100% sprang from his writing if I'm not mistaken.
He developed a theory about how to use magic in the fantasy genre and speaks with authority and charisma, that's pretty much it.
I like listening to him and I don't even really agree with alot of what he has to say.

So yeah, pick something youve thought about alot and could talk about forever. If that's writing, awesome. If not, figure out how to tie them together.
I don't know about reading your own work, I'd speculate it would do you more good to be interesting and informative and offer a discount/reference where to find your book occasionally. That's what would snare me, anyway.

Edit: thinking about it, the one troublesome thing I would say is pretty necessary is high quality recording/editing stuff. Alot of viewers don't stick around to figure out if what the person is saying is worth anything if it's a handheld phone camera recording and there's background noise.
You might try posting shorts first and see how that goes?