We are all influencers now

When I entered the publishing industry in 2018 I was an ambitious trainee hoping to climb the corporate ladder in rights, and the prospect of making a career out of books beyond being a publishing professional or writer seemed non-existent. However, by the time I left the industry in 2021, the possibilities for avid readers with a knack for verbal marketing and influencing others to read started emerging, with publishing companies also looking at these opportunities.

In 2020, when I was furloughed during the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, I started a YouTube channel in the hopes of engaging with both avid and aspiring readers who looked like and shared similar experiences to me. What I thought would be a slow-burning hobby, attracting the occasional subscriber and follower, introduced me to an exciting new way of expressing my love for books and literature that also interested thousands of viewers.