Expanding the Wonderfully Bookish Internet Empire

This year (in October, to be exact), it’ll have been four years since I started this blog, and I can’t believe how much it’s grown.

It started out as a thing I used to write about books, and occasionally other random things like recipes. I used it as a bit of a creative outlet but I didn’t have any purpose for it; it was just a fun side hobby that I thought I’d probably give up on soon after, like many of my attempted and failed creative pursuits in previous years.

But I kept going, I got a job working as a virtual assistant for super successful bloggers, and in turn, some of their habits and systems rubbed off on me and I realised: this is what I want to do.

I’ve come to the realisation recently that working on my own stuff full-time is the dream. It’s my ultimate goal. And right now, while I’m making no money from it, I’m still determined to aim towards making it a bigger thing – even if it takes years.

It might seem crazy, but do you know what else is crazy? Writing on my blog’s about page that my dream job is to be a virtual assistant, and then becoming a full-time virtual assistant because of that thing I wrote on the about page. But that happened. Crazy is thinking I want to set up a podcast just for fun, and then getting some of my favourite authors involved. But that happened, too.

So am I crazy for thinking that I can expand what started as a tiny blog into a Wonderfully Bookish internet empire?

Probably, but I’m going to aim for it anyway.

Podcast

I started the Wonderfully Bookish podcast in October 2018 and I didn’t know what I was doing or where it’d go (which sounds like most things in life). I knew that I wanted to have fun with it and chat about books, but that was it. I started reaching out to some of my favourite authors to see if they’d like to be interviewed and I expected nothing back. But soon, I started uploading interviews with Akemi Dawn Bowman, Simon James Green, Chloe Seager, and more.

I’m so stunned at how supportive and incredible people have been, especially the authors and bloggers that gave up some of their time to chat to me for a podcast that barely even existed yet.

There are more interviews in the works, and one thing in particular coming this summer that I cannot WAIT for. I’m so hopeful that I can carry on growing the podcast, and it’s so much hard work but I love it!

YouTube Channel

This is one of the things I’ve started recently to expand my little space that I have online. I’ve been watching a lot of other great YouTubers recently, especially those who talk about theatre, and I thought it seems like a good time to give the YouTube thing a go myself. I uploaded my first video a few days ago and I’m so excited! I’ve got three more videos recorded and ideas for a whole load of others, and I just want to record them all right now.

(I’m also uploading my podcast episodes to YouTube, so if you can’t listen to them on Spotify or iTunes, you can find them there.)

Because this is so new I’d looove all the support I can get, so if you could subscribe to the channel, that’d mean a lot! Here’s my latest video, and you can click through to my channel to see more (and to subscribe, heh).

Patreon

Right now, the final way I’m expanding my little empire is with a Patreon page. In case you don’t know, Patreon is a way for people to support their favourite creators by donating a little bit of money each month, and in return, they get exclusive perks and rewards.

I love my podcast and blog (and now YouTube channel, too) but they cost money to run. That’s why I thought setting up a Patreon would be the best way to see if I can make a little bit back, just to help me out with some of the costs.

There’s a special offer on right now where if you pledge on any of the tiers (the cheapest is only $2, or around £1.50!), I’ll give you a special dedicated shout out on all my social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram story) with links to your blog, channel, or anything else you might have.

Here’s a quick overview of the tiers:

For $2 (approx. £1.50) per month, you’ll get…

• Your name and website/social media links on a special patrons page on my website
• Your name in the patrons list in the description of my YouTube videos
• Early access to podcast episodes and YouTube videos

For $5 (approx. £3.80) per month, you’ll get…

Everything from previous tier, plus…

• A shout out at the beginning of a podcast episode OR YouTube video (your choice!)
• Monthly special shout out on Twitter and Instagram
• Access to a patron-only Facebook group
• You can submit your ideas and suggestions for future episodes and videos

For $20 (approx. £15.30) per month, you’ll get…

Everything from previous tiers, plus…

• Once a month, I’ll promote your business or blog in an episode of the podcast in the form of a pre-roll ad slot

So, there you go. A quick recap of everything I’ve been working on recently, and why the blog has maybe been a bit quieter than I’d like. (I’m doing all this while working and going to theatre rehearsals twice a week, too!)

Are you aiming to expand your blog or business at the moment, too? Let me know and we can have a good chat about it and support each other!