I tried YouTube about ten years ago and gave up on the venture. What writers do is not a natural fit for the YouTube ecosystem.
YouTube is even more difficult for me, because I’m a cross-genre writer of fiction and nonfiction. (YouTube, like most social media platforms, rewards content that is both dumbed down and ultra-niche.)
In recent years, I’ve maintained a shell of a YouTube channel that was little more than a placeholder. My channel had a few book trailers, and I added new content about once or twice per annum—not the way to succeed on YouTube.
Last month I decided that I was going to take a different approach to YouTube. I am now throwing content on the platform at the rate of about one new video each day. I am reading excerpts from my novels, along with complete short stories. I’m doing video essays and ad lib commentaries.
My channel follows a variety format, in other words. That won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and it may or may not work well with the YouTube algorithm. (It’s too early to tell.)
But I am aggressively and proactively building a YouTube channel now. It doesn’t detract from my writing, because making YouTube videos utilizes a completely different skillset and energy source.
The whole thing may turn out to be a waste of time. But that’s true of any intellectual or artistic endeavor. In the meantime, I’m at least having fun with it.
-ET