Margaret Pinard's Blog

[TL;DR: I’ll be discussing these takeaways LIVE on my Youtube channel Fri 4/9 11amPDT]Was it fun? Was it difficult? Were you successful? Did it help conquer Mount TBR?What is a readathon???OK, let’s define terms.A readathon, like a marathon, is a long, grueling exercise in reading books.Just kidding.A readathon, like a walkathon, is a fun way to get people engaged in a semi-focused effort that will do them, and the world, some good.There. That’s pretty close, anyway!And what is success, in this case? It’s very important, when evaluating success, to decide on your measures of success. I had lots of possibilities to choose from:Number of people participatingNumber of videos on the topicNumber of times the hashtag was usedNumber of books entered into spreadsheetRatio of conversations that took place to conversations promisedQuality of discussionsNumber of books read myselfNumber of Bingos madeAdditional Channel Traffic Attributable to readathon viewsNumber of additional subscribers over the readathon periodYes–lots of possibilities! And if I were more graphical-minded, I could even map these out into one score across all variables, but that’s going a little too far.Sorry, grad school nerds.So much for defining terms; what did I choose as primary measures?The most basic measures for me were the ones I was already concentrating on for my channel: subscriber count, engagement in comments, and views. Let’s see how my process went before I reveal the results.A readathon, like a walkathon, requires some planning. So far, so good. I LOVE a plan. There’s deciding what you’d like to offer, deciding how to get out the word, deciding how to communicate with participants, and deciding how to showcase content, among other things. (I’m not so gung-ho with deciding–but I conquered it, yo!)Youtube is actually a tricky platform for some of these because it doesn’t have a way to message people, requiring a supplementary platform for that.What do readathons typically offer?Discord servers are all the rageGoodreads groups were once de rigeurChallenges in various forms: bingo, list, readalong, posts…I decided to go with a Bingo board. This meant a series of prompts that readers could mark off depending on the books they chose to read as part of the challenge. I chose prompts I’d seen elsewhere to encourage diverse reading, as well as some I expected to find in the target reading: changing material circumstances, war experiences, Celtic culture characters, etc. I didn’t trouble too much about how to place them, but I suspect thinking more about it would have been gaming the board, so I’m satisfied with how I slapped them onto a 4×4 board.How to get out the word?For Youtube, I found that the channel Little Book Owl had made her name by cataloguing all the readathons throughout the year on a website calendar and linking all the rules (there are hundreds). So I made sure to get on that two months in advance, which required an announcement video and central place for rules and information. I made this blog serve as the central place and posted more than usual for that purpose.To coordinate reading together, I set up a Google doc with all the possible books I had for people to use as a jumping-off point (people were inordinately impressed with this ). Almost all my buddy reads were from my owned TBR, except for one. In that case, Rainer posed the question in his video, ‘Doesn’t anyone want to read this E.M. Forster classic?’ So I said yes, I’d read it with him, and had to check it out from the library. How to communicate with participants?Here is where it got a little tricky. I had over a dozen people participating with different books, and they all had different platform preferences. Rather than try to force behavior change (ha, good luck with that), I determined a different common platform for each reading group. Some were on Instagram, some on Twitter, some on Voxer, etc.How (where) to showcase content?What would be the end result of the reading? I wish I had more creative ideas for this, but it was, after all, a challenge on Youtube, so we defaulted to live discussions of the books we read together on my channel, as no one wanted to host their own.These were really fun! Each one had to be scheduled with the readers and spaced out on my calendar for optimal viewing pace, then scheduled in advance on Streamyard, with a description and a custom graphic, made on Canva.Did I keep up with my plan?SPOILER: I did! (not too surprising, if you know me)To recap: I had a Google doc to arrange buddy reads (7 of which involved me, 1 of which did not) plus show who was reading individually for the readathon (5 additional people). Then I had a Bingo game board for individual use in checking off challenges (and a prize for a randomly chosen Bingo winner). And then behind the scenes, I had a calendar graphic to help me remember the schedule of all the live discussions and when I had to read what with whom. I shared this with people too, but I’m sure no one looked at it as often as I did! NOW–>RESULTS!Subscriber Count: the first half of the month was discouraging, with a drop of 6 in one day, which Youtube seems to like to do. But the second half of the month picked up considerably, with a one-day add high of 7, and a net positive of 31. A little better than my recent monthly averages.Views: I spoiled the sample for this, unfortunately, by including my BookTube Newbie Tag video toward the end of March. Eyeballing it, when that spike is taken out, it looks pretty similar to the two previous months, however.Engagement: an interesting question arose for this factor. I’ve been considering comments as the chief engagement indicator, and been doing very well by it. However, Youtube’s chief indicator for ‘engagement’ is actually watch time, something I had not been playing as close attention to, being more opaque. But my watch time went up by 32% over the last mont–hurrah! I’m not sure if this is due more to the readathon or to the format shift of having primarily live videos rather than recorded (if you’re watching live, you can’t fast-forward). Seeing how well the two productivity sprints did, I suspect that the latter was the bigger driver.So what can I recommend to others to use when planning a readathon?Plan early to make all those decisionsGet on Little Book Owl’s calendarMake book suggestions that fit your prompts so people aren’t starting from scratchOffer multiple ways to communicate about the ongoing readingLive discussions are easy to set up with a high yield of engagementAnd what would I have changed to have a bigger impact?I tried to involve a sponsor of the prize for more visibility, but the perfect one (Persephone) declined.I attempted to recruit cohosts but was too unknown and the one I did recruit did not participate in any of the organization.Don’t choose March. It’s like trying to fly standby the day before Thanksgiving.I had one experiment which I’d like to try again: premiering a video then following it up with live discussion. It’s kind of like showing your own movie then being there for a talkback. It worked well in this instance, but I’m not sure it’s replicable. To try again!Here’s to planning out those big ideas! If you’ve got questions, I’ll be going live here to discuss my takeaways from this readathon-running experience:

Friday, April 9, 11 am PDT

Hope to see some of you there!

A friend of mine recently reminded me that the Vernal Equinox was coming up. ‘Did I have plans?’ No.

I’d forgotten about it, but in the past few weeks I’ve been struggling with several long-term stresses and one, perhaps two, are on the verge of being over. Hallelujah!

So are things back in balance in my world? Well, not quite. But.

They may be nearing a crest where I can see a bit more. As you may have seen, I have put a lot of work into the March readathon, #MarchOfTheModerns. In April, I’ll be taking stock of how that worked out for my channel and author goals. I am also launching a new Patreon benefit, open to all levels that comment on a public post for the month. A giveaway!

Of what?? Thoughts pry as eyes bend their lights on me.

Of all the fun little treasures I’ve piled up to give as door prizes at events I planned to have this year. Novels, book bags, bookish accessories, prints, handmade notecards, resource books, Scottish-themed decorations, and other fun gift items. They’ve been sitting in bins, anxiously waiting to find their forever homes as part of my audience engagement!!

So if you like what I’ve been up to on Booktube and want to be part of helping to support great historical fiction while also maybe getting a #bookmail surprise, sign on at any level, or follow for free to be a commenter! This should be a win-win-win!

Think of it like the grown-up version of the treasure chest at the dentist’s office.

 

Image by Jackson Hendry on Unsplash

We are halfway through!

And as I write, we are halfway between Pi Day and St Patrick’s Day, both important celebrations for my household. And this year, extra special BECAUSE…

I had an absolutely wonderful conversation with Free-range Bookseller-At-Large Mary Webber O’Malley on Sunday, Pi Day, check it out here. Our topic was how we judge people based on their reading, in some specific ways that have been discussed all across Booktube…

And I WILL have another great buddy read discussion on St. Patrick’s Day! I’ll be discussing a play by an Irish playwright as well: Playboy of the Western World by J. M. Synge. Lana from Lana ExLibris and I will be chatting on Youtube (check us out here) on Wed at 10 AM PDT. Lana is a bona fide actress and studied Synge’s play Riders to the Sea in school, so I bet she’ll have a lot of light to shed on the themes of this rural Ireland, sparse-set, ‘comickal-tragickal’ sort of work. ;D

 And we had our first March of the Moderns buddy read last Friday, which was SO much fun! Toni, Marissa and I read Precious Bane by Mary Webb (no relation to Mary Webber O’Malley) and all found delight in the story and style. I think I loved it the most of all of us??? You can find that discussion here.

And to pin back to the future, next Sunday will see me chatting with Katja Weinert on Youtube about High Wages by Dorothy Whipple. This is a novel about a woman moving up in the world during changing times for women’s roles in business. Also, Dorothy Whipple is a Persephone favorite, and as the OG inspiration for March of the Moderns, I am loving diving into her style. Already in the first two chapters, I am grinning ear-to-ear and have to grab for my sticky-tabs!

So we are going gangbusters for the month of March and our Modern readathon. How about you, readers? What’s been on your radar? What kind of books are drawing your interest as we hit Year 1 Anniversary of this Global Pentatonic?

Whew! Things are heating up–not only the weather warming to spring, but also my events calendar on Booktube springing to LIFE!

Take a gander at the LIVE discussions scheduled so far for our March of the Moderns readathon:

I’ve started a book already; however, it is on the non-buddy-read list…but I’ve surely got enough time before March 12 to read more than Precious Bane??

Tell me I’m wrong on my next video, coming out tomorrow on my channel! https://bit.ly/booktubemp (And don’t forget to subscribe while you’re there)

There’s still plenty of time to participate. All you need is a book written between 1901-1945, many of which are available free in ebook form from Project Gutenberg or indeed, your library! Or, indeed, indeed, forgotten on your shelves.

Just put your name and channel if applicable in our March of the Moderns spreadsheet, so we know to follow you for your review.

And here is the third leg of our stool, the triple of the crown, the final volume in the trilogy……our Buddy Reading Sign-Up Sheet!

I am very excited to curate this community document for the duration of the March of the Moderns. Here’s how it works: Follow this link to the Google Doc of March of the Modern books.Check if any of the books on the list are ones you want to read this March.If yes, put your name in the column to the right of the title, and get in touch with the first person’s name to figure out when and how you’d like to do a Buddy Read. (totally up to you)If no, you can add a 1901-1945 book below in the title column, add your name and channel info, and check back to see if anyone matches up with your book choice during February.When we finish all our March reading, I’ll have a video on my channel highlighting everyone else’s videos! I hope this encourages people to search out books from different countries, writers from marginalized communities, and stories with themes we can relate to today’s issues.Toward that goal, don’t forget we have a Bingo board with fun prompts to get you thinking, and a Persephone book prize to one random Bingo winner!If you have questions, you can comment down below or DM me on Twitter: @tastelifetwice Anchors aweigh! Thank you to everyone for checking out the sign-up sheet and adding this effort to a busy March!

 

Photo by Simon Abrams on Unsplash

As promised, the next tool for our March of the Moderns readathon is…

…our Bingo Challenge!

Enjoy scheming a plotting to get as many squares as possible. Double- and triple-dipping is allowed!

EXCITING THINGS are happening over on BookTube, readers–yes!

BookTubers participate in something called readathons, where we read a whole bunch of a certain type of book during a certain period of time in order to dive into the topic with both hands…and I’m starting my own!

Parameters:
Books Written 1901-1945
Anywhere in the world
Read in March
Buddy Reads Encouraged!

If you want to participate, write your Modern Read in the comments and we’ll see if we can make some matches!

ALSO I’ve got a BINGO board coming! 16 squares means 10 ways to win! (check my math) It will be posted on all my platforms this weekend.

And by WIN, I mean feel the triumphal wind of victory across your face…but ALSO, I’ll pick a random BINGO winner to receive a book package from Persephone Books, the publisher that inspired this whole idea!

Look for a special guest historian, an author who writes fiction in this period, and maybe one other special guest on my channel…

We stan Persephone Books! (not paid for promotion): https://persephonebooks.co.uk/

So come on, readers, check your shelves: any old volumes there you’ve been meaning to read? Russian classics? French translations? Check the dates to see if they qualify as part of the Modern March movement!

More info to come, check out my channel for the latest!

Can you believe, I went all of 2020 without posting here, and now it’s nearing Burns Day again–perfect!

Because this blog remained silent on the topic of 2020, ‘Comin’ Thro’ the Rye’ is the sole commentary I’ll make on that year, as I have talked plenty about it elsewhere.

WHERE??? you ask. Thanks for asking, by the way. I’m all over now–huge in Japan! Here are my new, more-regularly-updated homes:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/margaret_pinard [Book Club starts NEXT WEEK!]

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC315Rc3qIIC77BW4-lHObVw [please subscribe for all updates!]

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tastelifetwice

I have MANY plans and intentions for 2021 but in the meantime, you’ll find me at those places, engaging, gladhanding, proselytizing, educating, and don’t forget—laughing!

(I suspect there will be a Scottish Accent Throwdown on Youtube in the next couple weeks–stay tuned!!)

For a long time now, I’ve had Amy Cuddy’s book Presence on my wishlist. Only this past week did I read her introduction and look up her TED talk (below), which brought together body language and power dynamics, success pathways and imposter syndrome, in a fascinating way.

Somewhere on this site (or in a notebook somewhere), I’ve written about the assumptions I make about people based on their walking habits. I see someone striding purposefully and assume they must be headed for work of purpose. I see someone hanging around a street corner and I am on my guard against them asking something of me.

Our society values people who stride purposefully. It devalues people who dawdle, or dance-walk, or dilly-dally. It’s not efficient.

But what if the dawdling produces creative solutions to personal problems? What if the dance-walking shakes loose anxiety and depression’s grip? What if dilly-dallying allows us to notice the beautiful nature around us?

Devalued.

It feels the same for how we approach our careers. Right now I am transitioning, on the lookout for the right blend of skills, mission, and culture that will be a good fit. I have taken the time to reflect on what I need, what I want, how I work best, what is most urgent right now, and there are still several directions I could go. (See the dilemma of the multipotentialite) I’ve gone as far as a shoe-string budget, stopgap jobs, and the-little-bookstore-that-could can take me, and I’m ready for the next stage of my work life.

But when I approach the job market with this honesty, leading with my values, I am getting a lot of No, Thank You’s and non-responses. I know I’m not playing the lip service game, but I thought I was at least playing past the automated-gatekeeper game. Is no one else risking their authentic selves in the job market?

I’ve been dawdling, and dilly-dallying, and it shows. My zigs and zags: I’ve published five novels in seven years. Made adult friends in many different circles. Cultivated self-awareness. Learned about service industry pitfalls. Run a business by the seat of my pants. Forced myself to face my assumptions and prejudices, and learned about other people’s experiences. Put myself out there in the dating arena, in the job field, on the karaoke stage, and put my heart into applying for a writer’s rite of passage: an article, a blog post, a fellowship, a story contest. Put it out there.

Do the people who walk purposefully forward their whole lives do that? Do they know they can do that? What happens when they get rejected? I rather think that many people in power right now have never looked left or right on their asphaulted road to glory. Sure, they’re posturing the confidence and power, but burying the stress and insecurity deep down. That’s not real power. That’s not influence. That’s not one of the values informing my job search.

I’d like to get the chance to use Amy Cuddy’s advice about using body language to increase our power and lower our stress in a job interview, but so far none of the professional jobs I’ve applied for have wanted interviews.

Eventually, I will find something and transition into a new form: a writer-publisher with a day job. I am excited about playing with different materials—instead of devoting time to helping others with publishing questions, spending money on a writing seminar! Or instead of walk-commuting for exercise, attending a regular dance class! And instead of paying for freelance editors, having a collaborative team of professionals to talk things over with! I feel ready to roll with the changes and appreciate the differences.

Now if only someone would pick my resume off the stack and see the way it zigs…

 

Photo by Joseph Costa on Unsplash

The book event season is winding down, and my heart is being laid to rest alongside it. This heart, that gets so excited at every opportunity to be seen and hopes for love.

Every time I launch a book, I do my best. I innovate a few steps and try to have enough faith in myself to ask for support. And it is such a mixed bag. It’s a good thing I’m in it for the writing and creating, rather than the glory…

Yesterday I was at one of my favorite book events in Portland: Holiday Cheer at the Oregon Historical Society. The organizers do an amazing job, cultivating a festive atmosphere and attracting book lovers and local holiday shoppers. The attendees are in the spirit, many dressing up in holiday kitsch to join in the fun. And meeting the other authors is a great opportunity.

This year I was between several authors I already knew, which was fun and less stressful than having to chat with strangers. Several people I had missed at the book launch showed up to cheer me on and buy a book, which felt wonderful. Side note: it’s not about the money and it’s not about the scorecard, it’s feeling someone’s belief in your work that gives this electrical boost of energy.

I came home after my third book event in three weeks to feel…torn. Several comments were dancing like sugarplums in my head and making me question how I approach publishing.

Steve affirmed my wardrobe decision: “You don’t always have to be in costume.” After all, it is me behind all those words. I didn’t need to be a doll.

Phyllis expressed her pleasure at seeing me ‘so successful,’ and I felt my face freeze up, as the synapses fired: <>

Again, I felt like a mover behind a screen, a great and powerful Oz carefully choosing how much of the curtain to move aside. But it’s me behind these words.

I had just been reading Jesse Browner’s book, How Did I Get Here?, the part where he talks about Elena Ferrante’s divorcing herself from publication in order not to stoop to selling herself.

What am I selling? What’s in front of the curtain? Or what might be behind it?

Toward the end of the event, my neighbor and another writer were doing that thing where you competitively complain, this time about how little they’d had to eat that day. My rebuttal: “I made myself French toast this morning.”

And there I was, showing myself behind the words, the me I’m proud to be. Because if I don’t take care of me, it’s nobody else’s job to do it. That’s one of the lessons of the past decade that has really sunk in. Self-care isn’t something for some corporate guru to make money off of; it’s me looking at the stale bread and egg and making the time to have a full breakfast before a long day of extroversion. I know my needs, I know the price, and I can take care of this.

Have I discovered the key to my author identity? I thought it might be integrating my multiple interests instead of compartmentalizing them, or at least infusing my writing more with my stand for social justice, but an even bigger picture is how I show up for the world. The words may be good, but how do I show up, behind them? How do I show up, without them?