Using Youtube for Marketing Campaigns

Hey fellow YA-ers,

So I've started a youtube channel that, thus far, has been viewed only by my friend. haha.

But I've been watching a lot of them and looking at the videos teen girls watch, which is what my books will be marketed to. While I don't aspire to be some big youtube celebrity, I still would like a somewhat of a following of teenage girls that I talk about issues, beauty tips, etc. with. My books also tend to be very serious, so I'd like for potential readers to see a funnier side of me and feel like they can approach me with questions about my novels, the process, etc.

I guess this whole desire to have a youtube channel comes from the fact that I acted a lot as a kid and for health reasons, haven't really been able to do it as much except for small things here and there helping out friends. So I still have the acting bug, I guess!

They say 85% of the marketing process is up to you...so I'm trying to get some sort of momentum going so I'll have at least a decent following by the time my book comes out (if it ever does!).

The only thing I'm REALLY worried about is that I also want to pursue a career in academia....as a professor of Holocaust studies no less. My writing is more about serious subjects, like I said, but I worry that people in the world of academia would prejudge me as ditzy, stupid or someone that doesn't take things seriously. I guess it all depends on what you do...

Anyway, what do you guys think about all of this? I'm just curious as to what published authors think, unpublished, in between....let me know.

Thanks for the insight Bradley.

I know teen girls are smart, for sure. And my books do cover a lot of serious topics like sexual assault, etc. so I do plan to talk about that in my videos as well. Also, once I get more people in the mix, I'm hoping to do charity projects for human rights. I'm also not trying to feign interest in anything because "teen girls like it" you know? I like make-up and fashion and movies...so I'm talking about them. I don't know much about the Jonas brothers or Twilight, so I'm not going to talk about them . We can consider this an experiment.

And while I am interested in pursuing a career in academia, I do hope people will understand that even if you are passionate about human rights, etc., you can't spend 100% of the time thinking about it or you'd go nuts.

shaldna said:

Actually I very strongly disagree with this.

It can hurt your professional advancement if you are seen to be acting infavourably in the public eye.

For instance, the job I have at the minute is interesting in terms of the guidelines I have to follow for acceptable conduct. If I started a youtube channel ranting about things I didn't like or promoting things that were considered to be in conflict with my day job then I would be fired, and the people I work for are well within thier rights to do it because I am a public face at my day job.

It's not just about your writing that you have to think about when considering these issues. You also have to think about how that bad publicity will affect any other job you have.

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Oh for sure. But I'm not really using it to talk about my personal life/things I don't like about work.

shaldna said:

That doesn't really matter. You need to look at in terms of how it will be perceived.

To give you an example, I'm not allowed to voice political opinions, I'm not allowed to be seen to be taking a stand on controverial issues (even on an informal basis), I'm not allowed to vote (but this is a combination of several factors).


One must always be mindful of how one is percieved, because even one ill advised Youtube vidoe can come back and bite you in teh ass.

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You mean you're not allowed to do that for work or what? Because my books markedly take stands on controversial issues and I have no problem with that.