Book Bloggers: Racquel Marie Profile
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About Racquel: Racquel Marie received a BA in English with an emphasis in creative writing and a minor in gender and sexuality studies from the University of California, Irvine. Racquel primarily writes YA contemporaries starring queer Latine characters like herself. She also enjoys watching and producing YouTube videos, and you can learn more about her writing and love of books through her Twitter and website. Racquel is the author of Ophelia After All and two forthcoming books, You Don’t Have a Shot and This is me Trying, and her work is featured in two upcoming anthologies, Our Shadows Have Claws and Study Break.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Jenna: Thank you for taking time to talk to me about book blogging/bookish creators! You have obviously left BookTube behind as you’ve pursued your writing career, but I’m still curious, what first brought you into the world of bookish content creation?
Racquel: Thank you for having me! My love of reading was reignited during my senior year of high school and first year of college, but I felt a little isolated in it. My friends and family indulged my rants about whatever book or series was occupying my mind, but I wanted more mutual discussions as well. I stumbled upon BookTube near the end of my first year of college and was immediately enthralled by finding a community to have these conversations with. I started my own channel that summer and the rest was history.
Jenna: We often talk about the importance of word-of-mouth in the literary world. Publishers can do endless amounts of publicity, but one of the most effective ways of getting someone to read a book has always been someone whose opinions you trust recommending you a book. Booksellers and librarians are who the typical person might think of, but bookish creators also take on this role. What impact do you think bookish creators have specifically, and how might it look different?
Racquel: I think bookish creators have such a huge impact on publishing these days for the exact same reason that your friend recommending a product might convince you to buy it more than an employee recommending it would. Whether we like it or not, parasocial relationships play a big role in the way we consume media put out by content creators. So when someone on BookTok or stan twt says they went feral for a book, even if y’all aren’t friends, that may resonate more than a typical advertisement would because you connect to it on a more personal basis and it doesn’t trigger the discomfort that can come from knowing you’re being sold a product.
Jenna: I often think about how bookish content creation connects to the broader literary scene; how do you think bookish content creation fits into that world?
Racquel: Traditional marketing and publicity has the power and range to make or break a book’s success, but we’re seeing that bookish content creators can play a unique role in that as well. There’s an organic, almost indescribable nature to the way that content creators post about books they love that traditional marketing can’t quite replicate, but the reverse is also true given the amount of resources that trad marketing has over individual creators. So I personally think they both fall into the same sphere of the broader literary world, they just play into somewhat different aspects of communication when it comes to promoting books, and thus both deserve respect and admiration.
Jenna: Keeping in mind bookish content creation and its connection to the larger literary world and your experience of being both a bookish content creator and an author, do you think being a BookTuber affected the process of writing and publishing your own book?
Racquel: Being a BookTuber definitely impacted my writing because I was able to approach my books as both the author and a separate reader who was well-informed about current discussions regarding publishing. What would I have to say about this work if I was reviewing it on my channel and not just reading it over for the dozenth time as the one who wrote it? Would I have complaints about lacking character development, a sluggish middle, inconsistent themes, monotony in comparison to similar works already in the market? Essentially, I accidentally trained myself to be a very, very critical reviewer, and was able to apply that skill to become a better writer.
Post-publication, I do my best to express my full gratitude for readers who enjoyed my book enough to post about it, draw fanart, make edits, write blog reviews, share quotes, take pretty photos, film funny TikToks, come to signings, etc. etc. because I know firsthand how much work goes into that, and how vulnerable it can sometimes feel to admit to someone that you admire their work.
Jenna: It feels remiss not to ask you even if your BookTube days are behind you, so, can you tell me your favorite book you love to recommend? And are there any bookish creators whose work you love that we shouldn’t be missing out on?
Racquel: I have to go with the recommendation that most people associate with me as a BookTuber, A Study In Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro. I didn’t have a notably large viewership at any point, but I still somehow convinced an absurd amount of people to pick up my favorite series of all time. Them falling in love with the books was all Brittany’s brilliant writing, but it really warms my heart that I was able to make a little impact in building up the fan-base. I’m on BookTok a fair amount these days and love seeing content by @bookaplenty, @booksandzoe, @maebbi, @asparagusisreading, @mikapaprikaaa, @ettubrody and, on Twitter, @thebookvoyagers.