So, last week I finished my first ever book review which consisted of a video and small written piece.
I hold my hands up. I thought that the whole process would take me approximately 2-3 hours, and it would be super-easy and fun to do.
Well, my experience wasn’t exactly how I imagined it would be….
Firstly, the amount of time it took me was a hell of a lot longer than I’d planned! I’ve broken it down for you below.
Reading the book – 5 hours
Yes, that is a long time to read a book (I read it straight through). But there’s a reason. When you’re a book blogger, you can’t just read a book. I did at first, then sat down to write the review and struggled. I had to go back, skim through the parts I liked, analyse the characters, and wheedle out the themes. Book bloggers can’t just sit back, relax and enjoy a book. Their minds have to be in constant review mode!
Research – 2 hours
I sat down to write my fabulous review. I tippy-tapped my pen for a bit. Then I went on Twitter. Then I spent some time looking out the window and eating biscuits.
It was then I realised that this whole writing a review malarkey was a trickier than I initially thought.
Reviews are well thought out opinion pieces. Not just throwing up random words onto a page and hoping for the best.
So, I researched. I looked up other opinions of the book on Goodreads and in articles, and I also looked at how other bloggers wrote and presented their book reviews.
Writing – 2 hours
The writing was surprisingly difficult, not only did I have to write a review but also a script that sounded relatively natural.
Filming – Forever!! (I joke, 3 hours)
The filming was the most difficult part. At first, I thought, this will be easy, I’ll just speak into the camera and smile. Maybe, I’ll make a few jokes hahaha. I’ll be fun and natural and easy-going and flick my hair about and shit.
I was the exact opposite. As soon as a camera was plonked firmly in front of my face, I froze, mouth half-open, looking pretty much like I did in physics class at school.
For a 5 minute video, there were two hours of footage. Mainly of me laughing, snorting, swearing and looking utterly lost.
Editing – 2 hours
Whittling 2 hours of crap into 5 minutes of useful material was difficult.
That’s all there is to say really.
Posting and promoting – 1 hour
Finally, I had to get my blog post up on YouTube and integrate it into my blog.
So, in total, the whole process took me 15 hours. Or almost two days of a standard day’s work.
That is a hell of a lot.
And, yes, I am sure as time goes on I will get quicker, and these things will get easier, but still, that’s a lot of time and effort.
And it’s not just time…it’s balls.
Sorry, I couldn’t think of any other way of putting that. Doing a book review, whether on camera or written takes balls. Putting yourself out there is scary; it’s at that little girl ghost level of fear. (I don’t like little girl ghosts they freak me out.)
Don’t get me wrong – I loved it.
Some people may ask – well why the heck did you do it then? I can’t speak for every book vlogger/blogger, but I think Vloggers and bloggers produce book reviews because books are their absolute passion. Books aren’t the most glamorous of things to blog about, not like fashion or music. But books change us; they open up new worlds and places and people. They make us better, more empathetic. They make us laugh and cry and get angry when a film adaptation comes out that’s nothing like the original!!!
Vlogger and bloggers are a passionate group of people, who want to share this passion with others.
I think many people, writers, publishers and readers (myself included!) may not understand the amount of time, energy and guts it takes to do a book review.
So, in short, I take my hat off to you, oh wonderful book bloggers and vloggers!
Now, somebody start a frigging slow clap…
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