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140 Never Judge a Book By It's Cover with Emma | Book Blogger, Bookstagrammer and School Librarian
471 Plays2 years ago
Book blogger, bookstagrammer and school librarian, Emma is here to give us a peek into the life of a bookish influencer, why she started, how it's going and how it ties into her job as a librarian.
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Transcript
Introduction of Podcast and Guest
00:00:00
Speaker
Ooh, a spicy question.
00:00:02
Speaker
I love it.
00:00:02
Speaker
Because the writing is sort of everything, right?
00:00:04
Speaker
Like you can fix plot holes, but if the writing... So some readers love that and some readers are like, but I wanted more of this.
00:00:11
Speaker
So it's kind of, it's kind of a gamble.
00:00:14
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to the Right and Wrong podcast.
00:00:18
Speaker
On this week's episode, I'm very excited to have a whole new kind of guest for the show.
00:00:23
Speaker
She is a secondary school librarian, a marketing consultant and a book blogger.
Emma's Blogging Journey
00:00:30
Speaker
It's Emma from Never Judge a Book By Its Cover.
00:00:32
Speaker
Welcome to the show.
00:00:33
Speaker
Hi, thank you for having me.
00:00:35
Speaker
Thanks for coming on.
00:00:35
Speaker
So excited to speak with you.
00:00:37
Speaker
I've been wanting to have someone who's kind of in the blogging bookstagram sphere on the pod for a while.
00:00:45
Speaker
So I'm just kind of fascinated by that whole kind of world and how it all works.
00:00:50
Speaker
So let's start with the blog itself, Never Judge a Book by its cover.
00:00:56
Speaker
Am I right in thinking it's been going for over a decade now?
00:00:59
Speaker
Yes, it has, which is scary in itself.
00:01:03
Speaker
But yeah, it's been going for, it'd be 11 years this year.
00:01:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:06
Speaker
And if you were to describe what a book blog and a bookstagram, what that means, like to someone who had never been on Instagram or never kind of seen that kind of thing, how would you describe what that is?
00:01:20
Speaker
I think it was a way to share the books you love, essentially.
00:01:28
Speaker
So obviously for me, the book blog was my first sort of my first big platform, I guess, before I really started as a bookstagrammer.
00:01:40
Speaker
And it was just a case of me just honestly sharing the books that I love.
00:01:46
Speaker
And also just if...
00:01:49
Speaker
if you didn't necessarily have the friendship group of those who enjoyed the same books that you love, I guess it was a way for me to put everything that I enjoyed about the book that was in my head onto something where I could share it with lots of other similar people, or as in this case, the bookish community.
Connecting Through Blogging
00:02:10
Speaker
And it's kind of like a massive bookish friendship group across all of the different types of social platforms.
00:02:18
Speaker
And I got to connect with the authors themselves, which is surreal in itself because you don't necessarily, at the time when I started, I didn't necessarily think I could...
00:02:29
Speaker
meet the people that created those books and that I fell in love with really.
00:02:33
Speaker
And I have, and through my blog and through Bookstagram, I've been exceptionally lucky to meet the authors, get obviously signed books, go to events, obviously get early copies of books that I've
00:02:46
Speaker
I can't wait to read, even though my TBR, the only thing, the only consequence of being a blogger and a bookstagram is your TBR just gets completely and utterly clogged with new books.
00:02:58
Speaker
It's just never ending, never ending.
00:03:01
Speaker
But yeah, I guess that's, if I were to describe it, it's just, it's my own outlet for sharing what I love in my own way, my corner of the internet.
00:03:12
Speaker
But then I get to share it with lots of other people
00:03:15
Speaker
but enjoy the same things as well.
00:03:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:18
Speaker
Any avid reader, I'm sure will tell you there's nothing more frustrating than reading an amazing book and then having no one to talk about it with.
00:03:27
Speaker
So creating your own blog and stuff, just to have a sort of way of communicating with other people who also like enjoyed the thing that you enjoy, it makes a lot of sense.
00:03:37
Speaker
And it's really nice.
00:03:37
Speaker
And as you say, it is just a big community, a big friendship group.
00:03:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:42
Speaker
So across your channels, you have over 20,000 followers or something insane like that.
00:03:51
Speaker
When you first started this block way back when, did you ever imagine it getting this big?
00:03:56
Speaker
No, not at all.
00:03:57
Speaker
Not at all.
00:03:58
Speaker
I think, again, when I first started, it was my own.
00:04:01
Speaker
It was for me.
00:04:02
Speaker
And I guess in a way now it still is for me because there was I think there was a point when I sort of when I moved to my new home and stuff like that, I sort of everything sort of dropped a bit because I had other life, I guess, got in the way sort
Balancing Blogging and Enjoyment
00:04:19
Speaker
of thing.
00:04:19
Speaker
But essentially it's.
00:04:22
Speaker
What I have to remember, especially with Bookstagram being a key one, is that you don't do it for other people.
00:04:31
Speaker
You always have to do it.
00:04:32
Speaker
You want to do it for yourself because it's your own channel.
00:04:34
Speaker
Does that make sense?
00:04:35
Speaker
Yes.
00:04:36
Speaker
And I think sometimes we forget about that.
00:04:38
Speaker
And I think by being a book blogger and having my own website and my platform that's mine and stuff like that, I have to remember it's for me because that's what I love to do and you have to enjoy it.
00:04:51
Speaker
Yeah, I get that.
00:04:51
Speaker
Because, you know, obviously I don't review or blog books in the same way that you do, but just being part of the sort of publishing and writing community, there is a lot of pressure to read whatever the like new popular thing is.
00:05:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:08
Speaker
Whether that's like something you would normally have read or not.
00:05:11
Speaker
And I fully understand that like, I bet the pressure is huge for you to read certain books if it's like trending on BookTok or something like that.
00:05:20
Speaker
Is there times where there is a book that's sort of blown up and you wouldn't normally read that and you're not really that interested in the subject matter, but you kind of feel the pressure to because the internet is saying, look at this book.
00:05:32
Speaker
Oh no, absolutely.
00:05:35
Speaker
I think for me, hype books is an issue with me because I don't tend to necessarily enjoy them as much because I
00:05:45
Speaker
because it's so hyped.
00:05:47
Speaker
And I feel it's that thing of, I have to read it.
00:05:50
Speaker
And that will completely turn me off because reading is, is for you.
00:05:55
Speaker
It's your escapism.
00:05:57
Speaker
And I just feel that you, again, I keep coming back to this.
00:06:01
Speaker
It's for you.
00:06:01
Speaker
It's your love of reading, your enjoyment of reading.
00:06:04
Speaker
And when you have a hyped book, I,
00:06:06
Speaker
it does increase the pressure and and unfortunately can send it can send me into a bit of a reading slump which i i i always hate however this year i read fourth wing which obviously is an incredibly hyped book generally speaking and everyone has read it and
00:06:28
Speaker
I don't know what it was about it, but maybe there's just certain books that just like, I'm just going to pick it up.
00:06:35
Speaker
And that's what I did with Fourth Wing.
00:06:36
Speaker
I picked it up, but then I gave myself that social media break.
00:06:40
Speaker
I didn't look it up online.
00:06:42
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I didn't
00:06:43
Speaker
scroll on Instagram or anything like that.
00:06:47
Speaker
I very much, and I think that's maybe how I'm going to go forward with hyped books.
00:06:51
Speaker
And it's crazy how I've only just thought of this now, but I have to do it again.
00:06:56
Speaker
I have to do it for myself.
00:06:57
Speaker
So I take a break from, from the platforms and, and just read the book, having that time to experience it for myself, because I
00:07:05
Speaker
it's, it's you in the book.
00:07:07
Speaker
It's not you, the book and millions of, well, not millions, but obviously thousands of people on various sites reading will always be for you because that's what you enjoy.
00:07:17
Speaker
And that's your, again, I keep coming back to that, but that's, that's essentially what I've kind of learned more this year, which is strange considering I've been doing it for over 10 years, but yeah,
00:07:27
Speaker
it's with hyped books and especially with fourth wing, I had the break and I read it completely for myself and I absolutely loved it.
00:07:35
Speaker
And I think that's what you have to remember.
00:07:37
Speaker
I think if that makes sense.
00:07:38
Speaker
Yeah, no, that makes total sense because it, other people's opinions, whether they're, you know, good, bad, or just kind of reactionary will always color how you experience that book.
00:07:49
Speaker
You know, it will always change the way in which you do it.
00:07:51
Speaker
I mean, I had, I understand completely because this is how I,
00:07:55
Speaker
Breaking Bad was kind of ruined for me because everyone kept telling me how amazing it was to the point where I was like, I just don't want to watch it because no one will shut up about it.
00:08:03
Speaker
And it's an unpopular opinion, but that was ruined for me in that way.
00:08:06
Speaker
Getting back to you.
00:08:09
Speaker
Now that you have this kind of quite big following, I'm guessing when you started this, it was a little bit more casual, but because you've got a sort of art direction, it's a whole curated thing.
00:08:23
Speaker
I imagine a lot of
Impact of External Pressures
00:08:24
Speaker
work goes into it.
00:08:24
Speaker
Is there kind of a strict schedule that you have to stay on top of your posts and your kind of like reading and things like that?
00:08:31
Speaker
I would love to say yes.
00:08:33
Speaker
And a lot of people who maybe have more following than I do or anything like that will definitely say yes.
00:08:44
Speaker
For me, so for example, for my blog, it was very...
00:08:50
Speaker
when I first started, that was all it was.
00:08:52
Speaker
It was just my blog.
00:08:53
Speaker
It didn't have Instagram.
00:08:54
Speaker
I was on X or Twitter, obviously as it was then.
00:09:00
Speaker
And I was on there a bit and it was just me and my blog and I would just read the book and I would, I would review it.
00:09:07
Speaker
There was no, there was no set time.
00:09:09
Speaker
I didn't look at, I didn't look at the views or what's the best time to post it or anything like that.
00:09:16
Speaker
It was very casual, very ad hoc.
00:09:18
Speaker
And I enjoyed, I loved that.
00:09:21
Speaker
And then I guess I got onto Bookstagram, onto Instagram.
00:09:25
Speaker
And again, it was very casual at the beginning, but then I felt like you had to keep on top of things.
00:09:32
Speaker
And if you wanted to develop your following or to get your platform bigger, there was this, I guess you could say there was this, I don't want to say expectation, but I guess for me, there was an expectation that you
00:09:47
Speaker
you planned a week's worth of content and then I would take it, for example, on the Sunday and then have it all sort of for the week and do it that way.
00:09:55
Speaker
But then it almost became...
00:09:58
Speaker
It almost became another, I don't want to say a job because that's the wrong word, but, oh no, in a way, it took sometimes the enjoyment out of it when it got too planned.
00:10:11
Speaker
And for me, and again, this year, again, I very much try to
00:10:17
Speaker
create the content I want to create that I love.
COVID-19 and Blogging Dynamics
00:10:21
Speaker
And if I have a couple of days break in between, then that's absolutely fine because I'm doing that for me.
00:10:26
Speaker
It could be reading a book or it just could be generally, I don't have anything I want to share today.
00:10:32
Speaker
So I won't post.
00:10:33
Speaker
So I think nowadays, I think I post what I love.
00:10:38
Speaker
And yes, I do do a bit of planning sort of at the weekend because obviously when I'm at work, I need that to be sort of organized and stuff.
00:10:46
Speaker
And obviously as we're getting into the autumn winter weather, your lighting won't be as great in terms of when I take my photos and stuff.
00:10:54
Speaker
So I take them at the weekend.
00:10:57
Speaker
So a bit of pre-planning now does occur, but not as much as it used to be because I'm now doing it purely for the enjoyment.
00:11:05
Speaker
And I think that's the key thing that, again, I've learnt with everything this year in terms of my blog and reading and stuff.
00:11:11
Speaker
You do it for you and you do it for the enjoyment.
00:11:14
Speaker
But I guess back in COVID times, which the pandemic, when that platform, my blog, my bookstagram, my Instagram, that was, I guess, kind of a lifesaver in a way, because it still kept us sort of creating and building.
00:11:33
Speaker
you enjoyed it more because obviously we were in a time where we couldn't do very much else outside of our own household.
00:11:40
Speaker
So by having that platform and that bookish community, I think that's where it kind of develops a lot more because everyone was pretty much online all the time.
00:11:50
Speaker
So it had a period of having a really heavy, I had a really heavy online presence and I still do, but now I do it
00:11:59
Speaker
I just I just prioritize it and organize it differently so that I'm enjoying it a lot more and doesn't feel quite so pressured.
00:12:07
Speaker
Does that make sense?
00:12:08
Speaker
Yeah, I get it.
00:12:09
Speaker
So it sounds like, you know, when you started this, it was very much a fun thing.
00:12:13
Speaker
And then as you kind of built more of a following, you tried to sort of make everything a bit more regimented and like really kind of see how big this thing could grow to a point where I think it probably became a bit much, as you say, like almost a second job.
00:12:30
Speaker
And now it sounds like you're finding a balance between...
00:12:34
Speaker
you know, doing what you want to do with a little bit of the organization when you need to do organization, but not overthinking it too much.
00:12:41
Speaker
No, absolutely.
00:12:42
Speaker
And I think I enjoy my platform for what it is, but I don't want to be on there 100% because otherwise I wouldn't be able to read the books that I have a very long, long TBR of.
00:12:54
Speaker
So it's, it's that it is that balance, but it's a healthy balance and it's a balance you have to
00:13:01
Speaker
be happy with and enjoy.
00:13:03
Speaker
And I think I've kind of found that, which is quite nice.
00:13:06
Speaker
That's great.
00:13:06
Speaker
That's great.
00:13:07
Speaker
And I'd love to talk about, so I've been to a few book launches and to run it's based on some of the authors that I've seen on your list.
00:13:16
Speaker
I imagine that we're on a few PR lists together, but I've, and I've seen this, I've been to launches where there's been book bloggers and things like
Perks of Book Blogging
00:13:23
Speaker
that.
00:13:23
Speaker
I'd love to hear about some of the sort of incentives without getting like too granular about it.
00:13:30
Speaker
As like a book blogger with a decent following, you know, you get some sort of early previews of books.
00:13:36
Speaker
You get to go to, you'll be invited to launches and the sort of book events and things like that.
00:13:41
Speaker
What other things kind of do you get amongst those or does that kind of cover it?
00:13:48
Speaker
So like I said in the beginning that being a book blogger is great.
00:13:52
Speaker
quite a praise and quite an honour really to be on a publisher's list.
00:13:58
Speaker
And obviously if you want to, you don't have to, but if you want to take that step, they are very open to sort of obviously contact to them saying, I really love this book.
00:14:10
Speaker
Could I possibly go on a mailing list?
00:14:15
Speaker
And it's been an honour to be on that.
00:14:17
Speaker
And I'm still going on different lists as well, which is great because obviously –
00:14:21
Speaker
my book taste may change or there's different types of um obviously genres and stuff like that um i mean i think the one uh probably the best thing really is uh in sort of my decade i've been very lucky that my book reviews have made it under quotes of some of my favorite authors books on on the actual uh final copies amazing
00:14:46
Speaker
So for me, that's probably my highlight.
00:14:50
Speaker
And also just connecting with authors, generally speaking.
00:14:55
Speaker
And obviously, I've been to some book launches.
00:14:58
Speaker
And I think being able to share your love for an author or for a specific book and to share
00:15:08
Speaker
I think another award, I think just even from a book blogger slash librarian perspective, it's almost saying I really love this book and sharing it with other people.
00:15:18
Speaker
And then they come back to you and saying, I picked up your book or the book you recommended and I absolutely loved it.
00:15:23
Speaker
So it's the small things, it's the little things like that, that sort of as a book blogger or even generally as a bookworm,
00:15:32
Speaker
I absolutely love that.
00:15:34
Speaker
But I think for me as a book blogger, whilst I love receiving proof copies and also getting sort of like really cool boxes to sometimes I get a PR package and it could be the final book with some merchandise attached to it and stuff like that.
00:15:51
Speaker
And yeah.
00:15:52
Speaker
being invited to book launches and and seeing the publishing houses and being going into those sorts of things um but I think for me early on when I was starting being a book blogger by being quoted in books and having my name and my blog in a book that is my favorite author that for me is probably the the best thing that's happened really to be fair
00:16:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:17
Speaker
That's amazing.
00:16:18
Speaker
That's, I mean, yeah.
00:16:20
Speaker
I mean, I'm trying to think of it as something that would be better than that, but that, that kind of peaks
Book Blogging as a Career
00:16:24
Speaker
it all.
00:16:24
Speaker
Right.
00:16:24
Speaker
But, um, in terms of like beyond that, is there any way that like book blogging, having these kinds of, um, social media presences about books and reviews and stuff like that, is there any way that that could ever become like your job, like as a full-time thing, or is, is it, is it just not something that's a reality?
00:16:46
Speaker
It could be if, because obviously there's quite a few book bloggers or content creators, bookish content creators that obviously build their platform also very much on, they obviously they can charge for certain things and stuff like that.
00:17:05
Speaker
Some publishers or some companies, bookish companies may...
00:17:09
Speaker
come to you saying, can you promote this, this on your channels?
00:17:13
Speaker
And I've, I've been lucky to also be able to do that where they've gifted me a product that's bookish related.
00:17:19
Speaker
And then I promote it on my channels as majority of them are sort of free in exchange for, but I've obviously been very lucky that you can get paid ad promotion, if that makes sense.
00:17:33
Speaker
So on my Instagram page,
00:17:36
Speaker
I might do a paid promotion on a certain thing.
00:17:39
Speaker
In terms of having it as a full-time job, I'm not – I don't think I would be able to really do that.
00:17:46
Speaker
Some might be able to, but I think for me I enjoy it as a separate outlet that's just – as a hobby, really.
00:17:53
Speaker
Yes, yeah, yeah.
00:17:54
Speaker
And I think I'd continue it as a hobby because I wouldn't – because I would – if I had it as something that was full-time, I think I wouldn't want to –
00:18:05
Speaker
how should I put it?
00:18:06
Speaker
I wouldn't want it to lose that love for it, having to do it all.
00:18:10
Speaker
Does that make sense?
00:18:10
Speaker
It's like sometimes when you have too much of something, you can use, lose the love for it just slightly.
00:18:16
Speaker
But having it as a, as a, a hobby and as a side outlet sort of thing.
00:18:23
Speaker
I absolutely love that.
00:18:23
Speaker
Cause again, it's, it's my, it's my escapism from what I do on a daily basis as well.
00:18:29
Speaker
Yes.
00:18:29
Speaker
And then it would no longer be an escape.
00:18:31
Speaker
It would be the daily basis if it was your, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:18:33
Speaker
Exactly.
00:18:34
Speaker
The thing that I've seen, um, sort of bookish content creators where they, where it kind of works and I assume that they're doing it full time is when they are on YouTube and they kind of convert that audience onto YouTube.
00:18:45
Speaker
So, but that's a whole different kettle of fish.
00:18:47
Speaker
That's, I don't know enough about that to talk about that.
00:18:50
Speaker
Um,
00:18:51
Speaker
Let's get onto, you mentioned it before and I mentioned it in the intro, this isn't the only thing you do.
00:18:56
Speaker
This is a fun project that you do on the side.
00:18:59
Speaker
You also work in marketing and very interesting to me is you are a librarian for a secondary school librarian, which now that you mentioned it just a second ago,
00:19:12
Speaker
I realized is in some ways there's a lot of crossover with being a book blogger where a lot of it is about you looking at books, giving your recommendation, and then people liking your recommendation and coming back to you and saying, blah, blah, blah, I liked that.
00:19:26
Speaker
What else have you got for me?
Emma's Role as a Librarian
00:19:29
Speaker
I think we all know the basics of what it is to be a school librarian as someone from the outside looking in.
00:19:37
Speaker
What does it entail beyond sitting behind the desk and shushing people when they're loud?
00:19:45
Speaker
So I'm in a unique position because when I first started my role as secondary school librarian, it was one school.
00:19:52
Speaker
So I work for a girls' school, but I also work for a boys' school.
00:19:57
Speaker
So I have two libraries.
00:19:59
Speaker
I manage two libraries.
00:20:02
Speaker
And what I love about it is the fact that – so I originally started out in the girls' library, and obviously that's more my sort of –
00:20:13
Speaker
I'm more in tune with the books they read more.
00:20:17
Speaker
But what I've loved is that it's developed into a role that I manage sort of the girls and the boys and it's seeing the different dynamic and how they, and how they, what they read and the different types of books they read.
00:20:30
Speaker
So it's every day is always different.
00:20:33
Speaker
And I love that.
00:20:34
Speaker
Um,
00:20:35
Speaker
My day is never – there's never a day – every day is different.
00:20:40
Speaker
It's never – I go to work and I have like an early bird reading club in the morning.
00:20:46
Speaker
That's always the same, but the rest of the day can change quite –
00:20:52
Speaker
differently because I do a lot of, which also helps with being a book blogger, is the fact that I have contacts in publishing.
00:20:59
Speaker
So I've been able to contact publishers to see if there's any authors available that can come into the school.
00:21:06
Speaker
So I do a lot of connecting that way and to try and get authors into school.
00:21:11
Speaker
So I try and see if I can get at least one author per year group.
00:21:16
Speaker
every year if I can.
00:21:17
Speaker
And I link with different bookshops as well.
00:21:20
Speaker
So I've got a bookshop in Kew, which is the Kew bookshop, and it's a really lovely independent bookshop.
00:21:28
Speaker
So it's also supporting outlets and bookish outlets outside of work as well, which I really, really love.
00:21:34
Speaker
And we organise sort of borough challenges.
00:21:37
Speaker
So we have like, sort of like the Carnegie Award or
00:21:42
Speaker
We have our own local book awards.
00:21:43
Speaker
So I meet with the librarians of the actual borough and we do various meetings, maybe once a term, discuss what we could do as a borough to promote reading and get some of the kids outside of school to sort of
00:21:58
Speaker
participate in those programs, which is really, really nice.
00:22:02
Speaker
It's really hard to sum up what kind of happens as a librarian, because I just, I do so much.
00:22:08
Speaker
I'm one of those people that can't just sit behind the desk.
00:22:12
Speaker
I love sitting behind the desk and I
00:22:14
Speaker
But also it's nice to go out behind my desk and talk to the students and recommend my books.
00:22:21
Speaker
I love doing displays because I'm quite creative person.
00:22:24
Speaker
So I love creating different types of book displays.
00:22:27
Speaker
I try and get a lot of all the different staff involved across the whole school.
00:22:32
Speaker
So it's a very much a whole school trying to build a whole school reading culture.
00:22:37
Speaker
And I help with reading lessons through English department,
00:22:42
Speaker
And every day is just, every day is different.
00:22:46
Speaker
And I think that's why I love it.
00:22:48
Speaker
And because the books that I read are very much similar to the ones that obviously the students read, which helps quite a lot.
00:22:58
Speaker
And I just love having that connection with the students, thinking I've read this book, you will really enjoy it.
00:23:04
Speaker
And it's a very...
00:23:06
Speaker
rewarding and fulfilling role that I absolutely love and I genuinely obviously love my job and I don't see me doing anything else while I have other roles that I do um that it's yeah and being a book builder really helps with that because I have that platform that I can help to support students and
00:23:26
Speaker
I think the other thing being a librarian is having someone who struggles to read and trying my hardest to try and get them into reading whilst it's a challenge.
00:23:37
Speaker
It's one I fully accept every day, but it's always rewarding to have someone come up to me saying, Miss, I absolutely love this book.
00:23:46
Speaker
And it's just...
00:23:48
Speaker
I'm a reader and I have a community and a platform full of bookish people and readers and avid readers and we love books.
00:23:57
Speaker
But to try and get someone who struggles and get them onto that journey, that's probably one of my favourite things.
00:24:06
Speaker
And although I have a group of students that...
00:24:10
Speaker
love reading generally or I have and it's just building that so it's maintaining the ones that love reading and then and having those conversations that I absolutely love and then there's also the ones that are the challenge but that's something that I do on a daily basis that I just I just love trying to get them into reading is just so important and so it is just honestly so rewarding.
00:24:37
Speaker
Well, that's great to hear.
00:24:38
Speaker
I mean, you're obviously extremely passionate about it.
00:24:41
Speaker
And it does sound like it works sort of not like a separate role from your blogging.
00:24:46
Speaker
It's very much a sort of in tandem role.
00:24:48
Speaker
It's almost like an extension of it in some ways.
00:24:51
Speaker
No, absolutely.
00:24:52
Speaker
And I think, obviously, I started the book blog over a decade ago.
00:24:57
Speaker
And I didn't, when I left the
00:25:01
Speaker
school sick form i didn't really know what i wanted to do so it all my first job was a saturday library assistant in a public library and that was based on on my passion for books because i absolutely loved reading and then i worked my way sort of up from there within the same space and then i wanted to do something different so obviously this secondary school librarian position came up and i
00:25:28
Speaker
If I didn't have my passion for reading or my love of books, I'm not quite sure where I would be in my career.
00:25:37
Speaker
And I think I have a lot to owe to being a book blogger because I've been able to, I read those books that are similar to the ages of my students.
00:25:47
Speaker
And I have that knowledge that I've been able to build and still continue to build because the books are,
00:25:55
Speaker
young adult fiction specifically is getting so big and so diverse and so inclusive.
00:26:04
Speaker
And it's really lovely to see because I never had that when I was a young adult.
00:26:10
Speaker
And it's amazing to see that books are finally, it's just that there's a book for everyone.
00:26:16
Speaker
And I love seeing that both as a book blogger and as a secondary school librarian.
00:26:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:21
Speaker
Yes.
00:26:22
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's true.
00:26:22
Speaker
I mean, and it's not just YA.
00:26:24
Speaker
It's like, you know, the whole kind of, all of publishing is sort of growing outwards and there is much more inclusivity, I would say.
00:26:32
Speaker
Yes.
00:26:32
Speaker
Well, we're heading towards the end of the episode.
00:26:34
Speaker
And before we do get to the final question, I have to ask, you're obviously very passionate about books and reading.
Future Writing Aspirations
00:26:43
Speaker
Have you ever written any stories of your own or maybe have plans to one day?
00:26:50
Speaker
I get asked this a lot and I always, and being lucky enough to connect with authors and stuff like that, I always, I do always tend to ask, what would you, how would you, if you wanted to be a writer, where would I start and stuff like that?
00:27:06
Speaker
And,
00:27:08
Speaker
it's I, I, I do want to, I just, it's really, I think I, I think there will be a point in my life that maybe my role is secondary school librarian has sort of, I am onto different things.
00:27:23
Speaker
I've moved on career wise, maybe, or, um, there'll be a point where I just, I do just sit down and write a book, but, um,
00:27:33
Speaker
I still find I need to have that maybe life experience to write something that I would be really proud of.
00:27:42
Speaker
Does that make sense?
00:27:43
Speaker
Yeah, I know what you mean.
00:27:45
Speaker
And I read so much that I would never want to write something so close to that.
00:27:52
Speaker
And I know...
00:27:55
Speaker
And we can be inspired by a lot of literature and stuff like that, but it's a difficult one.
00:27:59
Speaker
I would love to.
00:28:00
Speaker
I've never sat down and said, I'm going to write something.
00:28:03
Speaker
So maybe in my head, I've got to do that.
00:28:06
Speaker
But I'm never not going to say no to that idea because I would love to, considering how much I've been part of the book community and the bookish industry.
00:28:16
Speaker
I feel like I would love to do something like that, but I haven't yet.
00:28:20
Speaker
Yes, I understand.
00:28:22
Speaker
It's a never say never kind of thing.
00:28:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:25
Speaker
But I think, uh, in a similar way to with your, your blog, where at one point I think you would, you know, you were kind of over focusing and scheduling, it sounds like, and you've kind of wound that back a bit and you're kind of taking the pressure off yourself.
00:28:41
Speaker
I think with writing, that's true as well.
00:28:42
Speaker
You just, you just got to write for fun and not put pressure on yourself and go for it.
00:28:46
Speaker
But one day I look forward to reading big things from you, Emma.
00:28:51
Speaker
Thank you.
00:28:52
Speaker
And that brings us to the final question, which as always is, Emma, if you were stranded on a desert island with a single book, which book would it be?
Emma's Current Book Choice
00:29:02
Speaker
So I've been thinking about this and it's a book that constantly changes.
00:29:09
Speaker
I have my favorite books, but at the moment I'm
00:29:13
Speaker
very obsessed with Heartstopper.
00:29:15
Speaker
So I would probably have to say, just because it's a massive comfort read and it's just one you can constantly read, I would probably say Heartstopper at this time.
00:29:28
Speaker
At this time.
00:29:28
Speaker
But others could include Twilight, which was obviously my first, the book that got me into reading massively into the young adult literature.
00:29:39
Speaker
And another one would probably be
00:29:42
Speaker
How Hard Can Love Be by Holly Bourne.
00:29:44
Speaker
But I know that's three and I shouldn't have three.
00:29:47
Speaker
But at this point, I'm going to go with Heartstopper.
00:29:49
Speaker
Today it's Heartstopper.
00:29:51
Speaker
Okay.
00:29:51
Speaker
Yes.
00:29:52
Speaker
Next week, maybe something different, but today it's Heartstopper.
00:29:56
Speaker
Amazing.
00:29:57
Speaker
Well, thank you so much, Emma, for coming on the podcast, telling us all about all of your kind of experiences with the book blogging and what that whole world looks like to you and working in a library.
00:30:08
Speaker
It's been really cool chatting with you.
00:30:09
Speaker
It's been really fascinating for me.
00:30:10
Speaker
Thank you so much for coming on.
00:30:12
Speaker
Thank you so much for having me.
00:30:13
Speaker
You're so
Follow Emma's Blog
00:30:14
Speaker
welcome.
00:30:14
Speaker
And for anyone looking to keep up with what Emma's doing and what's going on with the blog, you can follow the blog on all socials at neverjudgeabook.
00:30:23
Speaker
So that's neverjudgeabook, but without the first E, N-V-E-R.
00:30:27
Speaker
And you can just head over to the website www.neverjudgeabookbyitscover.co.uk.
00:30:32
Speaker
To make sure you don't miss the episode of this podcast, follow along on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
00:30:37
Speaker
You can support the show on Patreon and for more Bookish Chat, check out my other podcast, The Chosen Ones and Other Tropes.
00:30:42
Speaker
Thanks again to Emma and thanks to everyone listening.
00:30:44
Speaker
We'll catch you on the next episode.