#meetthebookstagrammer interview with @theartisangeek

I was honoured to have Seji, of @theartisangeek, join me for The StoryGraph’s very first #meetthebookstagrammer Instagram Live show, on May 12th.

We discussed how she balances her studies with her reading and social media accounts, how she ended up creating her uniquely funny YouTube videos, and the importance of the #ownvoicesreviews movement. See below for a summary of our discussion:

Nadia: I first got to know of Seji’s account because someone I was following posted a video of her trying to get an Advanced Review Copy from Riverhead Books, and I was like: who is this woman? I need to know her! And I’ve been following you since then! Not only have I learnt that you are a comic genius, you’re also incredibly intelligent and you’re talking about important things in our community. Do you want to say hi?

Seji: Hello, everyone . I’m very excited to be here. I feel so honoured.

Nadia: So you’re studying Maths, Econometrics, and Japanese. Is that all one degree?

Seji: No, they’re all separate. But Maths and Econometrics have a lot of overlap and so I see them as a joint degree. Japanese is different, but that’s just part time because…ain’t nobody got time for that.

Nadia: From reading your profile, you’re obviously interested in a whole range of things. So how did you come to settle on Maths and Econometrics as your main subjects?

Seji: Mainly because they allow for so many options. I have always loved maths and languages. I can’t choose so when I went to all of the university tours, I randomly sat in an Econometrics session and they said: you can basically do anything with Econometrics! So I said: great, I’m gonna do that! And then I felt like it was too applied. I wanted something more theoretical, so I decided to add mathematics as well.

Nadia: You’re doing intense subjects! How do you balance those with your reading, your YouTube channel, and your Bookstagram (the books community on Instagram) account?

Seji: Japanese is part-time and online so I can follow the lectures in my pyjamas. That’s very convenient. I’m actually taking a slight break but will be starting in September again. Mathematics is also part-time. That’s physical but it’s quite easy to manage because I’m in my third year, my final year, of Econometrics, and I don’t really have to do that much. So that’s how I balance it. Every week, I’ll decide which days I want to focus on my studies and which days I want to focus on my YouTube and Bookstagram stuff. That’s how I do it.

Nadia: Your YouTube videos are uniquely funny. How did you come to start doing them?

Seji: I’ve always been very creative. But since I started university, it was all career-based, and all the creative stuff left me. It made me very sad and stressed. I really needed an outlet where I could express myself. So then, that became YouTube. I’d been watching YouTube since I was eleven, and I’ve always wanted to start a channel. I’ve tried many times and just failed dramatically. And then, I found this niche, BookTube, and I felt so at home and I had so many ideas. It’s the first thing that really stuck.

Nadia: Why do you think BookTube stuck? And given you’ve tried and failed so many times, when did you know: ooh, I’m onto something good here?

Seji: Umm…I think..why BookTube stuck is because I never felt I was a bookish person and so I was surprised when I made my first video..which was maybe two or three years ago...I realised I actually really liked talking about books with people because there weren’t a lot of bookish people around me. Then all of these ideas started coming at me and it was kind of like a need to do them. It became like an addiction.

Nadia: Tell us a little bit more about your creative process. You’re always brimming with ideas. How do you sit down, filter them down, flesh them out?

Seji: 24/7 I’m thinking about ten million things. I have OneNote on Microsoft. When something pops up, I’ll create a new page and start scribbling things down and that has accumulated into about fifty pages of different ideas. Every single time something new pops up, I just keep on writing. Some just get to a stage where nothing more is going to come from it…but some…it’s like there’s a need to just produce it..everything flows out. That’s when I know I have a concrete beginning and end..that’s when I start thinking about how I’m going to film it, what do I need? I start searching the Internet — do I need a props? I start filming, then editing, and that’s it.

Nadia: Well, it is amazing. And I’ve seen that you have a Patreon. So if you’ve seen Seji’s stuff and you enjoy it, consider supporting her Patreon.

Seji: Yes, please! My laptop is almost dying. I need a new laptop!

Nadia: Let’s talk more about #ownvoicesreviews. When did you realise that there was a problem?

Seji: From the beginning, when I started BookTube. I saw it was when The Hate U Give came out..and people were making all of these videos about it and they needed extras. Among the extras, there was like one half-black BookTuber, and the rest were not that. So I was like: okay, that’s kinda weird. When it really hit me was when Michelle Obama’s book, ‘Becoming’, came out, and she was going to do something with BookTube. I thought: oh my gosh, this is so exciting. Michelle is the epitome of what it means to be a strong, black woman. I was so excited for the panel. And then, I read the lineup and there were no black BookTubers and it got me thinking: why does this happen? It’s not a one-time occurrence. It’s happening every single time. You look at the most famous BookTubers and none of them are black. Why does this keep happening? You have to broaden your view and look at the whole online book community and the publishing community and see how we’re marginalised at this level. And that’s when you see it’s a huge, complicated problem.

Nadia: You would think publishers might have figured it out: they want to sell as many books as possible. Surely, if I give my book to as diverse a range of readers as possible, that will broaden my sales opportunities. So why do you think publishers are struggling to make that connection?

Seji: I have no answers to be honest because when I think about it it’s so logical. But then again, I don’t know how every single publishing house functions and I always wonder: who are the people behind the social media pages, or who are the ones receiving the request emails from readers? I don’t know what their background is, if they really think about these sorts of things. What I do know is that majority of the publishing industry is white so when you’re surrounded by a lot of white people, and not diverse people, you get these types of issues. I assume they’re not aware of it. That’s what I think.

Nadia: @girlswithnoselfie says: Publishers sadly look at things from a macro level. It’s not tailored to the authors, the books, the reviewers.

Seji: Definitely! I have a lot of friends that are quite big on Instagram. They have 20k+ followers and they get sent a ridiculous amount of books, even books they’re not requesting. Books that don’t fit their style. I have friends that read adult fiction, literary fiction, historical fiction, and you’ve got publishers sending them YA books. And it’s like: brah! You’re only looking at the number. I’m wondering: don’t they analyse? Does this book fit this Bookstagrammer or this BookTuber? They’re just thinking about numbers, numbers, numbers and I think that’s the biggest problem.

Nadia: Yeah, one of the things I’m looking at with my tool is how can you better match people to books based on things like moods, and themes, and topics. What advice would you give to someone if they really disliked a book but they wouldn’t be considered an #ownvoices reviewer?

Seji: I think it really depends on the type of review because I think people forget there’s a distinction between giving a negative review and giving a bad review. There’s nothing wrong with a negative review. A bad review is like if you did not understand a book and you’re just like: I hated it. And you’re missing so many things. I think that is something that’s very prevalent within the BookTube community. People giving rant reviews..and it becomes more about the views than the content of the book. The focus is on: I hated it because of this, this, this, and this — and I’m thinking: but do you realise the intention? Why this book was written?

Nadia: Are you optimistic about the future for marginalised voices, creators, and influencers?

Seji: Definitely! I think more and more people are starting to realise that people of colour have value. It’s like an untapped resource. I do realise that publishers want to get as many people to read books, they do want to target people of colour — they just don’t know how.

Nadia: Here we are!

Seji: So I think we need to do more groundwork to make sure they understand how to do it.

Nadia: Okay, it’s time now for the quickfire round. Are you ready?

Seji: Yes!

Nadia: One book at a time or multiple?

Seji: Multiple. My iPad is behind the stack of books I’m reading now, which is like 10–12 books high. So multiple!

Nadia: Mood reader or strict TBR follower?

Seji: Mood reader. I’ve tried so many times to do a TBR but I fail dramatically every single time.

Nadia: Fiction or non-fiction?

Seji: I enjoy both. Equally.

Nadia: Print, digital or audio?

Seji: I have to say print and I’m going to be very specific: hardcover, with the ruffles on the side!

Nadia: Favourite light-hearted book?

Seji: I’m an easy crier so…this makes it very hard. I’d say ‘City of Girls’. I’m reading it right now.

Nadia: Favourite heavy/emotional book?

Seji: I have to say two. First is ‘A Monster Calls’ by Patrick Ness, and also ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’, but that’s because both of the boys were bullied so much and I could relate to that...being the underdog...I could relate a lot.

Nadia: Favourite unexpected favourite?

Seji: ‘City of Girls’. It’s a kind-of romance and historical fiction. I don’t normally like romance, but this is great.

Nadia: All-time favourite book?

Seji: ‘Middlegame’! I recently read it. I love it so much as it’s about maths and language, and that’s literally me!

Nadia: If you could have any career in books or publishing, what would you do?

Seji: Umm..I would have to go for marketing and set things straight!

Nadia: Favourite thing to do outside of books or reading?

Seji: Currently it’s chess…but anything that has to do with art, like painting or something like that.

Nadia: Okay, now it’s time for shoutouts. Shout out a book.

Seji: Can I do two? ‘Middlegame’ by Seanan McGuire and ‘City of Girls’ by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Nadia: A Bookstagram account?

Seji: @bookishbluets because she has been extremely supportive of me in so many ways!

Nadia: Something non-book related?

Seji: Games! I would say Mortal Kombat. It’s really graphic…Mortal Kombat 11. The fatalities are gnarly, but they’re also very good. Also Horrible Histories is a lovely TV show.

Nadia: Okay, thank you so much, Seji! This has been absolutely amazing.

If you enjoyed this interview, please forward it onto a friend, and please follow us on Instagram to find out about what we’re working on and to catch our next live show.