I've been putting off writing this blog post for a few days now. The main reason for the delay is because I wasn't sure what to write as my thoughts were pretty jumbled and I going back and forth between feeling angry and feeling upset about the whole situation.
If you're not sure what I'm talking about, then here's the short version of the email I woke up to last Wednesday morning:
- YouTube operate a YouTube Partner Program. Being a part of this is what makes you eligible to earn money from your YouTube videos through advertising. When I started my YouTube channel just over a year ago you had to reach 10,000 views to be a part of the Program.
- On Wednesday, an email was sent out to tell creators that they were raising their requirements to be a part of the Program. You now need to have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of view time within the past twelve months.
- This means those of us who were previously a part of the partnership will have our memberships terminated if we do not meet these two requirements or reach these thresholds by 20 February.
As soon as I read this I felt as if I had been let go from a job I had fallen in love with.
Now, the first thing I need to say is that losing the chance to monetise my videos does irritate me, because I'd reached the 10,000 views threshold last year and had started to earn a small amount for my videos, but losing this small amount isn't why I'm feeling let down by YouTube.
This change seems to have been brought about because of a recent scandal involving one particular YouTuber (you probably don't need me to name him!) and because of his actions it is now going to be the smaller channels that suffer.
I've said it's not about the money and I know that some people are asking why it seems to matter so much to the smaller creators. In all honesty, it's demotivating and makes you feel as if you're not good enough unless you're already well-established.
If I had written this on Wednesday then this would have probably been where I stopped, not thinking of anything positive to end this post with. However, after seeing the support that smaller creators are having for each other and the strong, positive messages being posted on Twitter, I gave myself some time to think about the situation and what my next steps would be.
So, what is next for my YouTube channel...
Well I didn't just have the word 'create' tattooed on my wrist for no reason!
Even after hearing this news, I was never going to stop making videos. When I started posting my weekly BookTube videos I wasn't making any money from them. It was all about giving something new a go and it was exciting to find something that I enjoyed doing.
Coming up with new ideas for videos and planning how to put them together makes me happy.
Filming videos has allowed me to grow in confidence.
Editing them has taught me new skills and
Posting the videos on YouTube has allowed me to make amazing new friends that have the same interests as me, and I've even been able to meet some of them in person.
And speaking of friends, I thought I would share with you five of my favourite BookTubers so that you can check them out and give them some love and support too:
I've also recently discovered a lot of new BookTube channels that I've just subscribed to. It's so worth just searching through book tags and various videos on YouTube because there really are some great smaller channels out there.
Let's all keep supporting each other and keep making the content we want to make. I'm determined and committed to continue making the videos I love to make, no matter what.
Also, if you have any BookTube suggestions, feel free to suggest them to me on Twitter so I can check them out.
And if you want to check out my videos or subscribe, my channel is here.
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