AuthorTube Premium Checklist:
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1882700143/authortube-premium-checklist
PayHip: https://payhip.com/b/VXh7z

As an author who has been self-publishing since 2015, signed with an agent in 2023 and had my first traditionally published translation come out in 2025, I am letting you know at the top of each video who this is for. Self-Pub authors or Trad pub? And this video is for all y’all. Both, either, neither.

So you’re thinking of starting a YouTube channel? That’s awesome!!

There have been a lot of headlines about the many social platforms. What is going to stay? Which can you trust? Which can you go all in on as an author to make sure people can see your book??

I started my YouTube channel blind. I thought I would save some time answering the questions that were coming my way. And maybe I’d go viral and make a bunch of money.

Well, I didn’t save time because recording and editing were something new to learn.
And I still haven’t gone viral. But I have 25,000 subscribers and I make a solid income each month.

In terms of marketing my books, my non-fiction books sell themselves on this channel, so I can focus on unlocking the key to marketing my fiction books.

YouTube is one of the largest social platforms: As of 2024, YouTube was the 2nd biggest “social platform” with 2.4 billion users. Just behind Facebook. (https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/)

It is owned by Google, so when people look up information, your videos can pop up in search.

You can build a community, build face and voice recognition, and hopefully sell some books. Honestly, I think the community aspect needs to be your first focus. Who are you making videos for? To help other authors or readers? Are you doing writing sprint live streams to keep yourself accountable? How can you help other writers stay accountable too? Knowing who you are making videos for, helps you find the community, helps you get subscribers and watch hours, and eventually, after making more and better content for your audience and community, the monetization comes.

If you build it, they will come.

But where do you get started? Okay, there are some things you have to do in order to get the channel started. But what you absolutely need are a cache of about 12 solid video ideas and then record, edit, and schedule them to go live. If you have to pick, prioritize quality audio over video. Yes, eventually you want both to be amazing, but users will forgive bad video as long as your audio isn’t terrible.

There are a lot of minute details and a lot of ways you can leverage this platform as an author. I made a helpful checklist – well, it’s more of a Mack Daddy starter pack – to walk you through setting up your channel. I want to help and hopefully we can all be in community together. (Yes, this starter pack has a small cost because I want you to USE it, and I know if you put a couple of dollars on the line, you’re more likely to open and fill it out.)

Okay, what questions do you have about starting a YouTube channel as an author? Comment below. Chances are I already answered it in here, and if not… then I will.

Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjvBO4kjuBSYe6Bi3RYQAQA/join

Music from: Wondershare Filmora Sounds: “Something Cheer You Up”
Stock video and images from Wondershare Filmora and Pexels