WeBlogNorth Featured Content Creator of the Week - Amy Jane Alice
This is a space that showcases all of you awesome WeBloggers in the North and gives everyone a chance to get to know each other, as well as raise your profile (and your DA!). This week we're chatting with Amy Rule, book blogger and Digital Marketing graduate from Manchester.
Interested in being featured? If you're a member, get in touch at [email protected]!
STATS
Name: Amy Rule
Location: Manchester
Blog URL: www.amyjanealice.com
Twitter: 2,775
Instagram: 1,070
Bloglovin’: 360
If you’re trying to be somebody else or to sound like what you think others want to hear, it will show.
How long have you been blogging/vlogging/creatin
I began creating content on Amy Jane Alice back in February 2013, so almost five years ago!
Why did you decide to start your blog?
After deciding to create a blog as part of my college course, I soon fell in love. Over the years I’ve written about lots of different topics like beauty and fashion, however a couple of years ago I decided to take my blog in a new direction and write about the thing I love the most: reading.
It is and has been a creative outlet for me, somewhere to work on my writing and provide recommendations to my readers. Amy Jane Alice is also the perfect place for me to gush over my latest favourite read/fandom too!
Do you see this becoming a career or part of your career?
Absolutely! Reading books is my passion, and I love writing about them so it would be awesome to be able to combine this with work.
What do you hope to achieve for your content in 2018 and what’s your big-picture goal?
My big picture goal for 2018 is to turn my “hobby” (I put it like this because to me it’s already so much more than a hobby to me) into a career, through either freelance content creation or more collaborations on my blog.
I’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing publishing companies and other brands so far, but I would love for this to continue through 2018 to create more frequent and engaging content. I hope to start filming YouTube videos this year too...
What is your favourite social media channel & why?
This is such a hard question! Whilst I love Instagram for the visual inspiration and creativity it allows me to harness, I think that Twitter will always be my favourite social channel. Through Twitter, I have met some amazing people, some of whom are now good friends, as it enables you to reach such a wide audience.
I use Twitter to not only promote my own posts but to find new blogs to read, to share other blogger’s posts, to engage in conversations and take part in Twitter chats. Twitter really helps to create a feeling of community and without it, blogging would definitely not be the same for me.
What is your favourite tool or app that helps in your content creation?
I really love Buffer, an app through which you can schedule all of your social posts. Each morning, or sometimes the night before, I’ll go ahead and schedule posts for the next day or two in one go. It’s so simple, and you can personalise the frequency and times of the posts so that you can make sure you always have a little promotion on the go!
In terms of actual content creation, my favourite tool would be my Blog Planner by Dot Creates. I can plan out all of my posts on paper which I always enjoy, especially when trying to make sense of my thoughts for a book review, and then check off various stages of the process so that I can always see where I’m up to.
Who is your blogging/vlogging/content
There are lots of people in the community that I look up to, but YouTube vlogger EmmmaBooks is always a huge inspiration to me. The way that she discusses and reviews books in such a succinct but exciting way is always amazing to watch, and I particularly admire that she raises important issues such as diversity and underrepresentation in books.
What do you like to do on weekends? Where can we find you hanging-out?
At the weekend I like to visit the cinema, which I try to do at least once a week! Aside from books, films are another one of my favourite things and so I have a membership card at my local cinema.
I also like to go out for food with my boyfriend George, spend some time relaxing with a good book or catching up on my blog as I work full time throughout the week.
If you could go anywhere in the world or experience any one thing, what would it be
This is such a tough question as there are so many amazing places I want to see! Right now I’m loving the idea of travelling to Bali. It looks beautiful, the perfect place to relax and experience a new culture.
I also dream of going to Orlando to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Harry Potter is one of my all-time favourite book series, film franchises and fandoms and I have a lot of merch. The theme park looks incredible and I just know I would love it (and probably cry) so that’s high up on my list of must-do experiences.
What're your tips for staying motivated and/or organised in your work?
The number one thing I do to make sure that I stay organised is to make lists. I make lists of absolutely everything, even small and simple things, just so that I don’t forget. For me, I like to make to lists of any books I’ve had sent to me for review with their release date so that I can always keep on top of them, or lists of blog pictures to take when we get some decent weather or even random post ideas that crop up once in a while. Having everything on paper and putting a big line through it once it’s finished is a huge motivator for me.
What is the one piece of advice you’d give other content creators & aspiring bloggers/vloggers?
To always be yourself and to have fun with the content you are creating. If you’re trying to be somebody else or to sound like what you think others want to hear, it will show. And if you don’t enjoy the content you’re creating, will anyone else.
Fun/Random fact about you (go on, surprise us!)
Completely unrelated to blogging, but back in the day as a young teenager, I was a self-confessed “mosher”. My favourite bands were My Chemical Romance and then Enter Shikari, who I saw live many times, once at a 7 hour gig (!) and I also met them too.
Some of my best memories are from this period of my life and if you’re local to Manchester, you’ll know what I mean when I say I used to spend my Saturdays hanging out at Urbis. Come to think of it, I don’t really think I’m past that phase yet...
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