You Define Your Success, Your Success Does Not Define You. (and that's a good thing)
I've been struggling with myself as both a reader and a Bookstagrammer. Whenever I go on Bookstagram I see all of these accounts that are pushing out content like crazy, read upwards of around 20 books a month, and just have super successful accounts in general. Do not mistake me for hating on these accounts, I praise all of the hard work they have done to get their platforms to where they are today. However, some of us just don't always have the mental capacity to keep up as consistently as they do. Today I would like to talk to you a little more about what a successful reader and Bookstagrammer is, and hopefully by the end of this article, we will all feel a little better about ourselves.
note: this is all my personal opinion!
What Makes a Reader, a Reader?
Let me put my opinion simply: if you like books, you're a reader.
I personally do not believe that a person should be judged on how many books they read a month, what books they enjoy, or if they do not like to read at all. However, if you do not like to read I would not consider you a reader. And again, that is more than okay! Not everyone has to have a passion for reading.
Now let's talk about monthly reading goals. There are some months where I read a lot and some where I struggle to even read one book. It honestly all just depends on you as a reader. Another key part that not many people think about is one's mental state. This picture to the right is a picture of my TBR book cart. I place all of the books I buy but have yet to read on it. Yea I only read one book off of it this month. I actually only read three total books in the month of June but the other two were just new releases that I had to read immediately.
The reason I read so few is honestly just because I have had an extreme lack of motivation and I am also in a very bad reading slump.
Another reason why I feel I don't read as many books as other Bookstagrammers is because I am more drawn towards more longer books. The Rom-Com genre is really trending right now and I do not blame members of Bookstagram for blasting it all over. I am so glad that this genre is finally getting the hype it deserves. However, over the last few months I have been really enjoying longer books and look forward to reading them more than shorter reads. I blame this on wanting to experience a book's "world" for longer. Because of this, I end up reading less since in the time it would take me to read two short books, I am reading one longer one. But I also do love shorter reads and love the feeling of finishing a quick good book in a day!
The moral of the story is readers are all different people who share different interests and passions. We should not judge or measure who is a reader and who is not based on how many books they read in a month or year.
How to be a Bookstagrammer?
Lately, I have not been pushing out as much content as I would like to. I look around at Bookstagram and see all of these other successful creators and wish I was as active as they were. However. sometimes you just need to take a break and only post when YOU feel like it.
I have learned that I am happiest when I make and post content when I feel up to it and am proud of my work. Trying to force yourself to create content when you aren't up to it can lead to you not liking the content you create and just being unhappy overall.
So, "How to be a Bookstagrammer?":
Post what YOU want.
When YOU want.
Read what YOU want.
And make YOUR account YOU.
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