The Secret Life of A Book Influencer with Jananie K. Velu
THE DOORS TO THE REED, WRITE, & CREATE SANCTUARY ARE OFFICIALLY OPEN: NOV. 21 - 28, 2025. GET ON THE LIST TO GET AN APPLICATION.
On episode 68, get ready to go behind the scenes of the world of book influencing.
My guest is one of my favorite BIPOC book influencers, Jananie K. Velu, YouTube star and literary tastemaker. I invited Jananie on the show to share everything she’s learned from the influencing world about getting strangers to get excited about a book.
Jananie has built a massive following of over 100,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel, “This Story Ain’t Over,” and she runs her own publishing imprint, Boundless Press, which is a part of the new start-up publishing company, Bindery Books.
During our conversation, Jananie shares:
How she built her audience of BIPoC book lovers.
How she selects the books she’s going to feature on her social channels.
How authors should approach influencers to get their books on their radar.
How she runs her publishing imprint at Bindery Books and who should submit their work.
Why stickers are part of her community building strategy.
LIT LINKS to Learn More
You can follow Jananie on YouTube, and across all of her social platforms at ThisStoryAin’tOver. You can also buy her bookish merch at her store This Story Ain’t Over.com.
Jananie’s imprint Boundless Press is part of Bindery Books
Some of Jananie’s Favorite BIPOC authors:
Alexis Henderson
Sylvia Moreno Garcia
Olivie Blake
Visit the website, to learn more about The Reed, Write, & Create Sanctuary, and add your name to the Tell Me More List to get an application. Remember doors to the Sanctuary are open from November 21 - 28, 2025. After that, they stay closed until May 2026. Stop waiting on your writing life.
If you're looking for more creative writing inspiration, and useful resources for your literary life, visit the Reed, Write, & Create website at ReedWriteandcreate.com.
For literary inspiration and opportunities delivered right to your inbox, sign up for the Reed, Write, & Create monthly newsletter
Follow Lori on YouTube at LiteraryLori
Please feel free to show your love and support for this podcast by making a small donation via Buy Me A Coffee.
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How to Find a Community to Support Your Famous Author Era
On episode 67, get ready for a pep talk about the importance of community when it comes to stepping into your Famous Author Era.
Tune in to learn:
Why you need a community of fellow authors to really help you thrive and survive in your famous author era.
The proven benefits of having a community to help you achieve your book promotion and audience building goals.
How and where to find the perfect author community.
The pitfalls of achieving literary success alone.
LIT LINKS to LEARN MORE
To learn more about Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, read this article.
Review the episodes of the podcast featuring Robin Davis and Nadia Alexis to hear how these two debut authors successfully leaned into community when launching their books.
To learn more about The Reed, Write, & Create Sanctuary, add your name to the Tell Me More List. Remember doors to the Sanctuary will open on November 21 - 28, 2025. After that, they stay closed until May 2026. If you want an application, you must be on the list.
If you're looking for more creative writing inspiration, and useful resources for your literary life, visit the reed write and create website at REEDWriteandcreate.com.
For literary inspiration and opportunities delivered right to your inbox, sign up for the Reed, Write, & Create monthly newsletter
Follow Lori on YouTube at LiteraryLori
Please feel free to show your love and support for this podcast by making a small donation via Buy Me A Coffee.
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How to Use 'Conscious Marketing' to Sell More Books with Tamela J. Gordon
On episode 66, we're talking about how to use the power of community, connection, and conscious marketing to sell more books and have a more successful and satisfying career as an author. My guest on the show is Tamela J. Gordon.
Tamela Gordon is a literary activist, the author of the critically acclaimed 2024 memoir, Hood Wellness, and she is an acquisitions editor at Row House Books. She is also a book critic, self-care coach, and performer. Online, she uses the handle, She Writes to Live to share her wisdom and advice for writers.
This isn’t a conversation about algorithms and social media. Expensive publicists and bestseller lists aren’t part of the discussion. You are going to hear about a paradigm-shifting way to view book selling, book marketing, and finding the readers who will support you and read your books.
Get ready to lean in and learn. Welcome to Your Famous Author Era.
Lit Links to Learn More
Follow Tamela Gordon at She Writes to Live on Instagram and Threads.
Buy Tamela’s book, Hood Wellness at the Reed, Write, & Create bookshop.
WE’RE OPENING THE DOORS TO The Sanctuary at the end of November. If you’ve been looking for a supportive writing community to join, and you are a BIPoC woman who takes your writing seriously, then make sure you’re on the Tell Me More Wait List so you’ll be the first to know when the applications go live. Inside The Sanctuary we provide everything writers need to succeed and thrive in their writing life. Check out the website for more details on all of the resources and activities we offer inside The Sanctuary.
If you're looking for more creative writing inspiration, and useful resources for your literary life, check out the Reed, Write, & Create website at ReedWriteandCreate.com.
For literary inspiration and opportunities delivered right to your inbox, sign up for the Reed, Write, & Create monthly newsletter
Follow Lori on YouTube at LiteraryLori
Please feel free to show your love and support for this podcast by making a small donation via Buy Me A Coffee.
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Fans not Followers: Ditch Social Media and Start Your Author Fan Club
On episode 65, I am giving you a pep talk about finding your 1000 true reader fans. This is a term that is often thrown about in entrepreneur spaces when it comes to sales and marketing, but it’s something authors need to think about as well.
Therefore, in this episode we’re going to talk about:
Why authors should be searching for fans not audiences or followers.
How to figure out who your real fans are.
Where to find your fans.
How to nurture your fans once you find them.
This isn’t going to be a theoretical pep talk. I’m sharing facts and figures from the publishing industry to support why having 1000 true reader fans would significantly move the needle on your career and longevity as an author.
Grab a pencil and get ready to take notes. This is a good one.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
If you want to start your own book club and/or find your readers online try:
Fable: A Social App for readers
The Storygraph: An alternative to Goodreads created by a Black woman.
Bindery is a start-up publisher relying on author fandoms to drive publishing decisions.
The Black British Book Festival recently announced their new partnership with Pan MacMillan.
WE’RE OPENING THE DOORS TO The Sanctuary at the end of November. If you’ve been looking for a supportive writing community to join, and you are a BIPoC woman who takes your writing seriously, then make sure you’re on the Tell Me More Wait List so you’ll be the first to know when the applications go live. Inside The Sanctuary we provide everything writers need to succeed and thrive in their writing life. Check out the website for more details on what we offer.
If you're looking for more creative writing inspiration, and useful resources for your literary life, check out the Reed, Write, & Create website at ReedWriteandCreate.com.
For literary inspiration and opportunities delivered right to your inbox, sign up for the Reed, Write, & Create monthly newsletter
Follow Lori on YouTube at LiteraryLori
Please feel free to show your love and support for this podcast by making a small donation via Buy Me A Coffee.
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How to Strategize, Plan, and Execute a Book Tour that Guarantees Success
On episode 64 of the podcast, you’re going to learn how to successfully strategize, plan and execute a book tour for your first (...second, or third) book that will set you on the road to literary success.
My guest on the show, Nadia Alexis, is a poet and writer who created a launch plan and book tour that is still going strong ten months after her debut poetry collection hit the market in March 2025.
Nadia Alexis is a poet, writer, and photographer born to Haitian immigrants in Harlem. She is the author of the hybrid poetry and photography collection Beyond the Watershed, which was a finalist for the Ghost Peach Press Prize.
You don’t have to be a poet to use the ideas, resources and strategies Nadia shares during this exciting episode. But you do have to be willing to do the work if you want to see the unbelievable results Nadia has seen and continues to see, including getting a second print run on her book before the launch date, and finding her book in the most incredible places that even her publisher couldn’t believe.
Press play, get ready to learn, and lean into your Famous Author Era.
LIT LINKS FROM THE SHOW
Check out Nadia’s comprehensive website ByNadiaAlexis.com
Find Nadia on Instagram and Threads at NadiaLovestoCreate
The Publicity Incubator Nadia attended is hosted by Poets & Writers.
Author Patrice Gopo’s website was an inspiration for Nadia when making her own author website.
DOORS ARE OPENING TO THE SANCTUARY AT THE END OF NOVEMBER 2025. Join the Tell Me More email list to be the first to know when we start taking new applicants to the most amazing private community for BIPoC women writers who take their writing seriously.
If you're looking for more creative writing inspiration, and useful resources for your literary life, check out the Reed, Write, & Create website at ReedWriteandCreate.com.
For literary inspiration and opportunities delivered right to your inbox, sign up for the Reed, Write, & Create monthly newsletter
Follow Lori on YouTube at LiteraryLori
Please feel free to show your love and support for this podcast by making a small donation via Buy Me A Coffee.
If you are a Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian American, or any other Writer of Color, and you're looking for your own personal writing coach - to help you stay motivated to write that book, get it published and promoted - then this is the podcast for you. Award-winning author, educator, and creative writing coach, Lori L. Tharps ( ”Hair Story,” ”Kinky Gazpacho,” and ”Substitute Me”) knows how hard it is to stay committed to your writing projects - whether you’re working on that debut novel, a gut-wrenching memoir, or an essay about your trip around the world. Writing can be your passion, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. And let's not forget about the path to getting published and the non-stop journey of promotion. It's a lot! Especially for BIPoC writers in a publishing industry that is still overwhelmingly centered on whiteness.On the podcast, Lori is here to serve as your creative-writing coach, and her goal is to help you love your literary life by giving you the tools and motivation to write, publish, and promote your work with purpose and joy. You’ll get inspiring pep talks and literary life lessons based on the lives of our BIPoC literary ancestors. Think Toni Morrison, Sor Juana de la Cruz, Phillis Wheatley e.t.c.
AND ...You’ll hear inspiring interviews with best-selling, BIPoC authors and publishing professionals who share actionable writing tips and advice to help improve your craft, and better understand the business of writing and the publishing industry. New episodes of Your BIPoC Writing Coach are released on Mondays.Subscribe to the show and find more writing resources for BIPOC writers and the readers who love them at ReedWriteandCreate.com.
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