2025 CHANNEL AND READING PLANS 💻

[@sweet_t_reads]

So sorry for your loss. This time of year is always a hard when you lose a loved one. Keeping you in my prayers. You should definitely do the trends deep dive. That sounds super interesting!

[@ebnovels]

Thank you 💗 And I’m definitely leaning toward doing it! Might not have the first one until February, but I have one in mind I think will go well with that month 🤔 hopefully anyway!

[@paxtonbaker698]

We absolutely appreciate you!! You help so much when it comes to finding my next read. Without you I wouldn’t know of half of the new releases that come out. So thank you!!

[@ebnovels]

Ah, that means a lot! I’m glad it’s helpful-thank you for taking the time to comment and let me know 💗

[@sandyokey7728]

First of all, condolences on your loss and holiday wishes for comfort and peace for you and yours. A trends deep dive would be great. Your new writing projects sound very cool and exciting. Your videos are always so fun and informative, so thank you!

[@soda_fairy]

You have my vote on seasonal recommendations big time, I am I believe what y’all call a mood reader however I have bipolar disorder, so funny enough my moods come and go a lot so I like watching seasonal recommendations not even necessarily in the correct season. Sometimes I need a summer book when it is 15° out.

[@ebnovels]

Oh, I’ve never thought about that-I’m so glad you brought this aspect of it up. I’ll definitely try to aim for more season recs ☺️

[@soda_fairy]

@ appreciate you Elliot! Happy holidays ☃️

[@lleo9703]

Hi Elliot, found your channel and a new love for fantasy in 2024. I agree that it is important to utilise your library, both online and physical, to help choose books that you spend your hard earned cash on. I know I’ve saved a lot on experimental reads by borrowing books and thrifted books. I look forward to your insights on books in 2025. Thank you !

[@ebnovels]

Ah, how exciting to have found a new love for fantasy this year! I hope I can continue to make content that’s helpful as we go into 2025. And yay for libraries and second hand stores :D

[@Merdragoon]

I'm still pretty raw emotionally with my recent family loss, So I understand for the need to step away while you handle that. I hope the holiday season is more gentle on you during it. I do think the trope trends/history deep dive would be fun, and not enough people do it in my opinion. Sometimes it just helps recontexualises tropes and why it became so popular in the first place and also how tropes can be used really smartly or really poorly. It also may have you find books you may never have thought to read too. Defeantly a win-win on all fronts in my opinion. (but I like the history of things, so I may be one of the few that would be happy with this series of videos) The Seasonal Recs would be really good for mood readers, but also for people who want to either do "Halloween in July" or "Chrismas in July" as those are some trends on youtube but sometimes people don't want to pick he same books that everyone else are picking up. (I noticed not many talk about the Crane Husband for example, so it may help in some people to find new books that aren't in the same cycle of trends.). The only reason I thought of this is because another Booktuber, Gavin from Gavin Reads it all, does his Halloween Summer Camp series vlogs and sprints that I know some people want to join in but the books that is being mentioned don't intrest them all the time. So it would be nice to have options. So far I'm almost done in achiving my goals in December: Finished a buddy read That I was taking a long time to read. (A Soul to Keep) and now I'm working on finishing The Crane Husband before the end of December so I can *start* Mortal Follies while I'll be setting up the next buddy read (A reread for me "The Last Herald Mage" trilogy by Mercades Lackey. A new read for them) in 2025. My 2025 goal though is read more of my backlog/TBR. I have to make sure I *don't* add more to my 435 books TBR before I knock some of them down some more. Also Finish series that I started and want to finish. (This includes the Duskwalker Brides, I just had to take a break because my headspace isn't in it for the second book and I want to be in a better headspace when I start it back up again. The Other series would be Dresden Files, The Gentleman Bastards Series, The next book of the Song of the Scorgelands saga, Earthsea, The Memoires of Lady Trent, and Mage War Trilogy also by Mercades Lackey.) Also finish reading A House with Good Bones since I saw that Libby have the ebook and audiobook, which I could just pick up and continue reading if I'm getting overwhelmed with physical books and buddy reads.

[@christeascozycorner]

the deep search tip is so helpful!!! ooooh, i want to suggest fantasy reader reads historical romance!!! the trend video idea sounds very interesting. i think a powerpoint presentation kind of format would be a great accompaniment in that video bc i feel like the algorithm loves content in that format 😂 idk if i've ever mentioned this, but i think it's so commendable that you keep consistently putting out videos and sticking to the goals and plans you have. i know how tough burnout can be, and i'm sure you have felt it before, as everyone does, especially during these tough times in your life. so just wanted to express my admiration and cheer you on!!! 💗 (and hope you are also taking care of yourself~)

[@ebnovels]

Haha, aw, thank you friend 💗💗💗 Burnout happens a lot less when I have friends like you who genuinely make me excited to talk about and read books with (and watch shows with 😂)

[@jessicahope1180]

Wait!!!?!?!? Did you just announce your second book? I have been waiting and I could not be more excited!

[@chrisalluna6733]

Have a Great New Year!!!🎉🎊🖋🎵⚙🔧🔩

[@AnastasiaWyrmberg]

I love seasonal recommendations as Im a mood reader! So, I'd love to see spring, summer, and winter recommendations, nit just fall.

[@ayidas]

Trends deep dive sounds fun :)

[@ToCoziesAndBeyond]

I love love love the trend idea! I am interested in the history of the grimdark trend. Is political fantasy a trend? Oh and what about space opera.

[@clairisaphoinix23]

The trend deep dive video idea sounds great ! I've been recently thinking about how the cosy fantasy genre how it wasn't a thing at least to me but I think Travis Baldree's Legends and Latte's made it popular. I've been seeing more books in that genre. I think it's one of the popular trends right now. Thanks for update on your writing/ book series. Don't stretch yourself to thin it's good to have another project without the pressure but looking forward to seeing the cover for book 2 can't wait from the teaser you've showed in the previous update video I know it's going to look great!

[@ebnovels]

Ah, thank you for that! We’re in the home stretch; I think I’ll feel like I’ve come up for air here pretty soon :D And I’ll keep that in mind about the trend idea!

[@clairisaphoinix23]

@ebnovels Looking forward to seeing both 😊 and sorry for your loss my condolences to you and your family 🧡

[@Marthe-b1l]

I used to buy so many books. But it was such a waste of money....(for me) I'm lucky enough to live in Paris. We have a lot of librairies, they're so so underrated. And I can suggest book in english if they don't have it (mostly romances and fantasy). They have accepted so many of my request, it just made me happy.

[@iliryss]

T'as de la chance d'être à Paris ! Dans la petite ville de province où j'habite ils ont fermé la bibliothèque que j'ai fréquenté pendant 20 ans, pour en ouvrir une dix kilomètres plus loin et pas inaccessible pour la majorité (dont moi).

[@Marthe-b1l]

Je suis née ici et j'y ai vecu toute ma vie. Je pars en vacances mais je ne me vois pas m'installer ailleurs. Malgré ses defauts je ne pourrai pas me passer de ses avantages culturels + j'ai ma famille, amis... cest trop dommage pr ta bibliothèque... surtout le cout d'un livre auj... tu sais pk ils ont pris cette decision ? Si cest moins accessible quel interet...@@iliryss

[@Psittacus_erithacus]

A good library has genuinely been top of my city shopping list each time I've relocated since my 20's. Truly a major part of what feeling "at home" means to my family. I tend to think a strong & vibrant library is also a good indication of a community's quality in general. I suspect my libraries (& community) here in middle America are a bit less vibrant than those of Ville-Lumière; but even in such different locales-the joy of having & interacting with such truly community resources is surely much the same.

[@iliryss]

​@Marthe-b1lAucune idée de pourquoi ils ont prit cette décision, ils ont fermé deux bibliothèques pour en ouvrir une grande qui est apparement souvent vide. Il y avait eu une pétition mais en vain. Après j'ai quand même de la chance d'avoir les moyens de m'acheter les livres que je veux, sans me priver et je le fait que je lis beaucoup sur Kindle pour la majorité des livres en anglais aide beaucoup.

[@dmuse3813]

I’m so excited for your news about your book series and the progress you are making. I am in the editing stages of my own book right now and feel disheartened, but you are an inspiration.

[@ebnovels]

It’s such an immense amount of effort. It can feel really overwhelming at times, but nothing quite beats when you’re in it and finding the way to get the story in your head to paper 💗

[@hrissing2752]

Thank you so much for your thoughtful content this last year. For contemporary romance recommendations, may I suggest A.M Weald’s Even if we’re Broken? I’m not a big contemporary romance reader but I really enjoyed that one. Its self pub done really well and talks real adult characters with second chance romance

[@rachelayers3103]

For the self-pub series (or any series, really) I think it might work well to include the first book in whatever wrap-up video it would typically fall in, and then after a bit (quarterly? bimonthly?) have a wrap-up dedicated to all the continuations of series you've read. I'd probably keep duologies in the primary wrap-up series, since hearing about the finale of a series is a little more interesting than hearing about book 4 out of 12, so even viewers who aren't interested in the duology won't mind listening. I hope that makes sense. lol You could even extend that rule to trilogies if the series is super popular or you just have too many other ongoing series to include already. Idk if you have any issue keeping up with long series like that, but this might make you more inclined/remind you to pick up continuations because you'll want to read enough of them to put a video together! But regardless of how you choose to do it, I always look forward to whatever content you put out. 🥰

[@ebnovels]

Thanks for the ideas! I’ll definitely keep those in mind as I navigate how to best showcase indie (and other) sequels ☺️

[@michaelburke4048]

For the self-pub wrap up: If one of the books is first in a series, perhaps you can just touch on it briefly, give overall impressions and whether you intend to continue the series, and move on to the next. But then, when you finish a series, do a larger wrap up video of it as a whole? Maybe even a dedicated video? I don't know if anyone else might be interested in that, but I sure would.

[@laurenschenck5355]

I love seasons recommendations Elliot and love and enjoy all ur videos ☃️🌨️❤️🎅🏻🌨️☃️☃️🌨️🎄🎄🎄💚🎁📙❄️❄️❄️❄️🎁🎅🏻🎅🏻❤️📚❄️❄️📚📖🎄🎄💚🎁🎁📙☃️🌨️🎅🏻🎅🏻☃️☃️🌨️🎅🏻🎄🎄💚🎁🎁

[@laurenschenck5355]

Incredible news and happy and excited for ur book series and goals and so proud of you Elliot 🎄🎄🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎄❄️🎁💚💚💚🎁☃️❤️❤️❤️🌨️🎄📚📚📙📖📚📙📙📙📖📚📚📚📖📙📙📙🎄🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻❄️🎄🎅🏻🎅🏻🎄🎄💚💚🎁☃️☃️☃️🌨️🌨️❤️❤️

[@Psittacus_erithacus]

Along with continued coverage of indie offerings; *_retrospective, in-depth coverage of larger trends_* is something I would likely appreciate. I'm a firm believer that creators should make whatever content they enjoy and do their level best to ignore audience feedback.* Nevertheless, I personally most value your channel for what it offers that I cannot get on my own. As I only read 10-15 genre fiction books per year (only a few of which are going to be from any one category); I'm simply never going to have the level of insight into big picture trends that someone who reads 50+ books each year will. *_I love when content creators are able to make a living cultivating expertise on interesting topics and sharing their unique knowledge/insight with us all._* The internet does a more than sufficient job letting me know what random everybody thinks about the topics of the day. I don't need any more content that catches me up with (or pulls me into) the discourse; but *_I'll crawl over (digital) glass to hear a smart person speak insightfully on a subject they care about and know well._* * seriously the pressure on mid-sized channels to homogenize around trend chasing and discourse seems (from the outside at least) to be overwhelming. I fear it will (or already is) killing off a diversity of content that's historically been a real strength of youtube. If it wasn't for Patreon I'm not sure what we'd have left. We don't want to live in a world where chasing popularity is the only viable way to make a living.

[@jacquelineedwards4140]

I managed to get hold of a second hand copy of your first novel on Ebay and am hoping to read it early in 2025 ;)

[@renakellner4448]

Self pub: I think it would still be good to talk about series + sequals. I think it is important to know if a series gets better or stays great. Just as much for self pub as for trad pub. If you up the number is up to you I think, you can only read so much 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@gordontheobald]

(writing). I left myself a note last week that read “CEMENT BEEF” and it took me a good half hour of staring at the screen blankly this morning before my brain picked up.

[@starlasell5698]

You have some great 2025 plans. I look forward to the coming year. I'm sorry for your family loss. Take care. ❤📚

[@rainyjreads]

I understand libraries only buy so many copies, but yeah, the wait times for anticipated releases 🙄

[@Marthe-b1l]

I bought your book ! I can't wait to read it next year. ❤ my reading goal is to read more inde books And not goodreads winners or popular ones. Theyre often disappointing... P.S : And thanks to not dye your hair. It's the first time I think its beautiful. I'm going to try not to damage my hair too (I already see a comment about your hair in another video,(i dont think its your purpose 😅, but anyway, you're inspiring and I wanted to tell you 💗 ✨️

[@ebnovels]

Oh, thank you so much for checking out indie books! The sequel (imo) really digs a lot deeper into basically everything-I hope you enjoy the first one when you pick it up ☺️

[@DavidDoss-p4r]

Wind and Truth?

[@starwarsgal2010]

I don’t know if you already have a video about this but I’d love a video about what devices you use for reading

[@ebnovels]

Physical copies and audiobooks through my phone! I mostly use the Libby app, but I also use Libro, Hoopla, and Audible :) Hopefully that helps! I’m not much of a digital reader 😅

[@seththomas6727]

My TBR in 2025 is fireeeee

[@GraemeBell9864]

What do you think of the Man Booker prize winners? (of any year).

[@user-dallasnateweyes9999]

Good morning

[@trulyintroverted]

I'm so early!!

[@allisonf9718]

Did I miss the recommendation video for Robin Hobb lovers?

[@kueri440]

Elliot🎉

[@lindsayrenee1063]

Btw just started my joe Abercrombie journey this 🌄 - already liking a little hatred ❤❤

[@ebnovels]

Ohh, starting with A Little Hatred! Most start with First Law. Hopefully skipping that first series doesn’t detract for you 😄

[@lindsayrenee1063]

Oh no I had no idea there was more! Well so far I'm very much liking 😂

[@Psittacus_erithacus]

@@lindsayrenee1063 I started with The Blade Itself (First Law #1) over a decade ago and Age of Madness is an all time favorite of mine. My younger brother started with Best Served Cold (standalone) and both First Law and Age of Madness are now favorites of his. My best friend started with A Little Hatred (Age of Madness #1) and now calls Abercrombie her favorite author. So I don't think you need to worry about going too far wrong here. If Abercrombie is for you at all; you'll find your way to enjoying it all eventually. And if it isn't for you; the minor differences arising from where you start aren't likely to make a major difference.