Welcome to the very first blog post on Bookinfluencers.com! As we approach our third anniversary this January, I’m reflecting on the journey of building a thriving book influencer community. I never imagined I’d be sharing a blog when I first started this venture, but today I want to take you behind the scenes and share my founder story, including why 2023 has been both the most challenging and rewarding year of my entrepreneurial journey so far.

How it started

“I don’t want to continue working as a freelance social media manager”

I had met some of the Dutch booktubers I had been collaborating with. They told me about their passion for books and creating content about it, but they also shared their concerns about the expectations from the publishing industry. They felt like they were taken for granted sometimes, while influencers in other industries received financial compensations for their efforts. I was intrigued by their enthusiasm but also by their grudges. Pretty soon after that meeting, I decided I wanted to build a website for the book community that would build a bridge between the reading community and brands (authors, publishers and bookish companies). I hired a project manager that led a team of web developers and we started building Bookstagrammers.com. It launched 4 months later on January 6th 2021.

A wobbly ride

I worked my ass off in that first year, on my own, and with a little help from my brother. I handled all communications with the book community, ran the social media accounts, reached out to potential clients, coordinated all the book tours and brand campaigns. It was so much work and I had totally underestimated it. In December of 2021 I started talking to someone I had met on Twitter. She sat down with me once a month to discuss the company’s growth and ways to move forward. Because of her encouragement I took the plunge and hired my first staff member in May of 2022: our community manager Paula! Soon after I hired Kristin as a campaign manager. It felt awesome to work with a team and our sisterhood kept growing while we managed one campaign after another meanwhile changing our name to Bookinfluencers.com. We’ve now run hundreds of book tours, check out what clients and bookinfluencers have said here

Bookinfluencers.com campaign team: Paula, Kristin and Maren

And then the train suddenly stopped

In April of this year I didn’t feel so well. I had a hard time sleeping, I continuously felt cold and I had a sore shoulder. I am not one to go to a doctor but I felt something was wrong. So I went on April 13th and that day changed my life. The doctor sent me to the hospital for blood work. The results were alarming and they made me come to the ER to have a thorough medical examination. At first they thought I had pulmonary embolism but after hours of tests and scans we received the devastating news that I had a very aggressive type of lymphoma.

If I wanted a chance of survival, I needed to focus on the treatment. I couldn’t continue working. Obviously this had a major impact on the team. Luckily, Naomi Bacon from The Tandem Collective (UK) was willing to step in as a deputy CEO. She stood by the team and saved the company from going down in my absence.

Looking forward with Bookinfluencers.com

And now it’s November of 2023. My treatment is finished and I am awaiting a scan that will tell us if I am in remission. I feel like I am! My body is recovering from the chemo therapy and I am trying to rebuild my strength. The process of returning to being my normal self will probably take about a year, doctors say. But I am so excited to be part of the team again. My mind is racing with innovative ideas and I can’t wait to dive into 2024 full steam ahead. We will use these blog pages to keep you updated on what is happening at Bookinfluencers.com. Enjoy!