In the age of images, Gaia Lapasini use words. And at the time of the reels of a few seconds, the 25-year-old from Treviso records long videos even three quarters of an hour. Yet 32,100 follow her on YouTube, 36,100 on Instagram and 13,200 on TikTok, just as dozens or hundreds put themselves on the waiting list to take part in her reading gatherings, literary aperitifs and picnics in the park (strictly with a volume in the basket of the snack: this afternoon, for example, at the Sempione in Milan there is Salani’s “The crime scene”. The book becomes an experience with the book influencer who, after graduating in Fashion Design in Venice and studying Digital Marketing in Mestre, lives between Vittorio Veneto And Monza.
Where does your passion for publishing come from?
«Books have always fascinated me, because I grew up in a family where everyone read. I loved the “Geronimo Stilton” series as a child and the “Twilight” saga as a young girl. Over time I have refined my taste for the greats of literature, the Nobel Prize winners, American and Italian fiction, non-fiction. I am an omnivorous, strong, slow reader. I don’t have a TV at home, I read one or two hours a day between the morning, lunch break and evening.”
Paper or digital volumes?
«I love audiobooks: as soon as I wake up, I listen to them while I prepare breakfast and get dressed. But in general I’m a paper reader: my work takes place on the computer and on the phone, so when I read I want to be somewhere else, not with a device in my hand. Many criticize me because I stick to the pages, but for me the underlining, the post-it with notes, the bookmark are crucial.”
When did all this become a job?
«During the lockdown I felt the lack of communication. Having never had so many friends who read and talked about books with in a serious way, I joined the Bookstagram Italia community, where we exchanged opinions and advice under the photos of the covers. So I started doing it on my Instagram profile too. In March 2021 I opened my YouTube channel, because I immediately saw it as an important thing, for which I had to carve out a longer space for myself. Then TikTok also arrived, where I try to post more energetic and snappy videos.”
Feltrinelli hired her as a booktuber. How do you reconcile the slowness of reading with the speed of the web?
«I do this job because I like it, not to seek virality. With that you capture attention for a few seconds, but it all ends there, while I want to cultivate my space, so that people can get there and then decide to stay there. It’s fine to push people to read, but in doing so I want to take my time, without being at the mercy of current trends.”
Who are his followers?
«Especially women between 20 and 40 years old. I met them in the reading group that I held for a long time through Instagram in dual mode: live for those who couldn’t be there in person and then followed the live broadcast or recording, in person for those who managed to attend appointments in various Italian cities. It was a very interactive situation: we read, we asked each other questions, we argued about our favorite character in a very excited way… I intend to resume this initiative, which I have temporarily set aside to carry on the reading retreats.”
Rallies promoted together with the Bolognese book influencer Giulia Buzzoni. How do they work?
«Giulia and I followed each other on social media and were invited to the same events. We both wanted reading to become a moment of discussion, so we thought of opportunities to meet up with those who read and those who don’t read, or with those who are in “reader’s block” and want to get moving. In practice we contact the structures available to welcome our groups, such as farmhouses, after which we promote registrations: one weekend a month in which people meet to read and discuss, but also to go on horseback excursions or relax in the swimming pool ».
So can you live by dispensing reading advice?
“Yes. And very well too. If I have to explain to my grandmother what my work consists of, I tell her that I collaborate with publishing houses, but in reality the reels and mentions relating to their books are only part of my income as a content creator. I also collect monetizations from YouTube, a certain amount per month based on the views of my videos. Then I support myself through affiliations with Feltrinelli, Amazon and BookBeat: a fixed amount or a percentage based on purchases made through my link. I am also called to festivals, round tables and fairs.”
“You can’t eat with culture”, is the well-known phrase attributed to a former minister. Can he officially deny it, then?
«More than anything, there are those who wouldn’t really want to feed us, as if we had to do everything for free. I would like to point out that a video can take me up to a day: for the monthly wrap-up, i.e. the summary of the books of the month, I spend an hour summarizing the ideas, an hour and a half to record the film, three hours to edit it , another hour to see it again. I need someone to help me, sometimes my boyfriend Marco acts as my cameraman at events…”.
If there hadn’t been social media, what would you have done?
«I think the journalist. In fact, I write one piece a month for Nss G-Club, always on the subject of books. But I would have missed the immediate feedback from the public: from the views I immediately understand if I’m doing well or badly.”
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The Gazzettino
In the age of images, Gaia Lapasini uses words. And in the days of reels lasting just a few seconds, the 25-year-old from Treviso records videos up to three quarters of an hour long. Yet they follow her in…
