We recently connected with Emily Malek and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Emily thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
The name was inspired by a 2008 Saturday Night Live sketch called “Gardening Tips From a Man Who’s Very Afraid of Plants,” and it showed host Christopher Walken doing exactly that and putting googly eyes on said plants.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I work as an archivist at the Romeo District Library in Romeo, Michigan during the day and review books at night. I was motivated to create my book review blog while leading a book club because I wanted to express my thoughts on the novels that we were discussing. It started off as a Facebook page, but as it grew, I knew that I had to make a website.
For those who are not familiar with this website, I read every kind of book from the absolute serious to the downright silly. I’ve also started to review movies both adaptations and originals, and it’s been fun so far.
In addition, I have a podcast called the Adapt Me Podcast. In it, a guest and I discuss a novel that has never been adapted, why that’s so, and how we would go about it. It can be from any genre or format as long as it hasn’t been translated into another medium.
Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of requests from various authors to read and review their books, so I’m trying to pick the ones that would fit my schedule since I look at 3-5 titles at a time. It can be hard at times, but I’ve got a planner now, so it has been easier.
I’m most proud of the reactions I get from various people about my reviews since I love to engage in conversations with people about novels.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect about being creative is how it challenges me in how I review certain titles. It also has opened many doors for getting to know many authors.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I am active on Facebook, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram, and I’ve met plenty of bookstagrammers in person, so I always want to know what they’ve been reading. Also, I’ve been making appearances on various podcasts and publishing episodes of the Adapt Me Podcast every month.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://chick-who-reads-everything.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emily_blakowski/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/readseverything
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ejb0092
- Other: Adapt Me Podcast website (https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/emily-malek5) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/adaptmepodcast
Image Credits
Carl Malek