Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tyra Racquel . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tyra, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
From creating YouTube videos and writing books I literally learned as I went through the process. Creating content for YouTube was a visual learning moment from how to write your video title, edit the video, what music to use, and how to create an intro + outro. Writing is a different ball game, but worth it in the end when you finally finish writing your book. You have to do research on copyright, thinking of a title, finding someone to edit, getting a covered made, and ultimately deciding on if you want to self publish or find your home with a publishing company. Both of these are time consuming and you have to be dedicated in order to find success in your YouTube or writing career.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I started my YouTube channel back in 2013 and slowly started to post 2014/2015. I wanted to record my experience with college life and I expanded doing hair and fashion videos while still vlogging my life. In 2015, I started writing my first book on this app called Wattpad. Randomly, one day, I seen an ad about publishing my book and took a chance, I submitted my book and got denied. I was told it needed to be written better and I understood because it was my first time ever writing a book. Surprisingly, that same publisher reached out and took me under her wing. It didn’t last long, but I had gotten my first experience with a publishing company. I was still doing YouTube and also in my last year of undergrad when I released two books. I signed to another publishing company, but decided that I was better off self publishing and building my brand from the ground up…so I did. #TheBrownieSquad was born in 2019 and since releasing my first book 7 years ago I am releasing my 16th book soon. I’m getting consistent because I want to release the stories I literally dream about. I’ve even incorporated talking about my books on my YouTube channel because it’s apart of my brand.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My ultimate goal is to provide readers a getaway from the real world. The goal after that is to become a New York Times bestselling author. It has always been a dream of mine and just an award I want under my belt as an author.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
The biggest thing is when I tell people I write books and they jokingly say, “write a book about me”. The response in my mind is different every time, but the next thing that’s said after that is, “I’ve always wanted to write a book” and they try to get advice right then and there regardless on if I have time or not. It’s not an easy job writing. It’s stressful! Writing will literally make you cry, but if you love it you’ll write your dope story and share it to the world with pride.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thebrowniesquad.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tyranobanks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoresstyraracquel/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@TyraNoBanks
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@tyraracquel