Landmark book on YouTube out in May 2019
Posted on February 12 2019
The first independent, in-depth book investigating YouTube will be published by Canbury Press this May.
YouTubers: How YouTube Shook Up TV And Created A New Generation Of Stars is the product of years of research and reporting by Wired, The Economist and The Observer journalist Chris Stokel-Walker.
The book features more than 100 interviews with YouTube’s biggest names in front of and behind the camera. It investigates the past, present and future of the world’s most popular video sharing website – and its impact on society.
Stokel-Walker is one of the world’s most respected and best-connected journalists in the world of YouTube. He has been reporting on YouTube for more than five years, breaking news of multi-million-dollar business deals and writing agenda-leading stories on the site’s latest trends and controversies. He has spent more than two years meticulously researching and writing his book.
YouTubers has already been called “absorbing and highly illuminating” by publishing industry magazine The Bookseller. It will be published in hardback on 2 May 2019.
Martin Hickman, managing director of non-fiction specialist Canbury Press, said: “Only now are many people waking up to YouTube’s immense power over a new generation. Its stars can sell out stadiums, make millions, and bring city centres to a standstill, before they even reach their twenties. Yet we still know almost as little about these creators as we do about their managers and agents.
“In this fast-paced book, reporter Chris Stokel-Walker shows how YouTube has morphed from DIY TV to global entertainment business. He reveals its workings and personalities, its pranks and its joyfulness, its extremism and its opportunities. He goes behind the cameras to meet superstar influencers, producers, advisors, marketers, advertisers, and child-training entrepreneurs. The result is a thrilling, hold-tight rollercoaster ride through the 21stcentury’s most amazing media theme park.”
YouTubersauthor Chris Stokel-Walker said: “I’ve been waiting to tell this story for years. I’ve embedded myself in the world of YouTube, travelling to conventions and training schools across the globe, winning the confidence of some of the biggest talent in front of the camera – and the real powerbrokers who never step into the limelight. I’ve broken news of big business deals, and carefully considered the impact of algorithms on us and our children. I’ve examined what power YouTubers have over their audience – and whether that's a concern for us and them.
“The result is the first independent, in-depth look at the site, the people who dominate it, and how they live their lives – and why not all of them are happy.
“YouTubers will enlighten anyone who wants to understand how this weird new world works, but even the most avid fans will discover revelations about their favourite idols.”
Notes for editors:
YouTubers: How YouTube shook up TV and created a new generation of stars includes more than 100 exclusive interviews from the biggest names in front of and behind the camera.