Focus on Your Passion, Success Will Follow - Siddhi Palande (Book Gobbler)

Siddhi Palande



Life hit the biggest low when my father passed away. I had recently delivered a baby. She was only 6 days old when this incident happened. I went through a lot of trauma and the midst of all the darkness and chaos books helped me stay afloat. There's no better companion than books in my view because I have seen people leave.



Tell us about your background and journey

I am a former media professional. I started my career as a PR to celebs then moving on to entertainment journalism. I was diagnosed with multiple health issues in 2015 and had to give up a well-paying job with a leading channel of India. Books have been a part of my life, rather, they are inherently present in me. So throughout my phase when I was bedridden I was reading. That's when I decided to come up with a blog that's dedicated to different genres and in 2016 was born ofbookbabiesandmore.wordpress.com

In 2016, life hit the biggest low when my father passed away. I had recently delivered a baby. She was only 6 days old when this incident happened. I went through a lot of trauma and the midst of all the darkness and chaos books helped me stay afloat. There's no better companion than books in my view because I have seen people leave.

I started penning concise reviews on my blog of the books which I already owned. In 2017 during the promotions of my debut novel I came across a community of book bloggers called #BookstagramIndia. I saw people taking up book blogging professionally and that's how @book_gobbler was born. I turned my personal account to bookstagram account and got started on this wonderful journey.

Books are my addiction and my motto is to create awareness about reading, to get people to read books and hence was born a joint venture @mumbaibookstagram where we promote the book bloggers and readers of India. We hold bookish meetups and events from time to time.

As for my blog, I have been ardently working on my blog and I see that my presence has landed me amongst the Top 100 book reviewers of India and Top 15 book reviewers feed of India. A step ahead in my blogging journey is an opportunity to host a bookish show with nationalkhabar.com



What led you to start your page on Instagram and what is it about?

So like I said the page was a personal account and when I was promoting my book I came across the community of #BookstagramIndia. I was already reviewing movies as a journalist so book reviewing seemed like an extension to that and adding to that was my passion for books. There's a joke in my family that even if you don't give food to Siddhi it is fine, she will happily munch on books. Hence the name book_gobbler. The page is all about books and literature.



How would you distinguish the term blogger from an influencer?

In my sphere, that's amongst book bloggers, I see myself as someone who isn't here only for money. I am here for my love of books and words. I love to gather knowledge. When I read a book, I read word to word and that shows in my reviews as well. My reviews are written keeping in mind the efforts of the author as well as the interest of the readers because you see what may not suit your palate can definitely be a delectable treat for someone else. Also, I don't mind calling a spade a spade from time to time. And I never compete with anyone. My competition has only been with myself and that will be so going forward as well. I always wish well for my fellow bloggers and influencers.



Is it financially sustainable to be an influencer today?

It is. You can start small but when you grow, you grow big. You and your handle become a brand if you keep working at it. I have read about and even met influencers who left their jobs because a social media account was helping them earn better and follow their passion.


What do you think influences consumer behavior?

Consumer behavior is influenced by words. How strong a word you put for the products, how ardently they follow you for your reviews, all that matters. But at the end of the day, their tastes, preferences, and budget matters as much.


What is your idea of success or your mantra in life?

Compete with yourself. Work on improving yourself rather than conspiring to pull someone else down. Focus on your passion, success will follow. If you focus on being successful your passion might get diluted and you don't want that to happen.


How can someone become a successful social media influencer? 

You got a social media presence you can become an influencer, simple. But you need to work on your content, communication skills, and presentation. How you put across a product or a service and how well it reaches the viewers and how well they receive it, all of this matters. The process is slow hence patience is imperative.


Which is your favorite book and why?

For a book addict answering that question is difficult but these three books are closer to my heart because of the strong women characters - The ghost by Danielle Steel, Swami by Ranjeet Desai, and Anne Frank's The diary of a young girl. Apart from these books I love reading words penned by Amrita Pritam. 

 


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