The amazing Debbie Ridpath Ohi and Charlene Chua teamed up with me to pool our resources, creating a way of connecting quickly and easily with the kidlit community on the BlueSky social media platform:
THE KIDLIT MEGA FEED
…pulls in kidlit content from moderated lists compiled by multiple members of the community!
Find out more info and how to post to the feed here.
One easy way to join in is to get onto my KIDLIT COMMUNITY list. This is one of the moderated lists that the Mega Feed pulls from. I’ve been adding users to this list steadily over the past year, and it is very inclusive. Ask me to add you if you don’t see yourself in the feed: @boringstorybook.com
…but check to see if you are already eligible to appear in the Mega Feed HERE first.
This feed should truly help anyone who is looking to connect with other people in kidlit, including creatives, publishers, agents, agencies, boosters, chat/event moderators, SCBWI groups, librarians, educators, art directors, picturebook, publishing news, YA, MG, GN, etc. etc.
Bluesky does not have an algorithm that chooses content to show users, it allows users to choose the content they want to see. Our project pools several vetted lists from multiple moderators into one comprehensive feed, and also scans for a variety of kidlit-related keywords and hashtags in the posts to keep on topic and filter out unrelated content (i.e. no “I have a toe infection,” “My cat smells,” “I just really got into crypto” type posts). There are also NO REPLIES in the Mega Feed, although you can click on the individual posts to see responses if you would like, or visit the moderators’ original lists, which I recommend following as well.
The Mega Feed is like an algorithm run by discerning humans, serving curated #kidlit content! It’s intended to be a gateway to connect and join conversations, especially useful for new users to onboard quickly. We hope it brings back the days of actual engagement between humans, and gives everyone an alternative to posting into a void.
Explaining Lists vs. Feeds
Everyone on Bluesky can create LISTS of users, i.e. my list of anyone w/ kidlit interests, or Charlene’s illustrator lists (which also connect into the Mega Feed). Following a list means following EVERYTHING that all of the people on that list share. You can even make your own list and submit it to be considered for inclusion to the Mega Kidlit Feed.
Feeds can be built with lists or a host of criteria, such as a keyword, hashtag, emoji—they can be tailored more specifically to a topic, or combination of lists and topics. Like Debbie Ohi’s book bans feed. A great way to build a feed is via BlueSkyFeedCreator.com—their developer has been very helpful in getting this project going. Try and build your own feed!
(More about Lists vs. Feeds.)
Our new MEGA FEED combines multiple moderated lists of users (from a growing number of contributors) into one comprehensive feed and ALSO curates further by using specific hashtags & keywords while filtering out replies! There is no single person controlling the content, we have many lists, with more added all the time. Pooling multiple kidlit list moderators that serve a variety of kidlit interests should result in feed that provides a much easier way to jump in and take part.
There are a lot of people helping the community there, Gina Perry has made BlueSky and Cara the #kidlitartpostcard platforms; Brian LaRossa of Scholastic is extremely engaging and has been gifting portfolio reviews and doing AMAs exclusive to BlueSky; Jennifer Laughran seems to be dragging all of Andrea Brown Literary Agency over on her back—the agency has left Instagram and is establishing itself on BlueSky; Charlene hosts the #kidlitart chat; Bonnie Adamson and Greg Pincus host #kidlitchat…
One last thing – share the feed with any holdouts you know on other social platforms. And remember, this is a work-in-progress effort, and many people are volunteering their time to benefit as many in the community as possible. Please interact patiently and kindly, as there are sure to be hiccups along the way. And a word of advice – be yourself and try to connect with people on BlueSky, rather than just promoting. You will have more success in finding people to support you.
