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Ally Hendricks

@allys_shelf

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Fantasy + more | Lover of diverse books
60/80📚 | 🩷💜💙 | NC
Queer & disabled

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My 2026 goals!

#bookstagram #2026goals #readinggoals by @allys_shelf

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9 months ago

Snippets of Middle Earth 💚

Thank you to @herd.ventures for providing an event that embodies the words of Tolkien: “if more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”

See you next year!

#hobbitcore by @allys_shelf

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18 hours ago

My new YouTube video about ARCs, how I access them, and how you can get them is out now! You know where to find it 😘

#arcreader #bookstagram by @allys_shelf

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5 days ago

The perfect fantasy books for the fall season! Whether you’re in a ghosty, witchy, or cozy mood here’s what I recommend adding to your TBR 📚

• How I Met Your Murderer by Sarah Glenn Marsh
• Take It To Your Grave by Louangie Bou-Montes
• Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
• Someone You Can Build A Nest In by John Wiswell
• Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire by Don Martin
• Brewed With Love by Shelly Page
• House of Frank by Kay Synclaire

What book gives fall vibes to you?

#bookstagram #falltbr #fallbooks #fantasybooks by @allys_shelf

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6 days ago

TBH I’d rather be “woke” than fun

inspo: @asmalllife
#bookstagram #readdiversely #queerbooks by @allys_shelf

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9 days ago

NEW YOUTUBE VIDEO OUT NOW
Find it in my b¡o

Throwing my hat in the YouTube ring once again because I’ve gotten the itch to restart my long form content journey. Today’s video- romances that focus on queer joy! Queer people existing without their identity being the main conflict! Fantasy books with disability rep! Ghost stories! It’s all here ❤️‍🔥

I also wanted to immortalize myself in freeze frames with yellow subtitles because it makes me feel important and fancy 💃🏼

Go check out my video to see what romances I’m talking about, and be prepared to see more soon! Next topic of business… ARCs!

#booktube #bookstagram #romancebooks by @allys_shelf

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12 days ago

North Carolina book creators to the front 🙋🏼‍♀️

#bookstagram #bookinfluencer #northcarolina by @allys_shelf

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15 days ago

📚 The amount of expected unpaid labor…

Create regular content. Interact with other accounts and comments. Read this book. Review that. Make graphics. Keep up with trends. Keep up with your mutuals. Request that ARC. Film a video. Edit the video. Read that book. Post that review. Go to this event. Highlight this author. All while working 40 hours a week. But if you don’t, the algorithm will punish you, and your content might flop or people might think you don’t care enough. It’s exhausting to think of all the time I’ve put into creating book content for me or other people.

📚 The fear that you’ll never do enough…

Shouting at people to read your favorite author’s book because you know how much that means to the industry, all the while knowing your one voice can’t make or break a best seller list. Finding a hidden gem of a book and telling everyone about it, but you know it won’t go as viral as the latest straight and white New Adult romantasy book. Consistently giving disabled, queer, and BIPOC book recs while watching more and more books being banned. Trying hard to not give into despair as you watch marginalized stories still get pushed to the wayside by mainstream popularity.

📚 The fear that saying no or stepping away from things for your mental health will lose you community, friendship, or opportunities…

So much wonderful community happens because of creating content, but when you feel like you’re doing too much and need some more time for yourself you start to wonder if the connections you’ve made will stick around. Or maybe they only were connecting with you because they had to and by stepping back and doing less they will find “better” people to be in community with. And the fear that saying no will lose you opportunities is so profound that you might overwork yourself, leaving you burnt out.

📚 The mental toll of trying to figure out how to make yourself “marketable”…

You want people to watch your content, and follow you. What’s the most aesthetic photo? What’s the best caption or the most engaging thumbnail? And what does that do to your self esteem or mental image?

All I know is I’m tired, but happy to be here 🩷 by @allys_shelf

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19 days ago

6 books I wish were more popular because they deserve to go viral!

Every single one of these books need to be on your TBR, because I need more people to read and talk about them. Absolute bangers, all of them.

Books mentioned:
• These Vengeful Gods by Gabe Cole Novoa
• Devil of the Deep by Falencia Jean-Francois
• The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
• The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass by Leslye Penelope
• Until the Clock Strikes Midnight by Alechia Dow

#bookstagram #viralbooks #popularbooks #fantasybooks by @allys_shelf

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20 days ago

HAPPY SAPPHIC SEPTEMBER TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE 🩷🩷🩷

#sapphicseptember #sapphicbooks by @allys_shelf

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21 days ago

Unaesthetic videos should be the standard tbh 🙂‍↕️
Skincare routine approved by @skinbyymea

Filmed a YouTube video for the first time in over a year today (the 4k watch hours may be unrealistic but a girl can dream) I have plans for videos for the next 5 months and I hope you all enjoy! The first one comes out next week :)

What types of BookTube content do you like to watch?

#booktube #grwm #unaesthetic by @allys_shelf

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23 days ago

Look I’m not even a big creator. I don’t get nearly as much gifted mail as others do. But one thing I know is that book influencers CARE.

We know the publishing industry is a game. We have watched books go viral and we have put so much time into figuring out how to get our content seen by other people. We love books, and we understand the time, love, and energy it takes to create and publish a book. We love authors, for without authors there would be no books.

I promise you I have felt anxiety and guilt over the fact that the content I and others make does not guarantee that an author’s book will go viral. I wish I could- I wish any influencer could guarantee that one post or review could land a book on a best seller list or make 1000s of dollars. But we can’t. That’s just not how social media works. If you expect a book to start being successful only after an influencer posts about it, reads it, or reviews it, you are setting yourself up for failure. PR packages and reviews are only a part of marketing.

On top of that, the majority of book creators are doing unpaid labor. Interacting with every book, accepting every ARC, reading this, posting that… it’s unrealistic to expect someone to be able to do all that without feeling overwhelmed.

We’re all human.

#bookstagram by @allys_shelf

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24 days ago