Recently, YouTube announced a change that creators will need 8,000 hours of watch time within a 12-month period or 20 million Shorts views within 90 days to qualify to monetize with ads. All of the other features and requirements remain unchanged. What does this do for writing and book channels?
Luckily, channels that were already monetized are grandfathered in. But any new channels after February 1, 2027, will need to strive for double the watch time.
How does this affect small creators? Is creating a writing or book channel worth the time? Let’s take a look at how this would affect someone who is trying to find their audience as an author, blogger, or book lover.
What Do YouTube’s Numbers Mean?
OK, we’re going to do some math here.
To get 8,000 hours of watch time in a 12-month stretch, you’d need at least 22 hours every day. Now, let’s say you have a 40% average retention for videos and you’re averaging a video length of about 15 minutes. So, viewers are watching about six minutes of that video.
In order to reach 22 hours, your videos would have to consistently get 220 views per day. Now, that’s all based on averages across all niches. Not every channel is going to have a 40% retention rate. Let’s take my writing channel, for example.
WriterSanctuary hovers around 27% retention. While I am working on improving that rate, the niche is just not as popular as health and fitness or reaction channels. Because the content varies in length, I get about 4.12 minutes per view duration.
That means I would need about 320 views per day, which is difficult given the niche.
Of course, there are a lot of other variables that go into whether a channel is successful or not. For one thing, I’m not the most consistent creator, and I don’t have a lot of high-search-volume videos at the moment. Currently, I’m getting 156.5 views per day on the channel, which I hope to change soon.
20 Million Shorts Views!?!
OK, now let’s look at the Shorts requirement.
Your Shorts would have to consistently pull in 222,223 views minimum per day to hit the monetization threshold. That’s PER DAY, mind you.
For a new writing channel, that is damn near impossible. If you know of a new channel that is pulling in that many views per day, feel free to comment. However, I’ve never seen one. In fact, I know a lot of creators with five times my subscribers who haven’t hit 10k per day in Short views.
Anyway, the point is that writing and book channels have an uphill battle already, as the niche just isn’t as popular as others on YouTube.
How Does the Change Affect Payouts from YouTube?
YouTube ad revenue uses what’s called an “RPM” model. This is how much you make per 1000 visitors, and it can be found in the Revenue section of YouTube Analytics. Well, shortly after you’re accepted into the partner program, anyway.
On average, the RPM can range between $2 and $5, depending on the niche. In the case of WriterSanctuary, the RPM has generated more than $7 consistently. So, the RPM is above average, but I just don’t get a lot of viewership.
So, let’s take the average from above and apply it to the average RPM on YouTube. New channels would make roughly between $0.002 and $0.005 per view. After 220 views, you’d make between $0.44 and $1.10 per day. Before the new changes of 8,000 hours, the payout would have been half of that.
Technically, you’d reach the $100 payment threshold a lot faster with the new system. The problem is that you also need double the viewership.
Keep in mind that this is very rough math. There are all kinds of things that will greatly affect your payout and RPM scale.
Should You Create a Writing or Book Channel?
The number may feel daunting to most. After all, trying to get 4,000 hours of watch time on a writing or book channel is already a struggle. That is, until you come across your groove for what works best to grow your audience. There are a lot of writing and book channels that are quite successful.
However, we’re not looking at the numbers for a channel that is already established with a massive audience, are we? We’re considering the sheer amount of effort new creators need to put in simply to make $0.44 per day.
Now, there are a number of ways you can monetize YouTube outside of ad revenue. In fact, most big creators don’t rely on AdSense, as the payout is kind of crap compared to other methods. That’s why you see your favorite creators use sponsorships, sell their own products and/or services, or use affiliate links in their video descriptions.
Going Outside of AdSense for YouTube
Technically, it’s possible to monetize your first YouTube video with an Amazon affiliate link. And I’ve made a few tips from using Buy Me a Coffee on some of my videos before the channel was monetized with ads. There are early options you can utilize.
Despite the changes to YouTube, I would still suggest that writers, authors, and book lovers build a YouTube channel. It’s still a great platform for marketing your brand, regardless if you make ad revenue or not. Not to mention the fact that the same content can be repurposed for TikTok, Reels, and other video platforms.
I would focus more on other ways to generate income outside of AdSense for YouTube. Still do what you can to reach your audience and build a large community, but keep in mind that ad revenue isn’t the end-all, be-all on YouTube.
Also, be consistent. You don’t have to grind out the video content if you have a regular flow of high-quality videos published. Even channels with one video per week can grow quickly with great ideas and consistent publishing schedules.
It’s all about creating something people want to watch. It’ll take a bit of trial and error to see what works for your channel, as not every video will land the same way with viewership.
Don’t Forget the Live Streams
Live streams count toward your watch time on YouTube. In fact, the live streams for my Monday show and the writing sprints were the reasons I was able to monetize the channel in the first place.
If you get 22 ardent fans that watch your live stream for an hour, that’s 22 hours right there. The hard part is getting that many viewers who will consistently watch your live streams and videos as a new creator.
As most of my viewers come from search, it’s all about keyword research for both videos and live streams. Then, it comes down to delivering the content as a whole and answering those search terms.
And according to my analytics, I definitely need to do more reviews and tutorials.
Anyway, going live can potentially inflate your viewership, as long as you’re providing value. Don’t just assume you can hit the “Go Live” button and get an influx of viewers.
Here’s a tip that we’ve come across by going live from book events. Use your phone for live content. Every time we use the vertical format for going live, we get far more viewers who scroll across it on their phones. This has worked on both the writing channel as well as our weight loss journey channel.
It’s Not Impossible, but it Will Take Time
Hitting the illustrious 8,000 hours in a year isn’t impossible for a writing or book channel. A lot of it will come down to consistency and offering something of value to your target audience. Even a handful of folks who absolutely love your content can help you get monetized with ad revenue.
As for Shorts, I would like to ask YouTube what the hell they’re thinking. The original 10 million in 90 days was asinine for smaller channels, but to double it?
In any case, don’t stress about the ad revenue. As I said, there are a variety of ways you can monetize your videos without actually being in the YouTube Partner Program. Focus on quality videos and connecting with your audience instead.
A loyal fan base is far more likely to buy your books than to click on an ad anyway.
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