Life & Work with Diana Slaughter of Dekalb county/Booktok influencer

Today we’d like to introduce you to Diana Slaughter.

Hi Diana, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I LOVE to read! I am an ER travel nurse so I am away from home A LOT! I spend most of my free time reading and sharing my love for reading with my Booktok family! I got started on Booktok about a year and a half ago. I just started posting book reviews and wanted to share my passion for reading and books. I now have over 30,000 Booktok besties who love to read as much as me. I am a HUGE Indie Author supporter, that is what I now base my platform on. The best books I have read over the last year have been from Indie Authors. Indie Authors are the “under dogs” and do everything themselves as far as editing, promoting and , marketing their books, I mean EVERYTHING! If I can do a small part to help them, I’m all in! When I read a great book and am so hyped about it and can’t wait to share it with my Booktok family!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not always been a smooth road as a Booktok influencer. People do not realize that it is like a second job! I absolutely enjoy reading and talking about books but as an ER nurse, I work 7/12 hour shifts on and then 7 days off. The 7 that I work on is grueling and I do not get a lot of reading done. Also, once you hit all the followers/Booktok besties I have, you are pulled in a lot of directions and you want to help everyone but you just need more time in the day.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a Booktok influencer I am known for my support of Indie Authors or independently published authors. Their books are not published by a publishing company, they do it all themselves. Meaning they edit their books, publish their books, promote their books and market their books. Most of them while working full time jobs. I support them in any way I can! To me, they are the ‘underdogs’ and I want to help! I get sent A LOT of Author mail from Indie Authors and I will read them all and do reviews for them on Booktok and anywhere else I can. I don’t look at the synopsis of an Indie Authors book, I read it because they are an Indie Author and I want to support them! Also, if people read a book, leave a review anywhere that you can. That is a free way to support Authors and that helps so much!

What matters most to you? Why?
My family, my career, and Booktok! It’s always family first and foremost! My career because I have been a nurse for over 34 years and I care about people! Booktok, because it has been a lifeline for me! As I said before, I work away from home a lot and was diagnosed with PTSD as an ER nurse during COVID. I know that people look at TikTok as a way to make money but for me it’s a lifeline my home away from home when I am away from my home at work. I do not make money on Booktok but the friends I have made on there book besties and Authors have helped me through some of my loneliest times and I wouldn’t be able to work away from home without them. The Booktok community is so supportive, encouraging, generous, and friendly! I wouldn’t be where I am without them!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.goodreads.com/mommad1452
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/mommad1452
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Mommad1452
• Other: https://tiktok.com/@mommad1452