Lucy Pearson is an award-winning book blogger and social media influencer based between Sydney and London who specialises in literary themed travel and book reviews.
Four years ago Lucy quit her day job to follow her passion for travelling and books and now makes a living sharing news about independent bookstores, new book launches, literary hotels, alongside running literary book workshops through her impressive website The Literary Edit.
We sat down with Lucy and discussed everything from her favourite hotels to how she turned her passion into a full-time job.
Your top two travel tips of all time?
My first tip is to pack light. I’m a big believer in limiting my choices whenever I travel, and thus often only take a carry-on with me. I’m the type of traveler who likes a capsule wardrobe.
My second tip is to always pack a book – one preferably related to wherever you’re visiting. I love getting to know a new country or town through the pages of a book, and am never without at least one book in my bag.
What luxurious hotel is on your wish list?
Library Hotel in New York and The Marylebone Hotel in London are on the top of my wish list!
Is there a particular holiday/destination that stands out as the ‘perfect’ destination for you?
While I absolutely adore spending time on the beach, Paris or New York stand out as near-perfect holiday destinations. I love being in the buzz of a city, and both places have a rich cultural back drop, stunning outdoor spaces, luxury hotels and bookshops galore.
What are the top 3 destinations on your bucket list?
New York, Argentina and Istanbul.
Tell us about your best and worst travel experiences!
I can’t think of any particularly bad travel experiences – though missing a flight back to Sydney from Byron Bay a couple of weeks ago was certainly an interesting one. Some of my favourite experiences have included spending my one-year anniversary with my boyfriend in a beautiful hotel in Laguna Beach, California, when we were living in LA, and travelling around Bali with my sister when I lived there a couple of years ago.
If you had your own luxury hotel, what 3 things would you make sure existed?
A well-stocked library compete with plush armchairs and a roaring open fire, a stand-alone bath in the bedrooms and an endless supply of Prosecco!
What’s been the most luxurious hotel you’ve stayed at?
I was lucky enough to stay in The Bloomsbury Hotel in London just before Christmas with my boyfriend. Tucked away down a quiet street near Tottenham Court Road, it’s the perfect fusion of luxury and literary. With a restaurant named after the main character in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway and novel-themed cocktails, it’s a dream destination for anyone with a penchant for books or looking for the height of London opulence.
What’s your top tip anyone wanting to become a social media blogger and influencer needs to know?
It’s imperative as a blogger to have a strong, visually appealing and aesthetic website that conveys your brand and niche. Infact, I know that the look of my site was one of the reasons why my book blog, The Literary Edit, won the London Book Fair’s inaugural Book Blogger of the Year award. These days there’s no excuse for having anything but a stylish online space, and with the likes of website building platforms such as Wix.com offering stunning templates for free, there’s no excuse to have an unsophisticated or unattractive site. People will judge you by your online presence so it’s essential that your website is an adequate and attractive representation of the blog or business you want to create.
What are your secrets to success and how did you turn your passion into a full-time job?
Perseverance, dedication and lots of hard work. I’m also very lucky that I have an incredibly supportive family and network of friends who have always championed my love for books and my passion for blogging, so I never felt any pressure to return to a 9-5 office job after I made the decision to work for myself. You need to be prepared to work outside of normal hours, network as often as you can, and never give up – however impossible something might seem.
What is the most common misconception about what you do?
That all I do is read books and travel, as there’sa lot more that goes on behind the scenes when it comes to the reality of blogging. From teaching myself SEO and Photoshop, to sourcing collaboration opportunities and reaching out to hotels I’d like to feature on my blog, there’s a lot of admin and hard work that goes into making my blog what it is today.
What inspired you to start blogging?
Shortly after I graduated from university, I was perusing my local library when I came across a copy of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, which I swiftly read and fell in love with. On finishing the book, I noticed it had a sticker on the front cover that said it had been featured on the BBC’s Top 100 Reads. I then googled the list and decided to work my way through the 100 books and start my blog as a way to record my thoughts and feelings about every book on the list.
In what way has social media most changed your life?
Social media has been an integral part of both my freelance writing and social media business and my blog. it has given me the opportunity to work from anywhere in the world. I’ve met a number of business contacts and friends through using social media, and it was via Instagram that someone alerted me to the London Book Fair’s inaugural Book Blogger of the Year award which I was lucky enough to go on to win. Having lived in Sydney, London, Bali and LA, social media allows me to keep abreast of everything while abroad, and it too alerts me to a number of books, literary festivals and literary goings-on that I wouldn’t otherwise know about.
What’s your favourite book?
A Little Life by Hanya Yanigaraha is my all-time favourite, but other close contenders include Crime and Punishment, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Shantaram and Gone with the Wind.
