Nancy Vu is a high school senior in San Jose, California and the creator of the blog Just Little Things, a tumblr about the little things in life that give her joy. Her postings showed up so often on pinterest, twitter, and FaceBook that a book publisher approached her about creating a book based on her blog. Nancy’s book, Just Little Things: A Celebration of Life’s Simple Pleasures, will be available in May 2013, published by Perigree, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA). Pretty amazing for a high school kid! Usually an author has to pursue a publisher, and not the other way around.
I asked Nancy about how she got the idea for her blog, her family and other people’s reactions to it, and her future plans.
There is a book out called Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff where the authors talk about not letting small things bother you. Instead, in your blog, you use little things to encourage people and give them joy. How did you get the idea for starting your blog?
As a child, I grew up living a pretty simple lifestyle, so I developed a kind of mentality that makes me a person who is easily made happy by simple joys in life. I also tend to notice the little details around me and feel it’s important to appreciate these things. One day, I decided to make a personal list for myself of all the “little things” that I love, but I then decided to create a blog with hope that others will be able to enjoy my idea.
Your blog was discovered by a book company because many Pinterest users would pin your entries or share them on Facebook. Did you design your blog with social media in mind or did it just worked out that way?
When I created the blog, I had no real intention to make it as popular as possible. I’m very fortunate that so many people ended up liking it.
When did you realize that your blog was becoming incredibly popular?
My blog surprisingly became really popular with followers in the thousands after a few posts and after it’d been running for only a few days. After people reposted and shared the blog posts, they spread around pretty quickly.
How have people reacted to your work? Are there any stories you can share about how people have affected by your blog?
I’m happy to be able to say that my blog as been able to change the perspective of many of my readers and helped them develop a more positive point of view. People have told me my blog has helped them cope with a wide variety of struggles – bullying, bad break-ups, parents’ divorce, depression, self-harm, cancer, disabilities… the list goes on. It’s an indescribable feeling, knowing my work has been able to help others like it has.
Do you ever worry that you will run out of ideas for Just Little Things?
Of course it has been a bit harder to find new ideas to post up compared to before, since it’s been almost two years and I’m now in the 800’s. I think it’s impossible for “little things” to run out… they’re just more difficult to recognize! Submissions from my readers have been helpful, though, in giving me ideas.
When you started blogging, how did your parents react to your work? Did they even know? How do they feel about it now?
I actually ran the blog for a long time before telling my parents about it (sorry, Mom and Dad!). The first time I told them about it was because it was when I received one of the first business offers. I got the sense that they were happy for me, but were afraid it would distract me from my schoolwork (typical Asian parents…). Especially with my upcoming book, now they seem really proud of what I’ve achieved and are really supportive.
What are some of your interests other than blogging?
In my free time, I enjoy watching movies, painting, internet-surfing, volunteering, biking, and spending time with my family.
What are your plans after high school? Will you continue your blog?
I plan to do my best to update the blog while I’m in college.
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