Otaku Links: Study, study, study

Otaku Links

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OK, so I haven’t been that great of a blogger lately, but I have a great reason. I’ve been studying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, N5 level, which I take this Sunday! I haven’t studied this hard for anything since college, but I’m really hoping to pass and have a quantified level of conversational proficiency before my 2016 trip to Japan.

Fortunately, I have great readers who have sent me some awesome links, even if I wasn’t searching for as many as I usually do. On to those:

  • All about yoshoku, Japan’s distinctly Japanese take on “Western food” like hamberg steak and omurice. Link courtesy of my classmate, Henry, who also takes the N5 on Sunday.
  • By the way, my favorite place to find yoshoku recipes is Cooking With Dog, the YouTube channel of poodle named Francis (and his mysterious chef owner). I’ve made their omurice episode a dozen times now, and I think I’ve plugged this link at least ten times since I started this blog.
  • Looks like veteran otaku Ed Sizemore found the first hug pillow in an American magazine. Like cosplay, some of the things we relate to Japanese anime fandom have surprisingly familiar origins.
  • Tezuka’s masterpieces weren’t really supposed to be art. They were only supposed to sell toys. Anime’s Media Mix is a book about anime’s unsettling relationship with commerce that I just discovered through my friend Steve’s book review.

Photo by mspxl

How writing a book didn’t change my life

Journalism, Writing

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This morning I got a text from my little sister. “Look what I found” she wrote, along with a picture of her at Barnes & Noble, holding my book Cosplay: The Fantasy World of Role Play.

My little sister isn’t the first person to text, tweet, or Instagram me a photo of my book. For a few months now I’ve been hearing from readers in New York, Miami, San Francisco, and here in DC as they stumble on my book at their local Barnes & Noble.

It’s been a year since I originally documented the process of writing Cosplay in seven weeks last November, and I wanted to give you an update on how everything is going.

The verdict: being traditionally published hasn’t changed my life in the slightest.

First of all, I’ve been out of the loop for most of the big moments. I wasn’t notified when it went on sale. I wrote the book for Carlton Limited, a publisher in London, so the book came out first in the United Kingdom, in May 2015. I was invited to do a book signing at London Comic Con in May if I “happened to be in London” that week, as the publisher certainly wasn’t going to pay for one small time author’s transatlantic flight.

Later, Carlton sold the U.S. rights to Sterling Publishing, which brought it here in summer without me having to exchange so much as an email with them. I didn’t know the book was on shelves until this fall, and by then it was already in the bargain bin, marked down from $20 to about $10, and while it hurts my pride a little, that’s probably a far more reasonable price for a coffee table book that only contains 10,000 words.

Second, I didn’t make a lot of money. If you are planning to buy (or have already bought) Cosplay, that’s awesome! It makes me feel really good. But that’s all it does—I will not make a penny off of that sale. When I signed a contract to write the book, I gave up all rights in exchange for a few thousand dollars up front—which I’ve already spent on bills and stuff. (Meanwhile, I continue to make money every month with my self-published books.)

My publisher treated me well and I’m grateful for the opportunity, but here’s where I say: if you get a chance to write a traditionally published book, maybe you should consider before you agree to this. In my case, it didn’t really matter. The bargain-bin pricing indicates that the book probably isn’t selling well anyway (my guess? The kind of people who are into cosplay are already getting their information digitally) and since I wasn’t the one to select the photos, I only did a portion of the work to make this book a reality.

Third, I am not better known for being a published author. I don’t know the exact sales numbers, but it’s easy to guess that more people have read my articles on Forbes than have purchased my book, since if more than 100k people had bought the book, it would be a New York Times bestseller, not in the bargain bin.

I am not trying to dissuade others from getting book deals. In fact, I am in the first steps of negotiating another one! However, I am trying to dispel the myth that writing a book will necessarily “change your life,” the way I always dreamed when I was a teenager. I may have once glamorized book writing as somehow different and more magical than other kinds of work, but it’s just like any other job—it’s tough, it’s mercurial, and it will sometimes disappoint you. That’s why you have to really believe in what you’re doing each time you sit down to write.

A year after writing Cosplay: The Fantasy World of Role Play, I’m not rich or famous and you won’t see me autographing this at your local bookstore, but I’m really glad for the experience. It took the hard work of book writing off of its pedestal once and for all. It taught me to write for the sake of writing, not for any perceived side effects that may or may not happen. It taught me that even when the book doesn’t change my life, the feeling of a job well done and the acknowledgement of my family and friends is really all that I needed.

How the Otaku Journalist became a web developer

Careers, Journalism

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On my second day at the office, I decided to tidy up my cubicle.

Into the trash went the half-used Chapsticks; into the recycling went the cryptic scrap paper scrawls. I found a full crate of beer under the desk and gifted it to a coworker. Into the newly cleared space I put my Kuroneko and Elsie nendoroids and my pink office stationery. A small, bright oasis in the monitor-lit cave we call the Web Tech Team.

For the first time in five years, I am working at an office. I got a part time job as a Web developer for a local think tank. I couldn’t tell you in depth about the think tank’s political views, but just get me started on their cutting-edge development environment. This is a team of WordPress devotees who’ve mastered many open-source softwares I used to cover as a technology reporter, but have always wanted to learn more about.

All week, as I made my short commute to work for four and five-hour snippets, I wondered how I was going to tell Otaku Journalist readers about this. In many subtle ways, I’ve considered cubicle work as the antithesis to my career plan, and now here I am again. I thought it was office life that I despised at 24; maybe it was just the work I was doing that I didn’t enjoy. I’ve made some hard realizations, like maybe I gave up too easily before. Like maybe there are a lot of different ways to be fulfilled in your career, and not all of them are sitting at home in pajamas.

Because actually, I am really enjoying this job. I found out about it offhand from a friend I met on the anime convention circuit, and submitted my application because I love to interview for jobs. (Who doesn’t love to sit and talk about how great they are?) I’ve done this several times, where I go to an interview just to try on a new life, only to decide my freelance life is better. But this one, I couldn’t turn down because it didn’t make me give anything up. I’ve been a little low on work, so a new part time gig will let me continue to work with my existing journalism clients while honing my existing developer skills and picking up some totally new ones, too.

In my first week, I documented detailed walk-throughs of every software I installed and used in the Web Tech Wiki; ravenous for more. My development process is blunted by years of working alone, and even as a journalist whose job it was to discover and report on new technologies, I’ve become set in my own processes. Performing familiar tasks in an unfamiliar way feels a little like going back to college. Everything is a learning experience. The first thing I noticed when I came on board is that there wasn’t really a protocol for how to install software and adapt it to the company’s unique legacy development environment. I couldn’t exactly Google it. So I ask and I try and fail and try and succeed, and I write down absolutely everything.

At first, coworkers asked me why a journalist like me wanted this job. But to me, it’s easy to see the parallel between this type of work and niche reporting. I assess my audience—this company. I write my documentation with their needs and skill levels in mind. I write basic explanations like “Why do we use this software?” for people higher up who may re-evaluate our development process. I write brisk troubleshooting workflows for colleagues. Even when I’m writing a computer program, it’s all about the audience. The function has to solve the exact problem the client has, in a way I can explain to him without bogging him down with complexities. The syntax has to match the programming style guide so other developers can instantly grasp what it’s about, and add their own additions for years to come. Web development, like journalism, is about the people it serves.

Throughout the six years I have blogged at Otaku Journalist, I have had a lot of different roles aside from journalist. Student, intern, college professor, traditional author, self-published author, Web designer, graphic designer, anime con volunteer. It’s odd that this is the first role to really make me question my identity. I’ve always instructed readers to create a career niche for themselves that they won’t grow out of—so what do I do now that I have?

When I was 11, I wrote in my diary that, when I grew up, I wanted to be either a writer or a computer programmer. “Why not both?” my adult self replies. While this is an expansion of the specific niche I’ve previously shared with the world on this blog, my old diary reminds me that it’s who I’ve been all along. Only my narrative has changed.

Photo via Unsplash

Otaku Links: Number four will shock you!

Otaku Links

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  • If you’re getting a head start on your holiday shopping, check out Chic Pixel’s ultimate holiday gift guide, full of great ideas for somebody who loves all things anime. Also, I checked the Otaku Journalist 2013 and 2014 holiday gift guides, and most of the links still work!
  • I also really like Isaac Akers’ response to it in his Crunchyroll column, and not only because he quotes me! We can all follow Isaac’s lead and not take Read’s article personally. This is a great example of how most journalists don’t get to write their own headlines. Read’s article is really about how some people with cartoon avatars say mean things, but the title is far more inflaming because that’s what makes people click! And you did, didn’t you? We get mad at news organizations for implementing journalism strategies that work.
  • The cost of a full body fursuit is A LOT, the Billfold investigates. No wonder dedicated furries wear their suits even at conventions in the height of summer. Got to get your money’s worth.
  • The Secret of One Punch Man’s Success. After Iron-Blooded Orphans, this is my favorite show airing this season for many of the reasons outlined in this article, from its powerful action sequences to its detailed (and apparently painstaking) animation. I’ve already ordered the Saitama Nendoroid for my desk.
  • When Zac asked me if I was cool marathoning 25 episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam in four days so I could write a review, my answer was “duh, obviously.” Then I did it again to review the second half of the series two weeks later. Anime journalism is hard work, but somebody has to do it.

Top art via.

Otaku Journalist’s 6th Birthday

Uncategorized

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“Where do you see yourself in five years?”

Out of all the interview questions I’ve gotten, this is always the toughest. It’s hard to imagine what Future Me is going to want, or how her priorities will have changed.

That’s why it’s a little hard to believe that here I am, SIX years later, working on a project I started when I was 23! No matter what other forms my work has taken, writing in this blog has been a constant.

I like to say that blogging changed my life, and it really has. Without Otaku Journalist, I would have never gotten the visibility I needed to find clients and win contests and book deals, or the clarity to figure out what I want to write about about how to help others do the same.

Technically Otaku Journalist’s birthday is November 14. To commemorate it, I wrote a brief timeline of how blogging has shaped my career.

2009

One of the professors in my journalism master’s program urges every student in class to buy a personal domain name. I buy LaurenRaeOrsini.com and begin blogging about my journalism projects, most notably my Anime USA mini-documentary.

On my 23rd birthday, I set a goal to double my portfolio and to either find a job or start freelancing. This is the first time I consider working for myself.

2010

As my master’s program winds down, I take on internships first for the Newseum and then video game blog Kotaku. All the while, I attend dozens of fan events as a reporter, from a Lolita picnic to a cosplay meetup, plus Otakon, Anime Boston, T-Mode, and so many others. I also make a documentary while working as a Katsucon maid. I also make an effort to visit as many Japanophile landmarks in DC as possible, like Hana Market and Ginza (closed now). It’s safe to say I blog more prolifically in 2010 than I ever will again.

I graduate in spring and I can’t find a job, so I work part time at a gym while applying to 30 jobs in 30 days in November. By December, I’m working as a web designer downtown.

2011

By March I decide that web design isn’t for me, so I look for ways to become a full time freelance journalist. I read tons of books about building a career (like Steven Savage’s Fan to Pro) and double down on my reporting for Otaku Journalist, hoping it catches somebody’s eye. Even when I break my foot on a Metro escalator and can’t put pressure on it, I still report on Katsucon’s copyright woes the following day—just in a wheelchair. (Poor John wheels me around the entire time. It’s no surprise I married him.)

I find out about a contest that Forbes contributor Susannah Breslin is holding for female journalists under 25. I win and get to publish an article on Forbes. “Journalism jobs are dead. Journalism opportunities are everywhere,” I write. Later that week, Owen Thomas offers me a job at the Daily Dot and proves me wrong. Thrilled, I accept.

2012

When you’re an “Internet Community And Fandom Reporter” for the Daily Dot, you don’t need your old blog half as much as you used to. I definitely slack on Otaku Journalist this year. That said, this is the year I began to define myself with my reporting, covering communities other people didn’t, like “bronies” and this new site called Pinterest. Working professionally pushes me in ways that blogging didn’t, and I still have some 2012 clips in my portfolio today.

In between the hundreds of articles I write for the Daily Dot (up to 27 each week), I get an opportunity to travel to San Francisco for work, where I finally meet my mentor, Steven Savage. I make my first trip to Japantown, followed a few months later by my second, because I was so blown away the first time that I had to show John.

And then, in the middle of December, I quit the Daily Dot.

2013

I’ll never know if quitting the Daily Dot was a smart idea, because that site continues to grow enormously. But after writing more than 500 stories in a year and a half, I’m burnt out. I want to find a way to build a freelance career on my own terms. I pick up a slew of writing clients, including PBS and Otaku USA, but after my former boss, Owen Thomas, becomes the new editor in chief at ReadWrite, I pick up a new full time job there after just four months.

This year I revitalize Otaku Journalist by deciding to give away “Geek Journalism Guides,” 15 to 18 page PDFs that will eventually become the first eight chapters of my first book. Instead of trying to write Otaku Journalism all at once, I release it in chapters throughout the year.

2014

ReadWrite gives me a place to write about the niche technology communities I love to cover, only without writing or traveling half as much as at the Daily Dot, so I have time to pursue other freelance work, too. I become a regular contributor to Anime News Network and I finally publish my first book, Otaku Journalism, followed by work on my second, as a co-author to a Raspberry Pi tutorial guide, and third, Cosplay: The Fantasy World of Role Play. To cap off the year, I discount Otaku Journalism to $3, or $0 on Gumroad.

This is the year I ask myself, “what is my biggest regret?” and decide it’s that I never learned Japanese. So I do, and it really is that simple. Years of blogging have taught me that I can be my own editor, my own book publisher, and now, my own accountability coach while learning a new language.

2015

After ReadWrite is purchased by a larger company, I leave to freelance on my own, and finally, finally it sticks! It’s a year of going full circle as I return to Forbes for the first time since winning Susannah’s contest, and returning to a surprising place—code. This has been a slow build over time, but now I willingly take on web design and development clients while learning new development skills, just like I did in my very first “real” job.

Bolstered by my new independence, I decide to make Otaku Journalist a more helpful resource for fellow geek writers. That’s the thinking behind this year’s redesign, the publication of Build Your Anime Blog, and my recent webinar.

Looking back at how Otaku Journalist changed my life is revitalizing my goal to help other writers do the same. Here’s to another year of publishing helpful but geeky advice for writers who know they can make a career on their passions, they just aren’t sure how yet. No matter how long you’ve been reading, thank you for being here today, and I look forward to seeing you in the comments.