I always get so excited for the month ahead when I make this list! Would you like to join in on the fun? I just created an email especially for readers like you who want to send me tips — it’s tips AT otakujournalist.com. So are you hosting an event, or know of an event that I haven’t listed? Let me know, and I’ll add it to my list. And now, on to the events:

October 2 : Lolita Picnic. More info.

DC Anime Club is hosting a Lolita-themed picnic once more. I won’t be able to make it, but my blog post on the event might make you want to!

October 2 : They Might Be Giants. More info.

I’m so glad one of my favorite bands just happens to be nerdcore so I can post their concerts on this list. You read the “more info” correctly — TMBG is holding a FREE concert at the Kennedy Center this weekend. I usually can’t afford to set foot in there!

October 7, 14, 21, 28 : Roleplayer’s Weekly Open. More info.

When I moved to DC, I had no idea where I could find a weekly D&D group. Too bad I hadn’t heard of The DC RPG Meetup Group! Stop by any Thursday this month for their weekly open. You need to be a group member to attend, but that’s easy as the click of a button.

October 9-10 : Congress of Gamers. More info.

@NickFerris let me know about this tabletop, board, and card game convention in Rockville. Their website says it best: “And whereas in the course of human events games must be played…”

October 16 : Shoujo Day. More info.

Shoujo means just “girl” in Japanese, but DC Anime Club is using the word to refer to the vast world of shoujo-focused anime. While they run an all-day marathon of shoujo anime, they’ll also be running a raffle with otaku friendly prizes.

October 22-24 : Capclave. More info.

@RedneckOtaku reminded me about this fantastic Rockville science fiction literary convention. With some notable sci-fi author guests, a dealer’s room, and real science updates from NASA, this should be a sci-fi fan’s dream.

October 27 : Animazing. More info.

The last Wednesday of every month, the Japanese Embassy hosts an anime screening. Why didn’t I know about this? Last month was Paprika; this month is TBA. I’ll update this when we find out!

I know this can’t be all that’s going on. But whatever’s still out there must be a well kept secret, because I’ve checked every event site I know of for this. If you’ve got a submission to the list, let me know!

From left: Patrick Macias, Gia Manry, Colette Bennett

For many of us, it seems like a fantasy. Watching and reviewing anime as part of the daily grind. Getting paid to cover anime and gaming conventions. Making money off of things most otaku pay money to do.

A lucky, hard-working few have made this their reality. This includes three journalists that I deeply admire:  Patrick Macias of Otaku USA Magazine, Gia Manry of Anime News Network, and Colette Bennett of Tomopop (and more!). I sent out email questionnaires to all three of them about how they started — and maintain — their careers, plus their advice for the rest of us. This is what they told me.

Getting started

As an unpaid anime blogger, I was very interested in finding out how the journalists had made the transition from free work to paid work. Patrick, who began his career pre-Internet, had the most experience in this department.

While he kept his day job writing for a nationally syndicated news service, Patrick spent his free time contributing articles about otaku themes to fan publications for “little or no pay.” This led to him getting a position in San Fransisco covering Asian films. Around 1997, this publicity got Patrick hired at Viz Media’s editorial department. Since then he has gone on to co-own a media company, become editor in chief of Otaku USA Magazine, and write two books.

“I got lucky early on with regards to having my work syndicated and getting decent pay for it,” he said. “But there was little to no fiscal reward for my Japanese pop culture writing for a long time.”

Gia Manry’s career path began while she was still in school. She wrote news for a popular Harry Potter site for free because “it was fun and good experience.” Later, she started blogging about manga, but applied for jobs at the same time.

“I started my first manga-related blog (a very niche one) around the same time I applied to Anime Insider, and I got to work for them about five months later,” she said.

After Anime Insider shut down, Gia wrote for a couple other anime sites, started her own anime news site, and finally ended up at Anime News Network. While she makes a living off her work as an anime blogger, she said she does occasionally work for free.

“I’ve also volunteered my time for causes I appreciate, and I have worked for free when I had things that I wanted to say and had full control over where and how I said them,” she said.

In Colette’s case, blogging became a second career. Stuck working a job in L.A. that she didn’t enjoy, Colette said things turned around after she met a graphic novel artist and admired his lifestyle.

“He really inspired me. I talked to him often about my dream of writing about videogames. And one day he said ‘Why don’t you start a blog?’” she said.

Colette started a blog but took it one step further. As she worked, she emailed a link to her blog to the editors of all her favorite video game websites, advertising herself as a freelancer willing to cover gaming events. Eventually both Kotaku and Destructoid offered her jobs. She chose Destructoid, but contributes to several other blogs including Gamasutra. She didn’t make money off of the original blog, but it certainly contributed to her eventual job.

“I think working for free is a good experience to start out, but I think everyone needs to have a cut off,” she said.

The typical workday

This career is no joke. When I found out about each journalist’s daily routine, I realized that each one of them is an incredibly hard working person. It shows that not just anyone can succeed in the field.

Patrick said he wakes up at 6:30 a.m. each day to begin checking email, blog statistics, and social networks. He pauses to do housework until 10 to 11, when he gets down to the day’s writing and editing.

“Unless I have a really pressing deadline, things start to slow down around 5 p.m., at which point I start thinking about dinner,” he said.

For fun, he has been playing Modern Warfare in the evenings after work. His day usually ends around midnight.

Gia gets up between 7 and 8 and commutes to work — as she joked, her commute is “bed to computer.” You might think that with a trip like that, it’d be tempting to go back to bed, but Gia is truly dedicated.

“It would be so easy to lock myself in the house for weeks on end! I’m sort of obsessive and when you work on a job you love, especially an Internet-content job, there’s always something you can be doing,” she said.

With that in mind, she makes sure to run errands, exercise, or visit friends in order to step out of the house for a bit. But afterward, her workday continues until the evening.

Colette did not specify a wake-up time, but based on the number of sites she contributes to on a daily basis, her workday runs long.

“On a normal day, I start by checking our schedule and going through my RSS feeds to send tips to the staff. After that, I usually return emails, contact any distributors or advertisers I may need to follow up with, edit the work of my writers and then work on reviews,” she said.

Aside from managing a staff, Colette said she spends a lot of her day focusing on site-building. And of course, she takes photos of toys for Tomopop five days a week. “Really stressful [part of the] job,” she joked.

Advice for the aspiring

These three journalists have truly made it, but what hope is there for the rest of us?

Patrick thinks the growth of anime journalism is very limited. Even though the fandom itself is strong, he said, the industry has its own problems.

“Some are common to the entertainment industry at large (such as digital piracy, loss of advertising and sponsorship, competition from other media) while others are unique to anime and manga (the bursting of the ‘manga bubble,’ the closure of several high-profile anime distributors, the difficulties of dealing with Japanese license holders),” he said.

However, he did have advice for the aspiring anime journalists who can rise to the challenge. Learn Japanese to get a leg up on the competition, he suggested. And develop your own unique writing voice, so you don’t get lost in the crowd.

“You have to know more than your audiences, who already have vast amounts of information at their fingertips via Wikipedia and Google,” he said. “Way too much of what masquerades as ‘anime journalism’ nowadays is just people rewriting press releases or recycling content from news aggregators. You really have to bring something unique to the table in order to stand out.”

Gia said she gets questions from aspiring journalists a lot. She said there is only a handful of sites paying content creators right now. Plus, she adds, it’s not only a difficult industry but a difficult economy overall. With that in mind, she doesn’t believe anime journalism is a growing career venue.

She said she wouldn’t suggest anyone quit their day job to go into anime journalism, or even writing online. She said that this field rewards only those who love it and are willing to work harder than anything for it.

“I think a lot of people also don’t realize that working in a field you love is hard,” she said. “Don’t get into this field to make lots of money, and don’t get into this field because you like anime so it’ll be easy to write about it. Expect to work your butt off to prove you’re worth hiring over all the other fans, and expect to care– for better and for worse –about what you’re doing.”

Colette was slightly more optimistic.

“Anime journalism is a viable career venue, but a very small one,” she said. “However, since there is a flood of news coming out of Japan at all times, I think there is always room to do something.”

Colette suggests aspiring anime journalists read as many blogs as they can on a regular basis, and figure out what they cover and cover well and, more importantly, what they’re missing and what they can do better.

“You’ll need a way to stick out since the market is full of people who want to do the same thing, so consider something innovative,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to stand out.”

–

My interviews included plenty more questions than the three listed. Would you like to hear more about these talented professionals? Let me know in the comments.

Last week, the Anime USA business cards that I ordered from Moo arrived. I ordered 1,900 of them — enough for each director at the convention and probably the largest Moo purchase I will ever make. Everyone’s cards include three different designs by one of our talented artists, Allison Strom. (When you talk to Anime USA directors, try your best to collect them all!)

I took a few shots of my own cards this weekend:

Notice my SD gundam model watching in the background.

I wish Moo offered discounts for nonprofits (like Anime USA), but otherwise, I couldn’t recommend their cards — especially their minicards — enough.

Come here every day? Same here, at least as of two weeks ago. On September 13, I began blogging every weekday and didn’t stop until this past Friday, September 24. I wanted to see if it’d bring up my hits, promote more blog discussion, or raise my ad revenue. I also wanted to see if I could keep generating new ideas for daily content.

Since I think blog transparency is sexy, let’s take a look together at the results of my experiment:

This one is my Google Analytics page. I set it up to measure the past two weeks. Almost a thousand page views is pretty good, considering that I’ve gotten just 3,000 since I moved from laurenraeorsini.com to otakujournalist.com. Looks like most people view just one page, which makes sense because I don’t have click-through posts anymore.

These are my Project Wonderful traffic charts. About halfway through is when I started daily blogging. There’s not much of a difference, is there. (Ignore the spike — that came from a Japanator article I wrote and linked here.) What’s interesting is the bottom chart, which shows my ad revenue bids, has gone up considerably since the 13th…. and then inexplicably way down again. I can’t make sense of Project Wonderful ad bids yet.

And here’s my dashboard on Project Wonderful. That’s right: thanks to your clicks, I’ve made a dollar! Who said blogging doesn’t pay?

Based on the visuals, things are looking pretty mediocre. However, just speaking mentally, I’ve really enjoyed this experiment. It’s encouraged me to blog about more things in a less formal style. When I put up three posts a week, there was a lot of pressure to make sure they were perfect. Now, if two out of five don’t work out, I don’t mind. I think I’m cultivating a more relaxed, honest blogging voice.

I’ll continue this for a while longer. Now that I have Japanator as an outlet for more serious features, I can use this blog to continue writing more casual posts. Expect Otaku Journalist to also become more local: I’m working with TBD to become part of their blogging community, and I hope to bring this blog closer to home — both to my city and my own life.

Remember when I blogged about anime convention commercials? My goal was to finish up the Anime USA commercial on a budget of $0 by September 1. It’s a tiny bit late, but I did stick to my budget! Let’s take a look:

Like it? Even if you don’t, you have to agree that it’s considerably better than my first draft:

…Well then. Let’s break down the budget:

Video and music = The Thief of Baghdad (fair use) = free.

Voice actors = friends = free.

Youtube as a publishing platform = free!

Success! Let me know what you think in the comments. And be sure to share the video with your friends!

Sometimes I get so excited about the “otaku” half of my blog title that I forget about the second half. So if you’d find it interesting to see me take off my fangirl cat-ears and put on my journalism hat for an afternoon, you might find my November 6 workshop interesting.

I am working with American University, my alma mater, and TBD, a DC news site, to present a workshop for bloggers about using WordPress to its fullest. I’ll be discussing layout customization, widgets and plugins, SEO features, and overall how you’re probably only using 10 percent of WordPress’s full capabilities. And of course, I’ll be explaining it all with journalists in mind.

Let me know if you can make it. It should be a laid-back good time!

Me (center) and some Lolita friends at our last DC picnic.

My odd title is inspired by Mr. Rococo, a new Japanese film about a Lolita who ditches her frilly dresses and becomes a fitness freak in order to impress the man of her dreams. No doubt the best/only Lolita movie since Kamikaze Girls.

However, if you haven’t met a man that made you want to ditch your entire subculture and way of life AND you live in the Washington D.C. area, why not come to the DC Anime Club Lolita Picnic? There will be a potluck, a photoshoot, and plenty of flouncing around national monuments whilst in petticoats. There will also be much stopping to pose for confused DC tourists!

The event will take place October 2, giving you plenty of time to plan your outfit. (Milky berry or melty choco? SO MANY DECISIONS.) The group will be meeting at 12 pm at the Smithsonian metro stop and then proceeding in a frilly parade to the National Mall.

Want to find out more about the event? Email the DC Anime club president. Want to learn more about Mr. Rococo? Watch the trailer here.

[Eagle-eyed readers will notice this is a cross-post from Japanator. In my defense, I'm busy!]

If you’ve ever wondered about the hyper-cute styles of Harajuku, check out the video I’ve posted below. While this is a clip from Australia’s Next Top Model (a show I’ve never watched), it’s also a fantastic primer on Japanese street fashion styles:

kawaii Uploaded by paulyatomic. Found on Aesthetic Lolita.

What really struck me about this clip was how the Western models reacted to the street styles. They’re shocked by having to wear clothes they perceive as unfashionable on the runway. But at the same time, they’re trying to act impressed with the clothing since their Japanese “ambassadors of cute” are way into the styles. It’s so awkward and at times funny to watch.

Of course, I disagree that these styles are so unfashionable. On the fringe and risky, yes, but dated or frumpy? Not so much. American media is divided on this point to be sure: Katy Perry just wore a Sweet Lolita outfit for a photo shoot, but the show What Not To Wear just tore apart a Gothic Lolita’s wardrobe. But it doesn’t seem like Japanese street fashion is any more divisive in America than Crocs, Uggs or jeggings.

What do you think of the fashions? Which is your favorite?

It’s no secret that I’m fascinated by subcultures, the weirder the better. That’s the backbone of this blog. So it was only a matter of time until I discovered the Juggalos.

“Juggalo” is the self titled term for fans of the Insane Clown Posse. ICP is a band which I can only assume found themselves in a Producers-like plot to create the most universally repulsive band of all time. Somehow though, Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope’s blend of goth, punk and gangsta rap merged with their “dark carnival” shtick found a fiercely adoring audience in the Juggalos. Right now, they might be the most frequently parodied group on the Internet.

As I’ve written before, parody is proof that a subculture has gained legitimacy. (Without a definable lifestyle, what is there to parody?) With their nightmare inducing clown makeup, crude language, intentional or feigned ignorance (“F*cking magnets, how do they work?“) and penchant for Faygo soda, there are plenty of elements of Juggalo life to pick and choose from.

Recently, I’ve become aware of a larger number of Juggalo parodies as the group rises to meme-worthy Internet fame. I enjoyed hearing about the Insane Clown Posse Science Fair and I wrote in my Otaku Links last week about Cooking With Juggalos. The video above, Juggalo News, is one of my all time favorites.

Above: the original music video. Below: the fan parody.

You might think I like these parodies because I unconditionally hate Juggalos. If that’s the case, why did I once share a video poking fun at anime fans and Lolita style (when I love both)? I don’t think these parodies are done with malice against the group. They each have a nod to the original work.

And why not? Though Juggalos may have a bad reputation, there’s something in them that appeals to our base instincts. For example, very few of us can condone the Juggalos’ stoning of Tila Tequila, but how many of us weren’t secretly pleased about that? I mean, it’s Tila Tequila. Plus, its easy to relate to misunderstood subcultures — The Juggalos came together feeling like outsiders, and there’s not a single one of us that doesn’t relate to that feeling sometimes. And personally, I am constantly fascinated by the absurdity that there exists a musical group of rapping clowns.

When does parody stop being an appreciative gesture? I think that happens when the parodist is looking to get a negative reaction out of the original artist, also known as trolling. And the line is very blurry; while I’ve labeled the above videos and stunts as parody, the Insane Clown Posse didn’t think so. Not surprisingly, Violent J reacted… violently toward the Juggalo Science Fair. (On the other hand, he loved the Juggalo News video.) It’s all about a person’s individual sensitivity and sense of humor.

I’m hoping to have a Juggalo themed birthday party this year. I’ll ask my friends to wear clown makeup and read off of cheat sheets containing Juggalo key words and phrases. I don’t see this as any more insensitive than wearing Halloween costumes. Do you think it’s a funny idea or downright cruel? Your answer will reveal your personal beliefs about the boundary between parody and trolling.

Footnote: looks like the New York Times beat me to this article. Check our their oral history of ICP parodies, with comments by Shaggy 2 Dope, Violent J, and some of the parodists.

“How to Draw Anime Characters” via Geekosystem.

Rounding off my week of daily posting with super mega ultra links! The internet has been full of exciting things this week, so it’s been easy to find a lot to share.

1. If I lived in Los Angeles, I would visit the Echo Park Time Travel Mart daily for all my time traveling needs.

2. This man lives on a island which he made entirely out of plastic bottles.

3. How Firefly should have ended, according to Jewel Staite (aka Kaylee).

4. Always wanted to be in a cult, but have never been crazy enough? Now you can LARP (live action role play) like you’re in one:

LevelFive is a participatory performance focused on critically exploring self actualization seminars from the 1970′s. The LevelFive performance will loosely follow the structure of early Large Group Awareness Training sessions like Erhard Seminars Training.

5. It’s awesome Star Trek merchandise time! Who wants to buy me this Vulcan Salute Hoodie? Anyone? Well, how about this Star Trek themed urn for a couple decades down the road?

6. Contender for the sweetest game room award: a room accessible only by a secret bookcase passageway.

7. “Dude, you have no Quran.”

Via Geekosystem.

8. Street Fighter. The Musical.

9. I want to work in a rainbow office!

10. I don’t like packing (who does?) but I don’t know if I’d be able to travel around the world with no luggage like this guy. I’d rather be like the guy below and pack a month’s worth of clothes, clown-car style:

11. Does augmented reality cake taste different? Nope, but it looks cooler.

12. Making a game out of getting healthy. Hey, I blogged about this once!

13. What? The D&D Erotic Monster Manual, as envisioned by Something Awful goons. Least sexy thing with erotic in the title.

14. Lost World’s Fairs. The Atlantis section reminds me of Bioshock. (via kottke)

15. If you know me, you know about my obsession with juggalos. So you know that when I saw this Juggalo cooking show, some dark carnival shit went down. Warning: EXTREMELY NSFW language! (via The Daily What)