This probably isn’t the first time you’ve seen a review for Boomslank‘s otaku-catnip t-shirt line.

Boomslank’s marketing tactics would make my SEO expert proud:

1) Pick a nonsense name that nobody else has and trademark it.
2) Send free t-shirts for review to every anime blogger you can find.

Now, any Google search for “Boomslank” leads to nothing but happy bloggers and their positive reviews, because everyone loves free stuff.

Obviously, I’m not exception. Let this be my statement of transparency: I’m reviewing this company in exchange for a free t-shirt. But before I agreed to that deal, I made sure to do my homework. I wouldn’t be recommending a shirt from a company I couldn’t get behind.

Boomslank is an independent “anime clothing line” out of Raleigh, North Carolina. It’s run by three brothers, the youngest of whom designs the shirt graphics. While the designs are anime inspired, each one is original. The one thing I couldn’t figure out was why Boomslank needed a review from a small time blogger like me—they have 30,000 Facebook fans.

The thing I liked most about Boomslank was its women-friendly designs. Not just the fact that it carries women’s sizes, something my feminist t-shirt article concluded that any geek company or convention can do easily. These shirts go above and beyond because their graphics are neither obscured by nor designed to highlight a woman’s chest.

I picked the Pisces design, currently the shop’s fourth best-seller. I may be curvy, but both the design and cut of the shirt mean my figure doesn’t warp or hide the image very much. In the photo, I still am stretching out the t-shirt to show off the design as much as possible.

As you can see, the cherry blossoms have reached their peak here in the DC area. John took these photos of me after the rain, and the wind must have shaken the blossoms right off the trees. It’s too early for this pond to be filled for the summer, but it’s already filled with petals.

Thank you so much to everyone who left a comment on my good news giveaway! I was so touched by the things you all wrote, but I didn’t want to comment back and accidentally enter myself in the giveaway twenty or so times. But now that it’s time to reveal the winners, I’ll be replying tonight.

Congratulations to…

Comment numbers 15, 18 and 24: Patrick James Moylan, Nick, and Kristina!

Please email me your addresses ASAP and I’ll send your DVDs right along. Thanks to everyone for entering and making this my most popular giveaway yet. Maybe it’ll inspire FUNimation to send me some more swag!

Maybe you’ve heard. I got a new job and journalism is not just my side project anymore. I’m enormously happy about everything that’s happened and I want to share my happiness with you. What better way to do that than a giveaway?

I’ve got three special edition DVD sets of Summer Wars to give out. With metallic details on the cover and 4 premium art cards included, they’re nicer than the copy of Summer Wars I bought for myself! These come brand new from Funimation.

Here’s a shot of the copies:

I’ve been sitting on these for a while but I think this is the occasion to give them away.

To enter, first be sure that you can view North American DVDs in your region. I don’t mind shipping abroad, but it’s not worth it if you can’t watch them. Next, leave a comment on this post before Monday, July 18. That’s it. Good luck!

Congratulations to number 11, Anji Savage! Anji, please send your address to Mara K. in an email so she can send you your prize.

As usual, this drawing was done on Random.org. We removed myself and Mara from the list of people who “liked” the Facebook page first, of course.

If you didn’t win, don’t despair! You can still use the code “otakudeal” to get 15 percent off your Supermeow! order. But hurry, the deal ends on July 12.

Mara K. is one multitalented lady. Not only did she code my website redesign, but she is also a remarkable blogger and graphic designer over at Supermeow! and the Supermeow! Shop. Her creations, inspired by the likes of Solid Snake and Sailor Moon, are right up my alley. And I have a feeling that they might be right up yours, too.

That’s why I am so, so happy that Mara is letting me host a giveaway on Otaku Journalist. One lucky winner will get a Supermeow! gift basket in which Mara is generously including:

Two button six-packs, the transformation brooch button, both Snake buttons and a MYSTERY FUN GIFT to be disclosed! Plus, $14 will be donated in the winner’s name to architecture for humanity.

In order to be eligible to win this package, all you need to do is “like” Supermeow! on Facebook and leave a comment on the page. You have until next Monday, July 4 to enter. After that, I’ll announce the winner here.

See something right away in the shop that you just have to have? In that case, you don’t need to wait. Simply type in the code “otakudeal” at checkout in order to get 15% off your entire order.

But just who is this Mara K. and what is this Supermeow! shop? Like a good journalist, I’ve asked her all the tough questions, like how she went from dream to shop reality and what exactly makes her the authority on Solid Snake’s musical tastes. This interview is also a must-read if you’ve ever wondered about selling at an anime convention’s Artist Alley.

Q. What sparked the idea for the Supermeow! shop?

A. Well, I’ve always wanted to have my own store. When I was younger, my mother and I would daydream about opening up our own toy store. We’d talk about how it would be decorated, the sorts of things we would sell, the way dolls would be displayed, all that stuff. As you’re well aware, the face of retail (especially where toys are concerned) has changed a lot, so much so that the idea of a brick-and-mortar retail shop is a really risky undertaking where you stand to lose a lot more than if you open up a shop online. The idea of a toy shop is still somewhat appealing to me, but it’s not something that I’m in a big rush to go out and try. Still, that doesn’t mean I don’t like the idea of being my own boss or a world in which I can generate income by making my own stuff. Anyhow, the idea of the Supermeow! Shop came from me having a blog that I’d love to share with a wider audience (well, and for me to feel more motivated to write for, ha ha) and also from having a bunch of stuff left over from my Artists’ Alley booth at Anime Boston 2011. I gotta unload that stuff somehow!

Q. Where do you get your creative inspiration?

A. It comes from everywhere: from my friends, from stuff that I find on the internet, from TV and film, or maybe I’ll just see something for sale in a store and think “Oh, wouldn’t it be neat to have that, but to have it do x or say y or look more like z instead!” The idea to do buttons came from my BFF Prairie. She was making buttons for her soccer fandom stuff, and she’s the one who steered me towards the guys that I have make all of my buttons (Busy Beaver Button Co. in Chicago, IL).  I really like seeing very thoughtful design work that is able to play on the method of delivery along with the design – that’s really what you should be doing as a designer anyhow. There’s some really brilliant work that’s so simple and obvious and executed so well, and while I don’t think I’ve come up with any creative engineering beyond “Oh, a 1-inch square button, that will suit itself well to Solid Snake’s cardboard box,” I’d love to have a moment of genius like The Big O, where you can produce a work that has so many clear and obvious influences but still manages to be something really unique and original (I’m also a big fan of The Big O).

Q. This year, you sold your work at the Anime Boston Artist’s Alley. Any suggestions for crafters interested in selling their wares at anime conventions?

A. The best thing that I think that I could have done as a first-timer was to pay attention to artists’ alley veterans talking about what sorts of things that they’d learned! There’s a forum on the Anime Boston website where you can ask questions and a lively, helpful group of vets will happily answer them! From them, I learned about the importance of having a tablecloth, a good set-up, and I also learned about the Square card reader, which is probably the coolest thing ever. It’s this tiny card reader that you can plug into a smart phone (or in my case, an iPad) and you can run credit cards for a very reasonable fee per transaction, and then have the monies deposited into a bank account of your choosing! It’s slightly more expensive than PayPal but the buy-in is the novelty of being able to swipe cards and the convenience for your customer (though I think most people are still ready to deal in cash when they’re in the alley).

Although I tried my best to interpret the advice of the artists talking about their setups, the next time I do this, I plan to have more people comment on and critique my display set-up BEFORE I take things to the selling floor.  I’d bought some cute desk accessories at Marshall’s to use for displaying my buttons and prints. I really wanted to have an appealing and feminine setup, but what looked great at the store and at home turned out to be a little impractical. The plastic picture holders that I’d bought were useless – I’m going to invest in metal picture holders next year. I’m also going to steal an idea from my neighbor Shelli Paroline and maybe have things mounted to a piece of clear plexiglass so that people can point out the things that they’re interested in—I imagine that’s a good idea for preventing shrinkage because l also learned that maybe you don’t put out too much stuff, either.

I did a thorough inventory after the convention and found that I was missing four button packs (two of each kind) that hadn’t been set aside or otherwise accounted for elsewhere. It’s particularly disheartening because I’d promised to donate ALL of the money that I received for those buttons to Architecture for Humanity’s Sendai, Japan rebuilding efforts. I’m not making any money at all from those buttons and I also signed an agreement with the charity stating that I wasn’t going to be deducting the button sale monies from my income taxes, so it’s not even like I can write this off as an itemized deduction for a charitable donation – the people buying the buttons are the ones making the donations. The back of each button says “I Helped People in Japan by Buying This Button,” rather ironic for the person who got those buttons as ill-gotten gain. In my most naive of dreams, the person who swiped those buttons will see this and make a donation to Architecture for Humanity to make this right.

Q. Any exciting new creations coming to your shop sometime soon?

A. Right now, I’m working on earrings. Specifically, I’m making a couple of interpretations of Sailor Jupiter’s earrings. They could be cosplay items or everyday items and they’ll be for pierced ears. The first batch got a little messed up – I’d bought earring posts made of some crappy base metal and I realized that if I wouldn’t wear crappy base metal posts (I’ve been prone to infections in the past), how could I sell something that has crummy base-metal posts? I ordered some surgical stainless steel posts, but in my zeal, I’d already made earrings with the crappy posts. I removed the crummy posts, but then there was still a bunch of glue left on the decorative parts of the earrings, etc. etc. etc. They’ll be pretty limited in number. I really want to make t-shirts or screen-printed posters – I just bought a screen printing kit, but I haven’t even taken it out of the package yet. I’ve got some other ideas, and I’d like to make some more sets of magnetic Sailor Moon paper dolls, but the problem with those is that I haven’t yet found a cheap source of bulk magnetic paper and the machine that I use for cutting those out is being a little temperamental (or I still haven’t gotten the hang of it – it’s a Silhouette SD). For now, I’m more concerned with trying to spread the word about the things that I have for sale.

Q. Finally, just how do you know what Solid Snake’s favorite band is? I’m referring to one of the items in your shop.

So, my husband and I have a really long commute to and from work. This leads to a lot of really inane conversation. Because we are nerds, the topic was somehow brought up about Solid Snake and how he seemed like a guy who would like a band like Cheap Trick. I mean, most people have some sentimental feelings towards the band they liked most in high school, right? Snake would have been a teenager in the 1980s, and Cheap Trick was popular, they’re a highly influential act for other musicians— wouldn’t that be a logical choice? Neither one of us are Cheap Trick fans, or not huge fans, but now I actually do own one of their Greatest Hits collections. It was something that we thought was really stupid and really funny and I decided that I needed to launch some sort of campaign to get people to understand and accept this as a little-known fact about Solid Snake, our Greatest Fictional American.

And there you have it! If you haven’t already liked Supermeow! on Facebook and left a comment, what’s keeping you? Also, if you want to keep up on Mara news, be sure to check out her blog or follow her on Twitter. Do me a favor and tell her to get more magnetic Sailor Moon paper dolls in the shop — they’re my favorite Supermeow! item.

Congratulations to Charles and Crimm, comments nine and one!

As usual, I selected the winners by putting all the numbers of entrants’ comments on the giveaway post into a random number generator. Though I’m happy for them, the fact that I know both of the winners had nothing to do with this completely random selection.

Charles and Crimm, be sure to email me your mailing addresses and I’ll send you each your book this week. I use USPS ground shipping so definitely let me know when you receive it!

Everyone else: thanks for entering and bringing awareness to Steven Savage’s fantastic book. Even if you didn’t win, you can pick up his book on Amazon for only $13.45 for the paperback copy and only $5.99 for the Kindle e-book.

I’ve realized from these comments that a lot of us want to make our hobbies part of our careers. This has inspired me to start a set of posts in July about geek industry related careers. I’ve already got a few surprises lined up but I don’t want to press my luck by sharing them too soon. Just remember: you, me, July, geek jobs. Watch for it!

I can’t believe that it’s been only six months since I first learned about Steven Savage. He’s the man behind Fan to Pro, a blog that promotes his signature idea that fans can use their fandom to find and create jobs they are passionate about. In other words, he believes that anyone with passion can become a professional geek! A prolific writer, he has self published three books and is currently working on a fourth.

I had never heard of Steven last November when I was idly browsing my “Recommended For You” list in the Kindle Store. It was in the midst of my job search, so aside from the academic anime studies I’d been reading, I was also reading several books on careers. On this particular day, the book at the very top of my list of suggestions was Fan to Pro: Unlocking Career Insights With Your Hobbies. I bought it and devoured it in days.

Before I read Fan to Pro, I kept quiet about my interests on the job search front. I didn’t want to scare any of my employers away with my geekiness. But after this book, I began to relax a bit. In fact, would you believe that this blog helped me get the job I have now? I started including a link to my blog when I sent out my resume. Amazingly, my current boss clicked and was impressed with the site design and the infographic roundups I sometimes feature. My passions let her know that I would do a good job. Basically, you could say this book helped me get employed. I think it should be recommended for geeks looking for a career or a career change everywhere.

One thing I love about Steven’s books is that he centers each one around an easy to recall acronym, and Fan to Pro is no different. In this book, he reminds us about our special qualities as fans with the memorable PEAK: Passion, Experience, Access, and Knowledge. Steven himself thinks these anagrams are a bit silly, but I think they’re vital: How else could I have remembered this message months after reading it?

Steven’s no-nonsense writing style makes it easy to apply the tenants to your own life. My favorite parts are the exercises at the end of each chapter. It’s easy enough to read a book, but completing his checklists help you internalize the message.

Now here’s the best part: I am giving away two paperback copies of Steven’s book, Fan to Pro. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post about why you want the book. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the United States or international, anybody can enter.

I’ll choose the winners with a random number generator announce the results one week from today. Good luck!

Congratulations to tweet number 5, @thesotaku (Summer Wars) and tweet number 7, @lord_jagganath (Super Gals!)!

In order to pick the winners, I counted the number of entries for each prize (13 for Super Gals! and 21 for Summer Wars) and generated random numbers. I assumed 1 to equal the first person to tweet for each prize.

@thesotaku and @lord_jagganath, please send me your mailing addresses via email. If you do not send me your address in a week, I will choose a new winner.

Thanks everyone for entering! I truly hope you all get a chance to win something from one of my giveaways in the future.

It’s been a while since I’ve given away any anime around here, and right now I have two different things to give away — Summer Wars and Super Gals!

Summer Wars is an advance copy for critics, so it will arrive in a blank, clear CD case, and only comes in dubbed. Super Gals!, on the other hand, is the complete box set from Rightstuf just like you’d get at the store.

Still interested? Here’s how to enter. Just tweet out one of the two following codes:

• I’ve entered @otakujournalist’s giveaway to win Summer Wars here http://bit.ly/9vfUJU
• I’ve entered @otakujournalist’s giveaway to win Super Gals! here http://bit.ly/9vfUJU

Yes, you may enter to win both by tweeting out both codes. I’ll announce a winner next week. As always, I will assign a number to each entry in order of submission.

Good luck!

This week, Broke Otaku’s got your holiday anime and game shopping covered!

With the holidays coming up, it gets very hectic and stressful looking for and especially PAYING for gifts for everyone. Hopefully these deals will make is a little easier on you.

Anime

• Right Stuf is running their annual 12 Days of Anime sale. There’s a new set of deals every day, but you can go back to the previous days deals at any time. I’ve listed them all here for your convenience. The last day is December 13th, so decide quickly!
• Save 56% or more on anime from Amazon. There’s lots of S.A.V.E. bundles for under $15, like Beck, Tokyo Majin, Moeyo Ken, and lots more!
• Use Coupon Code “25MORE” to get 25% off DVDs at DeepDiscount.
• Looking for a low prices Anime gift? Check out the under $10 section at Amazon.

**Christmas is right around the corner, so make sure you get your free Amazon Prime for being a student or parent to get free 2 day shipping.

Video Games

• Amazon has great video deals every day, so it’s best to follow @brokeotaku for all the best deals so you don’t miss out.
• Amazon’s 17 days of video games is going until 12/16. There’s a new set of video game deals every day, so check back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day…
• Buy 1 get 1 50% off video games and accessories going on right now at Amazon and Toys R Us.
• Microsoft’s Games for Windows is having daily $0.99 games on sale for their service. Just install the Games for Windows LIVE app and check back daily. Today’s deal: Max Payne 2.
• Also, if you’re an Xbox LIVE member, sign up for Xbox rewards to get free MS Points for doing stuff you would probably do anyway.
• Walmart has some decent games for under $20. Some are sold out, but there are a few still available online, or you can take your chances in the store. I tend to avoid Walmart stores, myself.

That’s all for this week. Good luck and Happy Shopping Time!

—Broke Otaku (~￣▽￣)~