Perhaps years of journalism have made me a skeptic. I didn’t honestly believe otaku journalists could devote themselves to ANY topic they chose. Simply because, through a mixture of priorities and chance, I haven’t made a career out of purely anime journalism.
But I was proven wrong. Again and again. And to be honest? I want my readers to keep telling me I’m wrong, and that otaku journalists can fight the odds to find success in whatever subject they want to report on.
That was why I was happy to hear from Chang last week. A longtime reader from Georgia, Chang told me he’s read “every piece of advice [I’ve] written” on this blog. I’ve actually written about him on the blog before, anonymously, answering one of his questions to me.
This time, however, Chang had a story for me. Or as he put it, “a progress report on how my path as an otaku journalist has been going:”
“I started on this path by applying to a website when I saw an ad that said they were hiring. It was a website I had frequented for years, and would have loved to be a part of. At the time I had ZERO experience as a journalist, much less an otaku journalist. I wasn’t accepted, and that was about 9 months ago.
“So from there, I started applying to different sites to gather experience for the next time I could apply. I worked for about 4 different websites, kept up my blog, wrote a multitude of articles, interviewed an overseas artist, and attended industry and guest panels for the sake of journalism. All of this was to go back to that site one day, and say, “Look at all this experience! How can you not hire me?!” It’s kind of like one of those corny villains that swear revenge when being defeated by the main character. I put in a lot of hard work, and your advice and website definitely gave me encouragement and the knowledge I needed to move on.
“The website I applied to before was hiring just this month, and I applied once again. That time around I had a good feeling. I felt that I put in a lot of effort compared to the other people that may have applied. I applied and got a reply from them within a day.
“They scheduled an interview a couple of days later. My first interview months ago had me as a nervous wreck, but this time around I felt really calm throughout the whole thing, which surprised me). After the interview was done, I thought that I’d have to wait a couple of weeks to get a reply from them. Surprisingly, I got a reply from them within a few hours and was hired! I was really ecstatic because all my effort really paid off!
“After 9 months, I finally got my first paid gig, and I actually got accepted by a website I really admired! During the interview, they seemed surprised by how much experience I gained during the time since I had last applied, and I thought that this must’ve been the deciding factor. Without a doubt, I am really glad I got into this line of work. Though journalism isn’t my major or main career path, I do hope to continue this work. After all, how could I not love writing about my favorite things in the world?”
As one of my favorite teachers, Alexandra Franzen, puts it, making your dreams come true isn’t rocket science. It’s doing what Chang did and working your butt off for them.
It was nothing more than a demonstrated history of hard work that got Chang his first paying gig. It’s not luck. It’s not being somehow “better” than other people. So let me ask you: what are you doing today to make your dreams a reality tomorrow?
Screenshot from Engaged to the Unidentifed of Niko, my current favorite anime journalist. Can’t vouch for her ethics, but I love her spirit!
6 Comments.
Funny how I’ve been doing all of that for a while. I’ve gone to panels, interviewed Japanese music artists/seiyuu, and wrote about them all for other outlets. Maybe I was applying to the wrong jobs or have the wrong skill set.
I recall writing for the most popular fighting game website, Shoryuken.com, and I felt it was like the most awesome thing ever. It was a trial period to see which people would stay and be paid contributors. Then I got into disagreements with my editor and it snowballed. I also had no experience being involved with fighting game tournaments. The only reason I got accepted for the trial period was the strength of my writing.
I also think it didn’t help that I realized I wasn’t that interested in a majority of fighting games in the first place. I mostly was interested in the characters and stories themselves (which really aren’t the attractions), not the game mechanics. There’s also the whole idea that if you don’t play fighting games regularly, you’re not considered a part of the FGC. Similar to anime elitists, no?
I remember pitching an article about how fighting games can improve one’s life. Editor shot it down saying that “our readers don’t come for life advice.” A few months later after I left, the site posted a link from another site one on how fighting games can improve one’s life. It was the biggest “WTF!?” to my face. I rather they trust it on the hands of someone who’s an actual fighting game pro.
Anyway, I’m happy that he managed to get a paid gig. There seems to be a bunch of sites that want writers for free. People talk about how HuffPost abuses the process. Though I’m certain he can do more than just write. Writing is only half the battle as evident as this article: http://pattheflip.tumblr.com/post/72155350790/on-working-as-a-games-writer-critic-whatever
It makes me wonder if we’re really better at marketing others than ourselves.
@Tony, I really get you. Hard work is 90% of getting started in journalism, but there’s also that element of luck. We can’t control it, but we can make ourselves luckier by trying again and again and giving luck more opportunities to come to us. Does that make sense?
Sounds like that editor really wasn’t a good fit for you though, so I’m glad you moved on. That’s hilarious how he totally ditched your pitch and then later realized it was a good idea. You don’t want to work for somebody like that anyway!
I completely agree – we are better at marketing other people and ourselves. This is really corny, but try to think about yourself the way you might describe your best friend. Sure, she’s not perfect, but you gloss over the negatives because you love her. In the same way, your online brand is supposed to be a better version of yourself. And if that’s still tough, ask YOUR best friends to tell you what they love most about you for ideas. Oh god this just keeps getting cornier.
Great story! Good luck to you Chang, I’m sure you’ll do fine in your future endeavours with such an inspiring work ethic :). As I said on Twitter: Nice display of how hard work and never giving up really pays off, both from him and you (Lauren) :)
Thanks so much (to Lauren too)! Honestly, I thought that getting into otaku journalism would be pretty easy, but WOW the work had me overwhelmed. I’m just glad I’m a few steps ahead of where I was before.
This is inspiring. I have been putting a lot of effort into writing reviews for my blog, but I am still very new to this. I have been looking up a lot of information and tips for blogging, following absolutely every guide I see, and I am thankful for any bit of feedback I receive that can help me improve my blog.
The guides I’ve found have especially been useful. Doing as they say, I’ve spent many hours social networking on websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, posting on forums and other blogs, and even made my own forums page. Since I’ve started doing that, I have been starting to get 100+ pageviews consistently every day!
It may not seem like much yet, but every step I take makes me feel happy and inspires me to keep reaching for my goals. I am sure that I’ll be bringing in thousands of pageviews someday if I keep trying. ^^
Even if my blog never becomes successful, I feel that I have had a great experience and that this blog will be a wonderful memory of mine, so there is really no downside to it.
Good job, Chang. It’s good to see things like these. Good luck to your upcoming endeavors.
Also, as much as I would like to like Niko, I’d pick Ranko Hata (Seitokai Yakuindomo*) more. Can’t vouch for her ethics as well, but if someone made a doujin of these two that’d be great.