For me, it took years of hard work and that eventually lead me to knowing the right people.Altair_Specineff wrote:Annywayyy.... how did you get started doing what you do anyway? Luck? Hard work? Both?
See, I started out with the notion that I wanted to be a writer, eventually dropped that notion, become a journalist and then came full circle.
I have a tendency to ramble, so bare with me. I'll try and make this long evolution as short as possible.
Back in middle school, I used to write short stories that really clicked with people. It's the kind of stuff that I look back on fondly today, but cringe when I read it. Even so, at my school's end of the year Honors Day program, I was given a very special award by my English teacher for being the "Most Entertaining." And it's not because I was a class clown, it was because I would literally act out the voices when I'd read my stories to the class.
One thing you probably don't know about me is that I could have just as easily been a radio DJ. I was once at a radio promotion where they asked me to say something live and afterwards I was asked on the spot if I wanted a radio host. I turned them down due to school conflicts, but I'd love to get the chance to be a voice actor or do audiotapes. I have the vocal range for it (especially when it comes to doing cute little girl voices), but lack any formal training.
Anyway, back to original topic...
I continued to write new stories and revise stories I had already written. In high school, I joined the school paper and had my own column called "OMEGA'S RAMBLINGS" where I generally just wrote whatever the hell I wanted about TV and pop culture. Sure, I occasionally wrote some school related thing, but I was more the Newspaper's tech guy than chief reporter. I spent 2 years on the paper and had seniority to be the editor, but let a more capable underclassman have that job. It was just more fun being the tech guy and helping with the layout.
During the summer of 1997, I got into anime and became active in CompuServe's Anime/Manga Forum. I started up a short lived story group called the 'Circle of Friends' and got into making web sites. My first site was a personal one devoted to the group story we had going and as a way to showcase my short stories (I took all those down around the end of 1998).
My later efforts took the shape of a series of DC Comics fan sites devoted to such obscure characters as Rip Hunter, the Walker Gabriel Chronos and the Forgotten Heroes. All of those sites are still online, but are in desperate need of a grammatical overhaul (just no time!).
In mid-1998, I started my own e-mail e-zine called 'Digested Digest' devoted to rehashing news and cool bits I found on the net, writing my own reviews and spotlighting web sites. Through CompuServe's Anime/Manga Forum I had become good friends with Steve Diabo and I let him write a column for the e-zine. We really worked well together and decided to really make something of the e-zine. We changed the name to "Weekly Stuff E-Zine" and split it into two parts...a comic/tv portion and an anime/game portion. The whole operation ran for 29 consecutive weeks before we put the e-zine to rest.
Okay, here's where it gets cool...
Steve and I came up with this idea for an anime website called Animefringe. We started it out as a demo site in January 1999, but it took us a year to realize what we really wanted to do--a monthly anime magazine.
So, on January 1, 2000, we launched Animefringe: Online Anime Magazine. In April, our feature on import gaming got us noticed by Anipike and really helped our public awareness. In June, I wrote an in-depth and unbiased look at TOKYOPOP called The Unofficial History of MixxZine. This story got us noticed by the company and in the pre-manga boom it became the unofficial must-visit site for new hires at the company, but the biggest thing the story did was nab us Jake Forbes as a columnist.
At the time, Jake Forbes was an up-and-coming editor working on Sailor Moon and the other manga in SMILE. I remember talking to him once about wanting to get published and, I'll never forget this, he told me that I already was. It's easy to forget that having your work published online actually means it's published, but it is.
In January 2002, my friendship with Jake lead me to my first big industry break. He offered me the chance to do the rewrite on the Gundam 08th MS Technical Manual. Unfortunately, I had to turn him down. I simply hadn't seen all of the show yet and didn't feel I could do the book justice before the deadline. Just two weeks later, I was offered Love Hina.
TOKYOPOP was without someone to do the English Adaptation on Love Hina Vol. 2 and had a deadline staring them in the face. I had less than a week to figure not only get the character's voices in my head, but also figure out just what the heck is expected from a rewrite in the first place! Somehow, I pulled through under the enormous pressure and was able to do the entire series.
It's probably worth mentioning that at this point, I had graduated college with my Associates Degree and decided not to return, but I was working a full-time job at my local Sam Goody and another part-time job as the office manager at Gold's Gym. So, combined with my work on Animefringe, I now had FOUR jobs.
My fifth job followed that summer when I landed a position as an anime reviewer for Request Magazine (Musicland's now defunct Entertainment Weekly-esque magazine that you used to get for joining their Replay club). I got this job through shear force of will--I sent in a resume showcasing my work on Animefringe.
I would later get the chance to write for Wizard's Anime Insider and ToyFare in much the same way. Send in a resume and a few samples of your work...and wait for the editor to contact you. (In the case of Wizard, it was close to a six to nine month wait.)
Now, it's worth pointing out that I don't just write for Animefringe, I do its layout. Steve designed the site and I use his templates to code and layout the issues.
At one point in 2004, Jake Forbes has approached me to make a Sgt. Frog web site for TOKYOPOP, but the offer fell through. [Cool side story: Back in 2000, I wrote an article on Sgt. Frog for Animefringe and Jake kept asking me about the series. Finally, in the summer of 2002, I was out in California for AnimeExpo and I showed Jake a copy of Shonen Ace with the series in it and he made it his crusade to get it licensed. So, I played a part in that and that's why he offered me that site.]
Anyway, come September 2004, I get another web site offer and this time it's from Seven Seas Entertainment. I bring in Steve to help get things built and then take over with the daily up keep and here I am today!
Long story short, you've gotta start small and work your way up. Build your connections and your portfolio and generally just get your name out there.
If you wanna be a writer, then write until the cows come home. I'm still far from perfect and make mistakes, but it's all about putting your best foot forward through your portfolio.
If art is your thing, then be sure to check out DeviantArt, Pseudome Studio's Forums and our own Creator's Corner.
