Cat in the Hat
Member
STEP 1: Most game journalist here don't use anime avatars, due to credibility concerns.
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Game journalism-age: being in-between jobs is not fun :(
- Thread starter JSnake
- Start date
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Andronicus
Banned
oneHeero said:
didnt Geoff Keighley start when he was like 12 or 14 or some shit
Circle Jerk
Member
Well that's kinda stupid but go for it buddy!oneHeero said:
OmniAvenger
Member
Completely agree with this. Plus, most of the small gaming websites have just churned through the 4th Quarter and are probably simply burned out with little to nothing to review. Come up with something original, shop around a feature.
pancakesandsex
Member
http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/imgad?id=CKmat7vlnKjelgEQ2AUYTzIIlD9L3OcN8jM
bah, didn't work, was an ironic ad though
bah, didn't work, was an ironic ad though
tr1n1scourge
Banned
OP, go to college, join a frat, bang some chicks, spend days in a drunk stupor, barely scrape by to get your degree, ask your parents for some money to help you get grounded, move in to your own apartment, get a 'real' job, marry one of the chicks you banged, have a couple kids, lose said job, be too proud to ask your parents for money, ask some frat buddies for some cash only to realize that they weren't your real friends to begin with, be on your last leg with nowhere left to turn, THEN come back and repost this thread in 10 years. Maybe then GAF will show you sympathy.
See ya in ten years!!
Cat in the Hat
Member
STEP 2: Go to college. Once you've smoked enough pot to make Bob Marley look like D.A.R.E. officer, you'll know your almost ready
Segata Sanshiro
Member
Pat Klepek started young, too. Guys that started that young took razzing from all corners and suffered constant questioning of their credibility. They succeeded in spite of their age, not because of it, and they succeeded because all three of those guys were consummate professionals in all aspects.JSnake said:
Sadly, the difference in professional behaviour in public realms between you and those guys is as wide and deep as the Pacific Ocean, man.
The biggest barrier for most people in hiring someone as young as you is the worry about whether or not they can conduct themselves as professionals. You say the way you act on GAF isn't how you act with employers, but you fail to realize that many of your potential employers are members of GAF or read GAF, along with other forums you may or may not take part in. Even the ones that don't are perfectly willing and capable to do a Google search.
In short, you've got to stop acting like a forum retard as you tend to from time to time. I guarantee it's getting you tossed out of Rolodexes. Absolutely guarantee it.
If you like writing about games because you like writing about games, then
1) Blog
2) Go to college
3) Keep writing
4) Get a degree and look for full-time work
The fact that nobody's paying you right now shouldn't be your concern. Having a large body of work to cite should be, and having the skills to cut it as a writer should be your goal right now. Just keep writing and get an education.
1) Blog
2) Go to college
3) Keep writing
4) Get a degree and look for full-time work
The fact that nobody's paying you right now shouldn't be your concern. Having a large body of work to cite should be, and having the skills to cut it as a writer should be your goal right now. Just keep writing and get an education.
Circle Jerk
Member
I'm not bashing him for his age, I'm more bashing the industry itself. I'm not hating on it, so much as saying it's hard to take something seriously when people with no formal education are getting paying jobs in it. I'm not a fan of it, although I understand that's how it works.Gazunta said:
I initially just read the thread title and was sad because I assumed the OP was a video game journalist in his 30's or something with a wife and kids who had just lost his job because of cut backs,etc.
Then I saw it was just JSnake.
Then I saw it was just JSnake.
nakedsushi
Member
That's weird, I regularly read Siliconera, but I have no idea who you are. What name do you go under on SE?
If you really are more interested in building a career than you are in making money, you shouldn't have trouble getting work. There are hundreds of video game sites you could write for. Think of a few good features and pitch them around to everyone. Contact websites that, say, don't have anyone doing iPhone games and tell them you'll review them for free. Take the jobs seriously, behave professionally, and after a few months of doing free work tell them you're going to need to get paid if they want you to continue. Start at small sites, make contacts, work your way up.
evil solrac v3.0
Member
a 16 year old... you got a whole bunch of more experienced writers out looking for work too. get a life first (I dont mean that in a mean way) live life a litle first....
PantherLotus
Professional Schmuck
Wanna write about game sales and industry news?
pro_gamer666
Banned
PantherLotus said:
I wouldn't mind.
RadarScope1
Member
I clicked the thread topic. Read a couple posts. Clicked the OP's tag. Went right back to where I was. :lol
PantherLotus
Professional Schmuck
^ Yeah, no. Maturity required. Kids can stay in the comments section.
I assume you're joking, but for those that don't get it, I have, and he does contribute.
and the comma goes inside the quote
schuelma said:
I assume you're joking, but for those that don't get it, I have, and he does contribute.
Kiddo, you're not a journalist if you've been writing "news articles" for Web sites since you were 14. Either gain experience by doing real journalism for a real news organization for several years or receive formal training at a university. Preferably both. Then you can call yourself a journalist.
Doc Lobster
Member
The worst thing you can do is start a self-indulgent blog that only you contribute to. Do anything but that, please.
platypotamus
Member
Fuck, what were you guys all doing at 16? The kid's actually making an effort to pursue what he wants to do with his life, which is a lot more than I can say. I didn't become a game journalist until 18, and that was purely through a stroke of luck after I entered college. Thread needs more advice posts like Gazunta's.
Here's some further advice JSnake:
If you are trying to get a gig with companies, maybe try pitching them something specific. " I noticed that you guys don't really have much coverage on ________ (indie games maybe), and feel that I would make a great go-to guy for that type of content. I've attached a couple short writing samples that focus on that area. Naturally, I'd be willing and able to cover whatever you needed..."
Here's some further advice JSnake:
If you are trying to get a gig with companies, maybe try pitching them something specific. " I noticed that you guys don't really have much coverage on ________ (indie games maybe), and feel that I would make a great go-to guy for that type of content. I've attached a couple short writing samples that focus on that area. Naturally, I'd be willing and able to cover whatever you needed..."
Didn't you try and get somebody from the Virtual Console thread to write a review for you?
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10817203&postcount=20938
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10817203&postcount=20938
JSnake said:
Oxx said:
yeeeeaaah, not one of my brightest moments. oh well, live and learn right?
to be fair though, that was eons ago. I think I was still writing for my first publication. I've never done anything of the sort again though. in fact, I proceeded to cough up the $8 after that post and write a review myself.
pro_gamer666
Banned
JSnake said:yeeeeaaah, not one of my brightest moments. oh well, live and learn right?
to be fair though, that was eons ago. I think I was still writing for my first publication.
Lol...
Segata Sanshiro
Member
That was less than a year ago, man. Seriously. When I was an EiC, if my Lycos search turned up results like what I've seen you do around here, that'd be the end of you right then and there.JSnake said:yeeeeaaah, not one of my brightest moments. oh well, live and learn right?
to be fair though, that was eons ago. I think I was still writing for my first publication.
There's lots of good advice in this thread, but mark my words, all of it is for naught if you can't pull yourself together or keep your forum persona unidentifiable from your real name.
I think people are more annoyed about him saying he's "in-between jobs" like his livelihood is at stake when all that happened is he lost a part-time remote writing job while in high school living off his parents.platypotamus said:
Hell, he's not even in college yet and really has no financial needs at this point in his life. There are lots of people out there actually losing their full time jobs in the industry.
the year 20XX
Member
Start your own site or find another fan-type site that writes the kind of stuff you like and get in on it. Start a site with a friend whose interests and writing style complement yours. If you can't do design/HTML, find someone who can. No doubt someone on GAF would love to get in on such a thing.
It is entirely possible to get a reasonable amount of notice from your work on an 'amateur' site. It's just important to have an angle/focus other than 'general gaming' since you won't be able to keep up with the huge, well-staffed sites.
It is entirely possible to get a reasonable amount of notice from your work on an 'amateur' site. It's just important to have an angle/focus other than 'general gaming' since you won't be able to keep up with the huge, well-staffed sites.
arne said:
Yeah, but you were with MS first, right? I'm assuming that somewhere along the lines you crossed paths with someone or something... or whatever... I mean, someone sees that and it's instant credibility (especially compared to, say, writing for a publication no one has heard of or a "hikeschool" paper.)
If I were you (JS), I'd use this lull in work to send an updated resume and samples to various publications. And not just big-name gaming pubs either, but any outlet... Games are becoming casual, right? So start hitting up every editor you know, regardless of the publication they're apart of...
...hell, I think I'll follow my own advice.
Firestorm said:
Are you speaking from experience? You're in Canada, right?
Nester
Member
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Go here: http://holeinthewallhosting.com/
Setup hosting for $10 a year. 400MB of space, 20GB a month of Bandwidth per month. Host videos and podcasts if you make them offsite at many of the sites that offer those services free to conserve your own bandwidth. Should be plenty for an upstart site.
Go here: http://www.godaddy.com/default.aspx
Get a domain for less than $10 a year. There's always plenty of coupon codes out there for a couple bucks off a .com domain. Pick something good.
Now setup a site. cPanel has plenty of auto-installation of content management systems from something as simple as Wordpress on up. Take some time to customize it to look good and make it your own.
Go from there. Write stuff. If you start to outgrow your hosting plan, there's plenty of stuff out there for not much more to merge to once you start to get larger. Get advertising on the site to help cover costs if you need to.
If you fail, well then you're only out $20. If you do good, maybe you won't need to pay for your own hosting anymore and you'll get it covered by advertising or picked up by someone that notices you.
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