Carol Pinczewski has written approximately 2,000 articles on geek culture for outlets such as Forbes.com, Playboy.com, and Syfy.com. Over the past two decades, she has seen fantasy and her science fiction grow from a niche interest to a huge cultural force.
“There was a time when we knew everything there was to know about geek culture because it was contained in several areas,” Pinchevsky said in episode 504 of Geek Culture. He spoke at A geek's guide to the galaxy Podcast. “But now it's so popular that it's a little overwhelming. I can't really keep up. That makes me sad, but it's also incredibly exciting.”
As a freelancer, Pinchewski knows firsthand how difficult it is for sci-fi geeks to make a living doing what they love. “The market is hot for geek writers, but it's not as lucrative as I would like,” she says. She wrote an article about “So, what I've been doing lately is using geek references in business documents.''Doctor Who I have written articles on “Security and Change Management'' and “Security and Change Management''. Star Wars: Rogue One” I wrote.game of thrones and project management.That's why you can become an otaku and get money “
Pinchevsky's first book, Turn your fandom into cashteaches geeks how to monetize their hobby without incurring the wrath of their favorite creators. “When I went to New York Comic Con and looked around the dealer room and saw tens of thousands of dollars (if not hundreds of thousands of dollars) being exchanged every hour, I was like, 'Wow, this has potential. 'There is a high possibility of intellectual property infringement,''' Pinchevsky said. “That's why we wanted to write a guide to help people respect intellectual property laws while doing what they love.”
For this book, Pinchevsky interviewed dozens of writers, artists, cosplayers, convention organizers, and business owners. She says the biggest weapon a geek has in her arsenal is a supportive community of her fellow fans. “The idea that solopreneurs are going out into the world and paving the way is completely false,” she says. “You're going to need help, and you're going to get help, too, because you're surrounded by people, friends, community, and we tend to help each other.”
Listen to the full interview with Carol Pinczewski on episode 504 of . A geek's guide to the galaxy (On top of that). See discussion highlights below.
Carol Pinczewski talks about growing up as a geek:
I grew up in Bergen County, New Jersey. I was smart, I was small, and I had no athletic ability. I was wearing big glasses. Even though I had “big glasses,” my family couldn't afford new ones, so I borrowed my mother's glasses. It was so big against my face. I guess I was always bullied and didn't make it easy on myself, but I was always the girl who would raise my hand whenever I had a question because I always knew the answer. School was so easy for me that I almost slept through it. I didn't interact with anyone. Looking back, if I had been a little more self-aware, I would have tried to get other people on board and said, “Okay, let's talk about the book.” But instead I kept defending myself, which made me a target.
carol pinczewski strange story:
I worked as an editorial assistant for Darrell Schweitzer and George Scissors, which was a great experience. I received a lot of interesting emails… [In one story] An old woman was sitting in a chair, and suddenly a man jumped out and stabbed her. end. I read the envelope, but I couldn't find the return address. I said, “Well, this is very strange,” and someone said, “How can that be?” So I said, “Oh, a guy jumped out and stabbed his mother and I don't have the address.” Then the man said, “Oh, that's the man.” He is a prisoner and every week he sends a story, a variation of a man suddenly murdering an older woman, usually her mother. Sometimes there is fenestration, sometimes there is decapitation, but there is always murder, and it is always a woman. ” And I said, “Not only am I not going to write a rejection letter, I’m going to make sure I check it out.” your Darrell's name appears on the rejection letter. ”
Carol Pinczewski on the road:
[My husband] He's from the UK and I'm from the US, so we racked up all the air miles during our courtship. So we had enough air miles to go to Japan during our honeymoon. I went to a shrine in Kyoto. You need to choose your fortune. Pick up the stick and hand it to the man behind the counter and he will find the fortune for you. My fortune told me that I would be blessed with good fortune, but that I would lose things. And when luck struck Peter, he was told that he had great luck and that he would find what he had lost. The man was reading this in Japanese and just started laughing. It seems like our destinies were pretty intertwined and I think I managed to make his day.
About Carol Pinczewski's intellectual property:
I met someone who was licensed to write role-playing games, but he had zero experience.He kindly let me use his his IP application [in the book]. He just wrote what the company wanted, and after years of hounding, the company finally said yes.It was for a video game called elite— that was the ’80s version — and now the modern version. Elite: Dangerous. And he was able to get his IP license that way… Another person signed up for his IP license at his expo. I never got to meet her, but just because she registered, her name was on the creator's list and someone found her. And now she has licensed her IP for an upcoming TV show.
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