Today we have the pleasure of introducing you to Lauren Orsini, an esteemed author and anime journalist who has made a significant impact in the world of otaku culture. With her insightful writings and expertise, she has become a trusted voice for fellow otaku enthusiasts and aspiring anime bloggers alike.

Lauren is the author of the blog Otaku Journalist, where she shares her experiences, observations, and deep knowledge of the anime industry, particularly on the business of writing in this industry. Drawing from her personal journey as a dedicated fan, she provides valuable insights into the inner workings of the otaku world, offering a unique perspective on making this passion your business. 

In addition to her blogs, which include Otaku Journalist, Gunpla 101, and Anime Origin Stories, Lauren has penned the highly regarded books Build Your Anime Blog and Otaku Journalism, where she expertly guides readers on how to create a successful anime blog from scratch and getting into the news-side of the anime industry respectively. Both books offer a step-by-step guide for building your name up, building a loyal readership, increasing traffic, and even generating a sustainable income. With her comprehensive approach and practical advice, she equips aspiring anime writers with the tools they need to thrive in this competitive online landscape.

As a prominent figure in the anime community, Lauren’s work extends beyond the written word. She has contributed to renowned platforms such as Anime News Network (ANN), where she shares her thoughtful reviews and analysis of the latest anime releases through the ANNouncements Newsletter. Her dedication to the craft, coupled with her deep understanding of the medium, has solidified her position as a respected reviewer and commentator.

Today, Lauren has agreed to sit down with our editor, Peggy Wood, for an interview, where we’ll get to know a little more about the person behind the blogs. You can watch the video recording of our interview above. In addition to watching the recorded interview, you can view a copy of the auto-transcription in the document linked at the bottom of this post.

Outside this, Lauren has been kind enough to type up her responses to the questions asked in our video, so if you prefer to read the responses, you can do so here:

1) Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your blog(s) and the guiding thoughts or mission that have influenced their creation and upkeep?

You’re right that I have a couple of blogs but let’s focus on the most active one, Otaku Journalist. 

I was 22 and a graduate student when I started Otaku Journalist. I was getting my master’s degree in journalism at American University in D.C. One of my teachers made it a requirement for every student to secure a domain name and a WordPress blog—the idea was to share a portfolio of our work. I started my blog under my full name but ended up writing about my interest in anime and fandom more and more. Eventually, I came up with the name Otaku Journalist to signal my twin interests in fandom and reporting.

I still wanted to use my blog to find a job like my teacher suggested. I just wanted to really narrow down the field and get a job that would really fit me and my interests. You could call that taking a risk, since we were reporting on a huge variety of topics in order to become well-rounded journalists—from political reporting to sports. But I already knew what kind of journalism I wanted to do. It wasn’t long after that that I started my internship at Kotaku, writing about culture and gaming. And a year or so later, I was working at the Daily Dot covering internet culture. 

Now I’m 36. The world has changed a lot in the preceding 14 years. We don’t call the kind of job I had at the Daily Dot an “Internet culture reporting” job, we just call it culture reporting. And due to gaming’s still-ongoing right-wing backlash in the past decade, if I interned at Kotaku just a few years later than I did, the commenters would have eaten me alive! So your question comes to me at a time when I’m struggling to determine the relevance of my advice on Otaku Journalist for the next generation of fandom reporters. Online reporting as a career is currently contracting while greedy media executives attempt to make chatbots do our jobs. But there are still a lot of opportunities out there, and I want to be an older fan that younger fans can turn to. When I was 22 I often felt like an outsider trying to find a foothold in the anime blogging clique. I want to be somebody that 22-year-old me could have turned to. 

2) Many writers struggle with sharing their voice and opinions. What advice would you give to writers who feel conflicted about sharing their work and thoughts, especially considering the potential for disagreement or criticism?

I love this question! So often we’re told to “just grow a thicker skin,” when it’s that capacity to feel emotional, to be hurt or be frustrated, that helps us to interact with the art we’re trying to review. You don’t want to become so cynical that you lose that. 

You’re not supposed to admit when somebody’s comments hurt you, like “don’t feed the trolls.” But just the other day I was thinking about a mean comment somebody left on my very first story that I published on FanFiction.net when I was 12! 

In reporting, there’s just what’s true and false so this isn’t an issue for me when I’m writing an article. But for the past 7 years, I’ve been publishing weekly streaming reviews on Anime News Network and those contain my personal opinion. It’s not about what’s true or not, so people disagree a lot. ANN is great about letting me say whatever I want there. If I think I published something that a bunch of fans will have an issue with, I just avoid reading the comments. If I contorted my review to fit with fans’ opinions, it wouldn’t be a very interesting review, and it wouldn’t be true to myself. And there’s no rule that I have to reply. 

3) For reviewers who may feel conflicted about compromising their independence or creative control in exchange for support, what advice do you have to help them navigate this challenge?

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “There is no ethical consumption under capitalism.” One of the best-paying employers in anime writing is Crunchyroll. But then you have to live with knowing that the people at the top aren’t adequately paying translators or English voice actors. For what it’s worth, the people on the ground floor are still passionate anime fans.

Even with Anime News Network, which I consider to be an extremely by-fans-for-fans publication, Kadokawa owns a majority stake in it and if I review a Kadokawa show, there’s going to be a note about it at the bottom. This hasn’t changed anything; Kadokawa hasn’t gone to editorial to say something like “could you tone down this bad review?” but when somebody else is in charge, there’s always the specter that this MIGHT happen. 

If you created a Substack newsletter, you’d have to wrestle with Substack giving a platform to anti-vaccine advocates and similar grossness. My blogs are profitable because I am an Amazon affiliate—if you click certain links and make a purchase, I get a cut. I’m absolutely not going to defend Amazon. But they make it so I can publish whatever I want on my WordPress blog and make money. 

In the end, this is a very individual struggle and the answer is going to be different for everyone. If you want to make money, you will eventually be posed with this question. 

4) Could you provide insight into the process of becoming a reviewer for a site like Anime News Network? What level of commitment is required to maintain a consistent income as a reviewer?

I could not live on what I make as a reviewer for ANN. Let’s get that out of the way first. Even if I reviewed 4 shows every week, which is the most any reviewer takes on. I will say that we all got a slight raise after the Kadokawa acquisition. But if I wanted to make a living, I would need to apply for one of Anime News Network’s full-time roles, and they ARE currently hiring.

I applied for the reviewer position after I saw it on Twitter. I’ve been off and on. Because it’s not a primary income source it’s the first to go when my schedule is busy, even though it’s definitely one of the more fun things to write! I am only required to write 500 words, but I usually end up writing around 1000. 

5) Your ebook Build Your Anime Blog, published in 2015, offers valuable insights for aspiring anime bloggers. Could you provide a preview of some strategies or insights covered in the book that can help bloggers achieve success?

I had to look up my own book when I saw you were going to ask me this! It’s been 8 years and so much has changed!

• 1) Make content you can’t get anywhere else. Maybe a personal essay about how an anime has affected your life. Find out the answer to a tough anime question (like I once wrote a blog post giving the answer to “where do wall scrolls come from, as opposed to posters?”) and be the first person to have that available on your site. 
• 2) Interact with your readers. Don’t make it a one-way conversation. Talk to them, connect with them on social media, thank them whenever they share a post. They’ll start to feel good about supporting you since they know it’s appreciated. It will feel like a two-way street.
• 3) Connect with other creators. Make a list of anime blogs that are bigger or more established than yours and offer them a few topics you could guest post on with the caveat that you’d like them to link back to your site somewhere in that guest post. A lot of big anime blogs get offers to guest post all the time, so make sure it’s a topic only you can offer (see piece of advice #1!). 

6) If you were to update your books, what might be something new but vital you’d add for those interested in creating an anime blog now?

I’ll be the first to admit that my books are pretty dated at this point. I’d like to rework them for the next decade with everything I’ve learned as a reporter, and a person, since then. I emphasize Twitter a lot in my books because it’s how I’ve met other fans and found just about every opportunity in my career, but Twitter is, obviously, imploding. If I were to add something new, I’d write a chapter about harassment campaigns. Anyone can be the Main Character of the day, so what do you do when your article or review is at the center of a hate campaign? People have written entire books about this topic and I’d like to take a stab at it. 

7) Your ebook Otaku Journalism provides readers with a guide to getting into anime journalism—from researching publications, pitching, finding the right fit, to making money as a freelancer. Could you share what you think is the most important mindset of philosophy to have when deciding if this is the right career for you?

You need to be resilient. You need to be OK with rejection and trying over and over again. When I wrote for CNN because yes, CNN had a geek culture beat for a little bit, I wrote to the editor every week for a couple of months with ideas about stuff I could write about for her. Usually: radio silence. Then finally, OK, I like that idea. When can you have it? If I had stopped after getting zero replies for my first or second idea, I wouldn’t have written for her. 

8) Similar question to before, what might be something new but vital you’d add for those interested in becoming an otaku journalist now? 

Have a backup career. Right now, I am working for Forbes as a tech reporter. That’s my main job. That’s how I make serious money. My dream was once to become a full-time anime writer or blogger, but that’s really hard to do. I tried many different ways to make it work and to gain an income, but learned that rather than trying to draw money it it would be better to go where the money is, and right now we need tech-reporting.

9) The Anime Origin Stories project is intriguing. Can you share more about your inspiration for this project and your vision for its future? Do you plan to keep it as a blog or expand it into a book? If it becomes a book, what would be the focus of the collection and survey of fans?

Anime Origin Stories is a project where I interviewed people all over the world about how they got into anime. Currently, however, the project is on an indefinite pause.

9) Finally, is there anything else you’d like to add or recommend? 

Definitely, there are a lot of great blogs out there that I would definitely recommend like Anime Herald and Yatta-Tachi. I know that sometimes I, and we as writers, can get so caught up on what to contribute that you can sometimes forget that there is a lot of great stuff out there to read, too! You’re not on your own.

We conclude our interview here and encourage EVERYONE to pick up a copy of Lauren’s books, currently available on Amazon.com. You can get a FREE copy of Otaku Journalism for exactly one week (Monday, September 18th to Friday, September 22nd)! Don’t miss out on this phenomenal book. Also recommended is Lauren’s blog(s), linked above.

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Copyedited by: Katherine Cañeba | @kcserinlee