A Guide To Fansourcing Part 6: Wish List

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So I've talked about how and when to do fansourcing, and how to use it to enhance your career.  I'd like to close out this series by looking at some things I'd like to see to help fansourcing:

  • Convention Events #1 – Let's start talking fansourcing at cons.  Do panels on the opportunities it has, discuss ways to use it on a resume, etc.  Heck, maybe I ought to set one up . . .
  • Convention Events #2 – What about a need-skills networking event for larger cons, where people can find folks that have the skills they need, or people find folks that need fansourced talent.
  • Job Boards and More – Cons, fan groups, etc. can have job boards for fansourcing.  In fact, someone could do a website just on this (this is a huge hint, by the way).
  • More Use Of The Term – As I noted, I've seen it used to mean various things, so let's use it enough to make sure fan-to-fan talent exchange is one of the meanings.  That way more people think about it and it's advantages.
  • Mentorship – If you fansource, take someone under your wing and help them do it.    You'll spread the idea and help them out.
  • Support groups – Building on Mentorship, perhaps in larger areas people who do fansourcing can form a support group (say, via meetup.com) to help people find "fannish" work.
  • Share Ideas – Got ideas for the way to put hobbies on resumes, fansourcing in your skills section?  Let me know and maybe you can write it up and post it here!

So go forth and fansource!

(Oh, series edited as I misnumbered them)

– Steven Savage

T-2 Days: On Screw-Up Patrol

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Well it's all ready; books, websites, etc.  Things are queued and ready to go.  Editing done.  I'll push the button tomorrow and announce everything to the world.

So what am I doing tonight?  Murder Board.

No, the Murder Board is not a weapon in a video game, but it's at term for people whose goal is to find out what's wrong with an idea.  Me, I'm a one-man Murder Board, in that I can seriously come up with many ways to figure what's wrong.

Tonight, I'm on screw-up patrol.

This is a weird time, since I should have some sense of achievement, but mostly I'm looking for last-minute problems.

But it's coming: "Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers."  Look for it tomorrow!

– Steven Savage

T-3 Days: Waiting and Webbing

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Well, "Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers" is edited, it's in my publishing que, and it should be fine and ready to go.  Reviewers have copies (and if you want to review, let me know).

So what's next?  Oh right – the web.

First of all, there's updating my sites for my books (Fan To Pro, Convention Career Connection, Best Of Fan To Pro).  See, my sites often have author profiles, so I need to update my work on them.  But of course, not launch them because the book isn't out yet.

Then there's the book's site.  That has to be updated – oh, but not fully complete yet, because I have to process and update a few things.

Then, finally, my site.

So I have to get all this ready and qued up, in different forms of completion.  Then I have to update them more or less all at once when the book is out.

But done yet?  No!  I have to update my LinkedIn profile.  I have to consider some Facebook pages.  I will inevitably find errors.

Then as reviews drift in, I have to link sites . . . you get the idea.

The web is an inevitable part of any book launch self-published or not.  There's a bit of effort here, needless to say.

I'm starting to think I need to outsource this a bit more . . .

– Steven Savage