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February 22nd, 2017

In 2015 I wrote a post called Supporting Your Local Comics Ecosystem in 2015. In that article I address the issue of the people who work on comics/manga and the people in those industries who rely on people paying for those comics legitimately.  In that article I wrote, 

“Entertainment is created by artists, but also by their assistants, their editors, the art directors, the layout people, the printers, and web developers, sales people, delivery people, all the way down to the part-time bookstore employees who shelve stuff and the post office who delivers it. I know you know this, but I want to say it:  If you have ever once thought “Hey. I want to work in comics” you might also want to think about this –  if everyone makes comics, but no one buys them – where does the money come from? When you buy something, you are contributing to a larger economic system that sustains those jobs and the people who work them”

Okazu readers overwhelmingly support this ecosystem. You buy the stuff you read and watch and listen to, you subscribe to journals, to blogs, to legitimate online streaming sites. I am so very thankful. I know that my readers are active participants in the industry they enjoy. It’s one of my greatest pleasures to know so completely that you are the market as well as the audience for Yuri.

Here in 2017, we’ve been given an unprecedented number of Yuri manga releases and events. I want, of course to be everywhere, and do everything and tell you about all of it. But I can’t. I spend about 20 hours a week on Okazu now and there just isn’t enough time and money to be everywhere. 

In the past, when you subscribed to Animerica or to OtakUSA magazine, you didn’t get an ad-free experience. In fact, advertising was what paid for print journals far more than your subscription did. The subscriptions paid for the content, the ads paid for the everything else that made it possible to print a magazine.

Okazu isn’t a monthly magazine. It’s a free, 4-6 times a week, no-ad experience. I don’t ever want that to change. So why do I ask you to subscribe? To pay for the content, just like in the old days. Good writing takes time and effort and people who do it deserve to be paid. And to get you that content, human beings have to buy things and go places. Those take time and money too.

So once again, if you read Okazu regularly, I’m asking you to contribute to the ecosystem here. We’re just  very few dollars permonth off our 2016 goal on Patreon and this year it is really important for us to be able to pay Guest Reviewers. 6 more people at $5/month  ~ 6 more heroes and we’re over that mark. And, because I really  mean it when I say I care about the content, I’ll make sure Guest Reviewers are rewarded with something more than just thanks, even if we’re not at the 2017 goal yet.

Please help us get to more events, be able to review more Yuri and above all, reward our Guest Reviewers! Please consider subscribing to Okazu on Patreon. There’s week left to be entered in the Patron Contest, so subscribing now enters you in a chance to get a box crammed full of *stuff.* Who doesn’t want that?

To those of you who have already become Patrons, thank you. You are truly my Heroes!

 

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