Indie Games Journalism

Hey, people. Dublin-based indie games writer here (independent publisher, that is, as opposed to writing specifically about indie games).

My site is titled "Literary Gaming". It has only been up a month or so, but it's getting great traffic.

However, I'm new to this. I'm posting here to get as much helpful information as I can.

Some main questions I have are:

1) How do I combat the fact that many people don't have WP accounts, and therefore can't subscribe?

2) How do I successfully turn this into a career? Do I monetise the indie outlet or prepare a portfolio for a more established name?

3) What is it about the sites you often visit that prompts you to return?

Thanks,

Cian.

Calhoun

Had a search for this last night, ill be honest google search its very hard to find your blog. There is a book with the same name so you have to do a little digging.

Why do you need people to subscribe out of curiosity? Does word press have a function that lets users or twitter ect subscribe? Why don't you use the likes of twitter to build users and then just link to your content through that account.

I cannot answer how you monetize this but i would say that your entering a fairly crowded market and i could be wrong but the day of the blog on its own is over. For the most part its folk who stream/put out youtube content that do well.

I am going to be honest these days there aren't many bloggers i follow, the ones i have followed in the past have always has an interesting perspective or slant on a game and have shown dept of knowledge. I would have looked to them while forming my own opinion. Particularly in the gaming journalist media getting honest advice can be hard to come by as it is well known journalists in the past have been influenced by devs. These days i subscribe to youtubers who do the same.

One of the few blog/text sites i follow regularly is https://crossingzebras.com/, its a news site for eve online and is seen as one of the more reputable sources for information on the in-game politics. Even they embrace streaming technology.

I believe there is also a forum for bloggers in boards but as you asked gave you my uneducated opinion.

Calhoun

Calhoun wrote: »

Had a search for this last night, ill be honest google search its very hard to find your blog. There is a book with the same name so you have to do a little digging.

Why do you need people to subscribe out of curiosity? Does word press have a function that lets users or twitter ect subscribe? Why don't you use the likes of twitter to build users and then just link to your content through that account.

I cannot answer how you monetize this but i would say that your entering a fairly crowded market and i could be wrong but the day of the blog on its own is over. For the most part its folk who stream/put out youtube content that do well.

I am going to be honest these days there aren't many bloggers i follow, the ones i have followed in the past have always has an interesting perspective or slant on a game and have shown dept of knowledge. I would have looked to them while forming my own opinion. Particularly in the gaming journalist media getting honest advice can be hard to come by as it is well known journalists in the past have been influenced by devs. These days i subscribe to youtubers who do the same.

One of the few blog/text sites i follow regularly is crossingzebras, its a news site for eve online and is seen as one of the more reputable sources for information on the in-game politics. Even they embrace streaming technology.

I believe there is also a forum for bloggers in boards but as you asked gave you my uneducated opinion.

Hey there. Sorry for the slow reply- Christmas and all that!

You're absolutely right. I've just realised I'm five pages deep on mobile. Definitely need to try some SEO tactics.

I have linked social media, and that's fine. I suppose I just feel that direct links to the site are more concrete, although I'm asking for something unnecessary here. You're right - social media is fine.

I think I'm going to switch to YouTube after I finish university (in April). When I have a little more time, I'm going to focus on video essays, similar to Joseph Anderson's, as opposed to written blogs.

Thank you for the recommendation. I'll definitely check out crossingzebras. Also, thank you for confirming that YouTube is the way forward. I really appreciate the response!