(*Note: After reading the comments it struck me that I really should set some specific targets that I realistically want to achieve. Please see below for details.)
These are never the most fun posts to write – but at least I only do them once a year at most. And even then only because I have to – all the more thanks to recent developments.
I’ve been doing this for a long time (it scares me how long when I stop and think about it) and I still hate asking you guys for financial support. But I don’t really have any choice – the site has to pay for itself at the very least to justify its continued existence. And with hosting costs rising each year (all those images I post take up a boatload of storage space) – and flat-out skyrocketing starting in January – that’s getting harder and harder to pull off.
I know people talk about “monetizing” websites but honestly, that’s a misnomer here – I just have to cover expenses. I’ve managed to keep my promise (to myself as well as readers) to avoid going to some sort of tiered system, putting some content behind a paywall. But to be blunt, I need to bring in more if I’m going to be able to keep things going. If that makes things sound a bit dire, it’s only because they are. I think I can honestly say I haven’t been the boy who cried wolf in this respect, so rest assured there’s no embellishment going on here. I put in so many hours on this site that it’s already hard to justify it except as a labor of love. Honestly, I do think of calling it day sometimes. But if anything, I kind of think that if I stopped, there’d be nobody else covering a lot of the stuff I cover. I hope that has some value for people.
So, dear readers, once more I come before you asking for help in one of the following ways (all of these are at the top of the sidebar):
- Patreon Pledges – Any amount you care to offer per post (with a monthly cap option). Honestly, this seems to be the preferred method at this point (but I’m not picky).
- Paypal (either one-time pledges, or monthly subscriptions, whichever you find more convenient).
- Amazon and Amazon UK Store – – It doesn’t get much easier than this one because it doesn’t cost you a penny extra. All you have to do is shop Amazon like you always do (don’t pretend you don’t) using the links in the sidebar.
- Of course, the ads. As always, I pledge never to resort to pop-ups or pop-over ads – but the site does get a cookie crumb or two when you click on these (especially if you buy something, of course).
I’m still not going to go to a pay system for any content – that just doesn’t feel right to me. But the need for support has never been more urgent – hosting this monster is getting really, really expensive. I would like to do something concrete to reward the Patreon and Paypal patrons, though, so if you have any ideas on that by all means please let me know.
Obviously, my sincere and heartfelt gratitude goes out to everyone who’s already pitched in to help and/or currently acts as an LiA patron. It’s no exaggeration to say that you’re the reason the site has stuck around this long.
Please look forward to another eventful anime year at LiA! For all its frustrations the industry is changing quickly these days, and I suspect 2019 is going to be one of the most interesting years for the anime medium in a long time.
Stay frosty,
Enzo
*Support Goals: OK, so here’s what I’m hoping to accomplish here…
- Double my Patreon/Paypal patron base. These are the folks that give a monthly pledge, either by the post or as a monthly lump sum. I need about 15 more to make this happen. Again – I would love some creative ideas on how to reward these folks and if you’re already one of them, please don’t hesitate to speak up here!
- Increase the monthly contribution by as close as possible to $100/month. Doesn’t sound like much I know, but to me it would be huge in offsetting maintenance and hosting costs.
- One-time contributions – well, the more the merrier. Whatever support I get through this channel is hugely appreciated and I’ll divide by 12 and count it towards the above monthly goal.
Ngai
December 17, 2018 at 8:10 pmAlways appreciate your insights and opinions. Helps me filter down what may be worth watching each season 🙂 Hope you can keep doing what you’re doing! You’re right that you cover content that is unique, but I do think it is perhaps too niche to exist behind a pay wall.
Guardian Enzo
December 17, 2018 at 8:21 pmThanks. I don’t know whether it’s too niche or not but for me, it’s beside the point – I just don’t like the idea on principle.
As to whether I can keep doing it, well – I hope so too, but (not to be dramatic) it isn’t really up to me at this point. If I don’t get the response I need to I’ll have no choice but to let it go – but maybe that will be a message to me that there just isn’t enough of an audience for what I do to sustain it.
leongsh
December 18, 2018 at 5:36 amWhat is your support target? Monthly or annually?
Guardian Enzo
December 18, 2018 at 6:40 amI think I need something around $100 a month in new contributions for it to make sense to keep the site up. One-time contributions are great of course, and deeply appreciated – that just means I have to come back next winter and ask again, but that’s not the end of the world.
leongsh
December 24, 2018 at 12:42 pmDonated a small sum for the time being before deciding on a regular monthly sum.
Guardian Enzo
December 24, 2018 at 2:09 pmCan’t thank you enough! Very much appreciate your support, and your participation over the years. You’re a platinum card holder.
A reader
December 18, 2018 at 5:47 amHow much do you think you would need from us, your readers, for the whole year 2019?
Guardian Enzo
December 18, 2018 at 6:41 amThanks for asking. See above – something in that ballpark.
Yann
December 18, 2018 at 6:08 amOnly talking for myself here, but I can’t nly care about your words. You could drop every single image and it wouldn’t make a difference to me (again… Talking for myself).
I hope you don’t mind the somewhat ruthless honesty but, even tho I really enjoy enjoy your work, I wouldn’t pay for it. But like you said, you’re not doing it for the $$ so why not maybe find a way to run the blog at $0 cost? There are a few ways you could run this for very cheap.
Gracie
December 18, 2018 at 6:43 amThis would’ve been one of those times when if you couldn’t say something nice and supportive, it would’ve been better not to say anything at all.
“I read your stuff, but I couldn’t care less about the effort put into it” is not ruthless honesty, it’s just plain rudeness. Respect the creators.
Yann
December 23, 2018 at 8:56 amThen again… That’s absolutely not what I said. If I had an infinite amount of resources, I’d obviously share some, but as it stands, I have other priorities like Charity Water or Sea Shepherd, etc. And who the hell are you to think you can pass a moral judgements on me for that?
Being nice and supportive might make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside when you think about how much better than everyone else you are, but it pretty useless otherwise.
I’m proposing a practical pragmatic alternative that would solve the hosting issue and allow him not to make those posts asking money which he clearly doesn’t enjoy writing.
I make websites for a living and there are ways to run a blog like that at close to 0 cost. I don’t know how tech savvy he is so I thought I’d let him know.
Yeah sure… I could be “nice and supportive” but I thought I’d try to actually help instead.
If I wanted to read comments feom keyboard warriors passing jugements on complete strangers, I’d go on YouTube…
pwt
December 18, 2018 at 6:56 amI’m in; I pledged what I could afford. I truly appreciate what you do here. For a lot of the series I watch, reading your blog post immediately after an episode has become an intrinsic part of the experience.
Thanks.
Guardian Enzo
December 18, 2018 at 7:23 amThank you! I appreciate it more than I can say – but I’ll say it anyway. If you ever have any suggestions or, as I mentioned, suggestions for patron rewards please let me know.
suncat
December 18, 2018 at 8:49 amHi! I really enjoy your blog. While I don’t always watch all the shows you watch some of my favorites have been accompanied by your writing and some I only found through your blog which I’m really grateful for. I also really enjoy your Life in Japan posts.
I have been thinking about donating to you quite a few times too but in the end I never did because I was kinda unsure about the exact workings of that donate button. I’ve tried to read up on it but the internet seems to be quite uncertain too about which information will be transfered by using the donate button. Like, I dont have anything to hide but I also dont feel fully comfortable giving out stuff like my full name oder shipping address just because I send a few dollars to some blogs I like… So if it isnt too much to ask maybe you could help me a bit by telling what information you actually see from your donors? Cause I would really like to donate but I’m unfortunately also feeling quite a bit overwhelmed with it all…
Guardian Enzo
December 18, 2018 at 9:02 amHey there! What I can tell you is this – whether it be Paypal or Patreon, what I see is just your username, any info you choose to include in your profile (for Patreon), amount of contribution and e-mail address. That’s it from my end. If Paypal or Patreon is getting any information beyond that they aren’t sending it to me (and I would have no reason to want to access it anyway). If it’s any help, this is Patreon’s official privacy policy:
I hope that helps – if you have any other specific questions or concerns I’d be happy to try and answer them.
suncat
December 18, 2018 at 10:00 pmThank you very much that certainly does help!
I had read that within paypal’s transaction history more information might pop up at times.
But knowing that at least with you only email and amount show up certainly puts my mind at ease somewhat. Thank you.
sweejen
December 18, 2018 at 10:48 amLike pwt, reading your posts after watching an episode is part of my enjoyment of the experience. When you drop a show I’m watching, it’s almost tragic–thankfully it doesn’t happen often, as I have limited time to invest and I give your previews a lot of weight in what I choose. I’m glad I have the ability to support LIA with a bit more than simply my appreciation.
Guardian Enzo
December 18, 2018 at 11:04 amAwesome – thank you! I always appreciate your comments – and of course, commenting is a very important contribution to the site in its own right.
A.Sade
December 18, 2018 at 5:28 pmI don’t comment much, but I refresh this blog at least once a day, and I have a tab permanently dedicated to this on my mobile browser. Just like the others, I always use your opinions as a jumping board to decide if I should start something or not, and seeing Mob Psycho in the pinned post every day just gets me so hyped, as much for the anime as for your reviews on it!
All this to say that I would really hate to see this blog go… It would feel like a piece of my life disappearing, without exaggeration. After all, I’ve been following you since the Hunter x Hunter anime era. However I’m from a place where a small amount in USD converts to something quite substantial here… I’ll try and see what I can do, but before I make up my mind on that, I just wanna let you know I really, really appreciate your writings! I just wish I could muster the courage and brain cells to comment more often
Guardian Enzo
December 18, 2018 at 5:40 pmWell, I appreciate your being here, and especially the comments – they’re a contribution I value highly. Do whatever you need to do and don’t worry about it – this is just a website after all!
Orin
December 20, 2018 at 2:13 amHey! So I’ve been closely following your blog for many, many years now. I started following around 2011 with your reviews on Ikoku Meiro no Croisée and Usagi Drop, then started following very closely when you blogged Shin Sekai Yori, which remains to this day one of my favourite anime ever and one of your best review in my opinion.
I don’t comment very often, but I really appreciate your writings, escpecially the fact that you have a really strong opinion on a lot of matters, and that you are not afraid to express it even though it often goes against the majority. I can’t speak for others, but I come here to read about your opinion (even when I don’t agree with it), not to read the same things you read everywhere else, so please never change that :).
Like others already said, reading your reviews is part of my anime experience, and in my circle, a friend of mine and I often refer to your blog. So I really hope you will be able to continue reviewing anime. I will pledge what I can :).
Guardian Enzo
December 20, 2018 at 6:27 amI know you well, Orin, and I appreciate your continues contributions to the site over the years. Thank you!
Nadavu
December 23, 2018 at 9:29 amLiA has been my portal to anime since 2011, there’s no way I’ll sit idly by and not join in the good fight if I can contribute. I know I’ve been on/off on Patreon over the years, but I think I can make it stick this time around.
Thanks for making these posts, Enzo. Hopefully you’ll hit your goals soon and maybe even surpass them.
Guardian Enzo
December 23, 2018 at 9:42 amThanks! You are indeed a platinum cardholder at this point – I can’t even remember a time when you weren’t commenting. We’re making progress – I’ll be posting an update shortly.