Goodbye Book Riot...

...and hello Twitch Affiliate!

Yesterday I woke up to an email in my inbox: my collaboration with Book Riot had come to an end. 

I started writing for Book Riot in 2017; at the time, I'd been following the website for a while, and a job application popped up on my Facebook feed. Without many expectations, in the spirit of “the worst that can happen is a rejection” I applied. 

I had no previous freelance experience, and it was only a few months after being hired that I realised it was a paid gig  (we get paid per quarter and I guess I didn't read the terms of employment very thoroughly, my bad).

It was my first freelance gig, the first time I was being paid to write, and for seven years I had the joy of sharing my literary musings, making lists, writing humorous essays, coming up with quizzes, and even bringing my new love for games into the platform. 

I was part of a great team of writers who loved to give recommendations when anyone struggled with a list, or with finding the perfect book, and I have always been proud to be part of that same team. Paid to write, who had imagined that? Not me, for sure. 

I am thankful to have been a part of it, and although the news of its ending didn't exactly come as a surprise, the mail doesn't disclose a reason for it. There have been a few re-structures, and I figure my writing wasn't up to what they wished to see on the website anymore, something I struggled for a while to figure out, and I am not yet certain where I went wrong. 

Alas, no point crying over spilled milk. The experience I got at Book Riot is something I will always treasure, and I figured saying goodbye doesn't necessarily mean I have to simply delete my rejected pitches: I can develop them here, on my own platform. 

Of course, having this one paid gig meant I had some extra income to spend; I used my Book Riot wages mostly to treat myself: to buy games for my switch, for example. And I'll definitely feel it when those extra payments start to drain, rather than accumulate.

I still hope I can find another gig that will allow me to make some extra income while writing about the things I love the most: books and video games. Who knows what the future holds? 

In the meantime, get ready for a new influx of essays, quizzes, and lists.

And if you want to try and figure out why I got fired, you can check all of my Book Riot articles on this link. (Don’t let me know!)

The highlight of my time there is certainly one of my first posts about my love for libraries, where I was quoted in the American Libraries Magazine.

Do we have a streamer?

I believe we do! 

Last year, around April, I started streaming a few of my Nintendo Switch games on Twitch. Streaming seemed fun because it was a bit of what podcasting is to me (talking to a microphone and to others) with the added joy of being able to play games while doing it. 

Unlike a podcast, it is live, and while that can feel daunting at times, it also means I don't need to edit it afterwards.

Summer is usually my own personal murderer, and I got drained of all of my reserve energy as soon as the temperatures got higher than 20 degrees. That, added to a tiring holiday (visiting Portugal - which, as an emigrant, is never really a holiday, let's be clear) plus three excruciatingly hot days in Berlin (not Berlin's fault, Berlin was great), drained me. So I put my boots down until October rolled around. 

When I started streaming again last November, I realised I still enjoyed it, so I've been spending my Winter energy (which is tons higher than the Summer one) on that.

I just hit 50 followers on Twitch this week, and I received an email with the invitation to become a Twitch affiliate, which was my only streaming goal for the year. Most importantly, streaming has been a lot of fun. 

So if you like games and, particularly, if you like watching people play games, make sure you give me a follow here.

Silent Reading & Writing | In-person & Online

Another thing that returned with my Winter energy, was the Silent Reading & Writing sessions I organise for Bosch&deJong boekverkopers.

I’ve been hosting them once a month, and last December I introduced a hybrid system for these meetings. This means that from now on, people will be able to meet up with us at the Fenix Food Factory, AND join online, via Discord. 

We had a test session on Discord the last time, and it seems to have gone well. 

So if you want or need to take some time specifically to read or write, make sure you follow our newsletter.

The next meeting is this Sunday, 14^th of January, from 4pm to 6pm. 

Twitch Co-Working Sessions

Alongside my regular gaming streams, last Sunday I had a Co-Working Stream on Twitch.

These sessions work similarly to the Silent Reading & Writing sessions, except I'm streaming with the help of a game called Spirit City: Lofi Sessions, where there is music in the background and people are allowed to talk via chat, but we just basically come together via Twitch to work on whatever it is that is keeping us busy at the moment. And the word work is wide here.

During the last session, I sent some pitches (the ones that probably got me fired — okay I’ll stop talking about this now), but I also started a gaming journal, took notes on my One Line A Day journal, and even read, while some Lofi music played in the background.

If this is something you think you might enjoy, you know where to find me on Twitch.

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I wish you all a wonderful weekend and talk to you soon!

Liefs,
Carina