Does the prospect of writing reviews for video games appeal to you? Getting Started in Freelance Video Game Journalism is a no-nonsense guide to taking your first steps into the online game writing world. Learn how to write a query letter, how to construct your resume, when to start searching for jobs and how quickly you can expect to land a high-paying writing gig!

Have you ever dreamed about getting paid to write about video games and the fascinating people who make them? Unless you live on the West Coast and are lucky enough to land a rare staff position at one of the major gaming publications, freelancing is the best way to turn slinging words about your favorite hobby into a viable and lucrative career. The best part? You can do it from anywhere! Up Up Down Down Left WRITE: The Freelance Guide to Video Game Journalism covers everything you need to get started along the path to launching and maintaining a successful freelance career in the gaming industry. Pro freelancer Nathan Meunier has written for more than 30 of the top gaming outlets -- from Nintendo Power, GamePro, and Official Xbox Magazine to IGN, GameSpot, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and more. In this advice-packed tome for aspiring freelance game journos and more established writers alike, Nathan delivers detailed insights and how-to tips based on many years of professional writing experience. You will learn how to: -Generate killer article ideas, pitch editors, and score paying work -Build towards quitting your day job to freelance full-time -Juggle the business-related side of freelancing -Cover gaming conventions and press junkets -Network with editors and writers -Work with PR to gain coverage opportunities and free review games. And much, much more!

Master the art of article writing! The world of journalism is changing rapidly, and the modern journalist needs more than a basic knowledge of article writing to navigate it. The Complete Guide to Article Writing provides a compass for freelancers and students of journalism looking to write successfully on a wide variety of topics and for many different markets--both in print and online. From researching and interviewing to writing features, reviews, news articles, opinion pieces, and even blog posts, this one-stop guide will illuminate the intricacies of article writing so you can produce entertaining, informative, and salable articles. • Learn how to write coherently, cohesively, and concisely. • Choose the proper structure for the article you want to write. • Weave narrative and fact seamlessly into your pieces. • Develop your freelance platform with the latest in social media outlets. • Pitch your ideas like a pro. • Develop a professional relationship with editors. • And much more! Modern journalism can be a treacherous terrain, but with The Complete Guide to Article Writing as your companion, you'll not only survive the journey--you'll be able to write pieces that inform, entertain, inspire, delight--and sell!

It's your dream job: Playing video games. Writing about them. Getting paid. It will never happen, right? Actually, it can. It's definitely not easy to get this dream job-it requires a lot of perseverance, plenty of patience, a certain amount of skill, and a fair amount of luck. But with the right combination of elements, this job can be yours. Critical Path: How to Review Videogames for a Living will tell you what you need to know and what you need to do to make a run at this career, for real. This includes how to write compelling reviews, how to pitch yourself as a writer, how to tackle some tricky ethical quandaries, and yes, even how to get free games. Based on Dan Amrich's own experience as a game journalist for more than 15 years, it's advice that can serve you for your entire career, from press start to game over.

Freelancing for Journalists offers an authoritative, practical and engaging guide for current and aspiring journalism freelances, exploring key aspects of the role including pitching a story, networking, branding and navigating freelance laws and rights. Featuring case studies from experienced freelance journalists working in the UK, US, Asia and Australia, the book addresses the evolving media landscape and provides valuable tips on how to become established as a successful journalist across a variety of platforms. The authors also explore practical aspects of the trade including tips for setting up a business, managing tax and legal issues, getting paid and earning additional income in related sectors. This book is an invaluable resource for both students and professionals who are interested in taking the next step into freelance journalism work.

Become a Player in the Business of Video Game Art Every year video games generate billions of dollars and some of the most dynamic and engaging artwork today. It’s an ever-growing field that holds great professional opportunity, but you need the right skills and savvy if you want to stake your claim. In How to Become a Video Game Artist, veteran video game designer Sam R. Kennedy provides the inside track on everything you need to forge a career in the world of video game art. Starting with the basics of game creation and a look at the artistic skills necessary to get started, Kennedy spotlights specific, key roles for creators—from concept artists to character animators to marketing artists and beyond. Each chapter features screenshots from popular video games like Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon and World of Warcraft; interviews with video game art professionals who’ve worked for top gaming companies like BioWare, Blizzard, and Ubisoft; step-by-step examples of actual game art; and detailed breakdowns of the training and portfolio samples you’ll need to make these jobs your own. For anyone who wants to go from gamer to game designer, this book contains all the secrets you’ll need to rise to the top of one of the most exciting industries of our time.

What impact can video games have on us as players? How does psychology influence video game creation? Why do some games become cultural phenomena? The Psychology of Video Games introduces the curious reader to the relationship between psychology and video games from the perspective of both game makers and players. Assuming no specialist knowledge, this concise, approachable guide is a starter book for anyone intrigued by what makes video games engaging and what is their psychological impact on gamers. It digests the research exploring the benefits gaming can have on players in relation to education and healthcare, considers the concerns over potential negative impacts such as pathological gaming, and concludes with some ethics considerations. With gaming being one of the most popular forms of entertainment today, The Psychology of Video Games shows the importance of understanding the human brain and its mental processes to foster ethical and inclusive video games.

You've likely heard about the gig economy but might be wondering exactly what it entails. It's easy to assume that driving for Uber or renting your house through Airbnb are the extent of your options, but the gig economy actually offers a much wider slate of opportunities. Whether you have a 9-to-5 job and are looking to pick up some extra income, or you're a recent graduate who's eager to earn as much as you want on your own time, the gig economy can offer the freedom and flexibility you're seeking. In Gigworker, Brett Helling provides the essential primer on the gig economy: how it evolved to where it's at now, and where it's headed in the future. He'll show you that it's possible to replace your full-time income with multiple gigs, or balance 9-to-5 work with a 5-to-9 side gig. You'll come away with a new zeal for the gig economy, ready to dive into the options at your fingertips and make money doing what you love.

Videogames! Aren’t they the medium of the twenty-first century? The new cinema? The apotheosis of art and entertainment, the realization of Wagnerian gesamtkunstwerk? The final victory of interaction over passivity? No, probably not. Games are part art and part appliance, part tableau and part toaster. In How to Talk about Videogames, leading critic Ian Bogost explores this paradox more thoroughly than any other author to date. Delving into popular, familiar games like Flappy Bird, Mirror’s Edge, Mario Kart, Scribblenauts, Ms. Pac-Man, FarmVille, Candy Crush Saga, Bully, Medal of Honor, Madden NFL, and more, Bogost posits that videogames are as much like appliances as they are like art and media. We don’t watch or read games like we do films and novels and paintings, nor do we perform them like we might dance or play football or Frisbee. Rather, we do something in-between with games. Games are devices we operate, so game critique is both serious cultural currency and self-parody. It is about figuring out what it means that a game works the way it does and then treating the way it works as if it were reasonable, when we know it isn’t. Noting that the term games criticism once struck him as preposterous, Bogost observes that the idea, taken too seriously, risks balkanizing games writing from the rest of culture, severing it from the “rivers and fields” that sustain it. As essential as it is, he calls for its pursuit to unfold in this spirit: “God save us from a future of games critics, gnawing on scraps like the zombies that fester in our objects of study.”

From the bestselling author of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels comes the next definitive, behind-the-scenes account of the video game industry: how some of the past decade's most renowned studios fell apart—and the stories, both triumphant and tragic, of what happened next. Jason Schreier's groundbreaking reporting has earned him a place among the preeminent investigative journalists covering the world of video games. In his eagerly anticipated, deeply researched new book, Schreier trains his investigative eye on the volatility of the video game industry and the resilience of the people who work in it. The business of videogames is both a prestige industry and an opaque one. Based on dozens of first-hand interviews that cover the development of landmark games—Bioshock Infinite, Epic Mickey, Dead Space, and more—on to the shocking closures of the studios that made them, Press Reset tells the stories of how real people are affected by game studio shutdowns, and how they recover, move on, or escape the industry entirely. Schreier's insider interviews cover hostile takeovers, abusive bosses, corporate drama, bounced checks, and that one time the Boston Red Sox's Curt Schilling decided he was going to lead a game studio that would take out World of Warcraft. Along the way, he asks pressing questions about why, when the video game industry is more successful than ever, it's become so hard to make a stable living making video games—and whether the business of making games can change before it's too late.