Shawn Struck is creating Writing
Designer, writer, helper.
3
$7
Milestone Goals
You get a novelty food review, and I get groceries!
Man can't live on ramen alone. Well, you can, I've done it, but the less I'm worrying about where my next meal comes from, the more I can focus on curating and creating content. I'll also review one novelty food item per month.
IN-person interviews and on-location features!
Having a NJ Transit monthly pass enables me to travel NJ Transit lines for both my ongoing on-location articles and exclusive interviews and for continuing education.
The Code updates 7 days a week & I can pay rent!
Knowing that I have a roof over my head helps peace of mind and less time worrying about finances means more time I can spend creating more content for you all. This would then make my work for The Code my paid part-time job and give you updates 7 days a week!
The Code: The Podcast & Full Time Job
A guy can dream... Writing for The Code would be my full time job. It would also expand to a bi-monthly podcast, with guests, segments, recurring skits, and all that good stuff PLUS my normal writing for The Code PLUS even snazzier reward items for patrons PLUS I could hold regular contests and giveaways!
Location
South Plainfield, NJ, USA
Top PatronsSee all 3
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What I've Done & What I Do:
I have over 13 years of experience in graphic design and web design & have been a prolific freelance writer on geek culture in general, and video games in particular, since 2006. My writing was published on 1up.com, featured on the front page of Yahoo.com, and in the magazine PC Gamer. I was also a weekly columnist for 411 Mania Games, a Featured Video Games Contributor for Associated Content (now Yahoo! Voices), and co-hosted the Geekly Weekly podcast for a year with Staff Editor for the New York Times Photo Desk James N.
I have also worked as social media consultant to small businesses and my digital design work spans everything from role-playing game supplements to logo, t-shirt and poster design for professional wrestlers.
I also like to help people!
I want to keep doing this work, and working with & helping people and also be compensated for my time and effort. My ultimate dream is to be able to offer a bi-monthly podcast along with a blog updated every day of the week. I know times are rough for a lot of people, so I've set this campaign to pay monthly-- no matter how much I do or produce, you'll only be charged the amount you chose once per month.
What Industry Professionals Have Said About Me & My Work:
Shawn Struck is as close to the soul of Internet geek culture as it gets, having been there almost since the beginning. He was blogging before they were called blogs. He was writing articles on gamer culture before anyone thought of it as gamer culture. He was arranging covers of Final Fantasy music before OCRemix, interviewing Nobuo Uematsu before GameSpot, running forums before "community moderator" ever became a paid position, and doing human interest pieces on gamer parenting for a readership that was, at the time, mostly teenagers--and he's never let up since. For over fifteen years, he's been both a keen observer of nerd culture and one of its great bastions of conscience, cutting through oceans of slick PR and fanboy bickering to deliver genuinely insightful commentary on the issues actually matter to fans: the creative future of popular media, the changing ways in which we enjoy them, the communities we build around them, and the rights of those who are marginalized within those communities. As a game developer, when I want to look beyond the mechanics of a game and into how and by whom it will be played, or delve into the most recent debate or controversy dividing the community, I know exactly who to ask: long before the big gaming news sites can bang out a blog post, Shawn is already there.
-- Kevin Chen, Game Developer
Whether it's blog posts on social justice or articles on the gaming industry, Shawn Struck's writing shows the attention to and respect for his craft -- and for people -- that make his work so appealing. His writing is smart without being pretentious and he seems genuinely uninterested in resorting to the sort of lowest-common-denominator copy that the geekblogging world is rife with. What a breath of fresh air!
-- Marissa Sammy, writer & former Copy Editrix of Sequential Tart
"Your professional and hands-on experience coupled with your library of informative and well-written Video Game content establishes you as an expert in the field."
-- Brenna Boyce, Manager of Community Programs, Associated Content.
"...1UP published one of the most important stories in the site's history... it is glorious."
-- Jeremy Parish, Editor, 1UP.com on my article "8 Bit-Lit: Worlds of Power".
A Selection of Things I've Written:
8-bit Lit: Inside the Worlds of Power Series (awarded one of 1up.com's The Best Retro Features of the year)
How This Helps:
I have been scraping by on meager sales of my possessions on ebay, trawling Amazon's Mechanical Turk, ghostwriting SEO optimized text for clients and surviving on financial aid refunds (I am an independent student aged 34, I just completed my AAS and was accepted this year to Rutgers-Newark to complete my Bachelors). I maintain The Code to help signal boost and spotlight corners of geek culture that have been undeservedly ignored. I write. I design. And I think my experiences, my work, my time, and my talents are worth something. I hope that you agree, too. By contributing a set amount a month, you will help me survive, eat, and create content and get an education to better myself.
What You'll Get:
Read below to look at the various rewards available-- everything from a surprise package of things from my personal collection to 2 hours of design work/copy editing/etc... plus the satisfaction of knowing you are making a very real difference in my life and the work that I do. Thanks for reading, and I hope you will consider becoming a Patron.
I have over 13 years of experience in graphic design and web design & have been a prolific freelance writer on geek culture in general, and video games in particular, since 2006. My writing was published on 1up.com, featured on the front page of Yahoo.com, and in the magazine PC Gamer. I was also a weekly columnist for 411 Mania Games, a Featured Video Games Contributor for Associated Content (now Yahoo! Voices), and co-hosted the Geekly Weekly podcast for a year with Staff Editor for the New York Times Photo Desk James N.
I have also worked as social media consultant to small businesses and my digital design work spans everything from role-playing game supplements to logo, t-shirt and poster design for professional wrestlers.
I also like to help people!
- I co-host bi-annual charity fundraisers with The Munchausen Society at Wicked Faire & The Steampunk World's Fair (and we're expanding to raise funds at even more events)
- Advocate for strong anti-harassment policies and safe spaces at conventions that I attend
- Helped organize public relations, media outreach, recorded an audio book & designed the website for a disabled dad's panel on disability for Bronycon 2014; it was so sucessful he was invited back. I was asked to help the effort again for 2015.
- Assisted artists like macncheesecabra set up and sell artwork & t-shirts online
- Consulted with small businesses on SEO optimization
- Wrote personal essays on being a male survivor of abuse
- Created business cards for everyone from artists to computer engineers
- Ghost-written over 200 articles for Textbroker clients
I want to keep doing this work, and working with & helping people and also be compensated for my time and effort. My ultimate dream is to be able to offer a bi-monthly podcast along with a blog updated every day of the week. I know times are rough for a lot of people, so I've set this campaign to pay monthly-- no matter how much I do or produce, you'll only be charged the amount you chose once per month.
What Industry Professionals Have Said About Me & My Work:
Shawn Struck is as close to the soul of Internet geek culture as it gets, having been there almost since the beginning. He was blogging before they were called blogs. He was writing articles on gamer culture before anyone thought of it as gamer culture. He was arranging covers of Final Fantasy music before OCRemix, interviewing Nobuo Uematsu before GameSpot, running forums before "community moderator" ever became a paid position, and doing human interest pieces on gamer parenting for a readership that was, at the time, mostly teenagers--and he's never let up since. For over fifteen years, he's been both a keen observer of nerd culture and one of its great bastions of conscience, cutting through oceans of slick PR and fanboy bickering to deliver genuinely insightful commentary on the issues actually matter to fans: the creative future of popular media, the changing ways in which we enjoy them, the communities we build around them, and the rights of those who are marginalized within those communities. As a game developer, when I want to look beyond the mechanics of a game and into how and by whom it will be played, or delve into the most recent debate or controversy dividing the community, I know exactly who to ask: long before the big gaming news sites can bang out a blog post, Shawn is already there.
-- Kevin Chen, Game Developer
Whether it's blog posts on social justice or articles on the gaming industry, Shawn Struck's writing shows the attention to and respect for his craft -- and for people -- that make his work so appealing. His writing is smart without being pretentious and he seems genuinely uninterested in resorting to the sort of lowest-common-denominator copy that the geekblogging world is rife with. What a breath of fresh air!
-- Marissa Sammy, writer & former Copy Editrix of Sequential Tart
"Your professional and hands-on experience coupled with your library of informative and well-written Video Game content establishes you as an expert in the field."
-- Brenna Boyce, Manager of Community Programs, Associated Content.
"...1UP published one of the most important stories in the site's history... it is glorious."
-- Jeremy Parish, Editor, 1UP.com on my article "8 Bit-Lit: Worlds of Power".
A Selection of Things I've Written:
8-bit Lit: Inside the Worlds of Power Series (awarded one of 1up.com's The Best Retro Features of the year)
The Gaming Generation: Once A Gamer, Always A Gamer
Corporate Combos: When Game Companies Merge
Breasts, Geeks, Sci-Fi Cons, Creeps, Open Source, and Livejournal: The Perfect Storm
An Interview With The Angry Video Game Nerd, ScrewAttack's James Rolfe
The Status Is Not Quo: Being A Geeky Woman Online & What Men Need To Do
Twitch.tv Is Digging Its Own Grave
How This Helps:
I have been scraping by on meager sales of my possessions on ebay, trawling Amazon's Mechanical Turk, ghostwriting SEO optimized text for clients and surviving on financial aid refunds (I am an independent student aged 34, I just completed my AAS and was accepted this year to Rutgers-Newark to complete my Bachelors). I maintain The Code to help signal boost and spotlight corners of geek culture that have been undeservedly ignored. I write. I design. And I think my experiences, my work, my time, and my talents are worth something. I hope that you agree, too. By contributing a set amount a month, you will help me survive, eat, and create content and get an education to better myself.
What You'll Get:
Read below to look at the various rewards available-- everything from a surprise package of things from my personal collection to 2 hours of design work/copy editing/etc... plus the satisfaction of knowing you are making a very real difference in my life and the work that I do. Thanks for reading, and I hope you will consider becoming a Patron.