Having moved hosting companies from directly going through WordPress to going through Bluehost, I’ve possibly gotten some new readers through the site getting re-indexed. So, while I have included notes at the bottom of each post on how to support the site, I haven’t elaborated any further on those methods. So, here’s a more in-depth list of ways to support me.

Patreon

Pretty much every post on this blog goes up on my Patreon, and generally I try to make sure that backers get to read, watch, or listen to it first, at most a week before it goes public. Generally everything on the Patreon does go public eventually – though I’ll occasionally do polls for backers for things like deciding upcoming games for Let’s Plays.

Ko-Fi

I am very much aware that with things being as they are, doing a monthly payment isn’t financially viable for everyone. So, I have a Ko-Fi account as a backup option for those who only have the cash to chip in a few bucks now and then. I don’t have any exclusive content or perks for Ko-Fi backers, but anything helps.

Affiliate Links

Whenever I review something, if I can provide an affiliate link, I do, even if it’s something I don’t like. I have read, watched, and listened to reviews of works where the critic didn’t like it, but through their criticism, I found it would be something I’d like and ended up picking it up anyway. So, I include affiliate links anyway, whether I like the work or not, because even if I don’t like something, that doesn’t mean you won’t. I have a few notes on some of (though by no-means all) the places I do affiliate links through.

Amazon

Look, Jeff Bezos sucks. Amazon doesn’t treat its workers well, and on the one hand, and Amazon has actively undermined small and independent retailers in some of the same ways that Wal-Mart has. That said, sometimes Amazon is the only place where you can find a thing, and often those Amazon affiliate links stay valid, because someone is still selling whatever the thing is long after everyone else has stopped carrying it. And, if a new version comes out, often Amazon will also have a link to that through whatever affiliate link I’ve provided, so I stick with Amazon for affiliate links as since reviews of media are generally evergreen, I try to keep the Affiliate links the same.

RightStuf (Defunct) and Crunchyroll (Less So)

This cannot be said for RightStuf.

For years I had included Affiliate Links for RightStuf. They were a good competitor to Amazon, both in terms of selection and prices, where anime and manga were concerned. They packed products for shipping better than Amazon does. They were an independent company you could rely on. And then they got bought out by Crunchyroll and now they’re the Crunchyroll store, and some of their packing has gone downhill, depending on which warehouse it gets shipped from. Additionally, items don’t come up on their search in their site if they’re out of stock, even if the item isn’t out of print.

So, you will still find my old links to RightStuf on the site in old reviews. They no longer work, and I’m working to either update the links over time to links to Crunchyroll, or just removing them. New reviews will also have affiliate links to Crunchyroll, and depending on the sale they’re still possibly a better option to go with than Amazon, though not all the time.

Bookshop.org

This is my major alternative for sales of new books – and, for that matter, manga. This is specifically because Bookshop.org also helps support small and independent bookstores. They’re not perfect, in terms of their selection – they don’t list used books for sale, which is a bit of a bummer, because used books are some of the backbone of independent bookstores’ business, but if I can find the book there, it’s worth including in the blog post, because your purchase will help keep booksellers near you alive.

Oh, and it bears mentioning here, by Small and Independent Bookstores, I do mean small bookstores. Powells isn’t listed as one of the bookshops I can choose to support, but Words With Pictures in Portland is. Same with some similar small bookstores in Canby and Oregon City. So, this is something that can make a meaningful difference.

eBay

Look, if you can’t find it anywhere else, you can find it here. I don’t have access to set up Alibris affiliate links anymore, which is kind of a bummer, because they were a good alternative option for used book sales, and eBay also often has physical copies of anime or manga along with the retro video games that I usually cover in Nintendo Power Retrospectives, so if you can’t find it elsewhere, you just might find it here.

Word of Mouth Promotion

This isn’t normally financial, but it still helps anyway – if I write an article and you like it, please share it on social media, or either on the blog here or on the Patreon. That helps new readers find the site, and that way, even if you can’t financially support me, they might be able to, then that’s just as good.