Nathan Meunier's Blog, page 23

Ask The Freelance Dude #21 – Idea Quest

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Dear Freelance Dude,

When brainstorming features, I often find it difficult to come up with themes that will be marketable to publications. It feels like focusing on current “hot topics” is simply chasing what’s already been said, but how do you go about finding fresh ideas?

Signed,

Steve G.

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Dear Steve,

In some cases, finding a unique angle or spin to put on a relevant hot topic can be a great way to capitalize on game industr...

Guncraft Review (@GameSpot)

“The latest entry in the now rapidly growing “it’s like Minecraft but with guns” genre owes as much to the iconic indie sandbox game it draws from as it does to games like Call of Duty and Team Fortress 2. Guncraft may wave its influences around to an eye-rolling extent at times, but it adds enough fresh elements to the pile to round out its punchy build-and-shoot gameplay and keep you tinkering away between rounds. While matches are intensely dynamic–thanks to a solid range of classes, a few...

Up Up Down Down Left WRITE Book Launch Date Announced!

HUMANS OF THE EARTH! I’m stoked to announce that my upcoming book, Up Up Down Down Left WRITE: The Freelance Guide to Video Game Journalism, willofficially launch on August 5thin print ($14.99)and on Kindle ($8.99)! It’s been a long, crazy trip, but this beast is ready to birth. Huge thanks and shoutouts are in order to my freelance colleague and Mac|Life editor Andrew Hayward for pouring a tremendous amount of time and energy into working with me to edit this book in its various incarnations...

Listen to Me Ramble About Freelancing and Book Stuff

Podcasting, woo! I recently had a greatrecorded interviewwith the folks over at Front Towards Gamer for their “Podcast and Bullsh*t” podcast. Chatted with my man Travis Foster about freelancing in the game industry, E3 related stuff, my upcoming how-tobook, and other good stuff. It’s a pretty free-flowing interview, wherein I ramble a bit here and there, but there are some helpful tidbits and a few funny moments in there too.

You can stream the podcast online or download it here!

Back Cover for the Book (Work-in-Progress Shot)

Just had to share this. You’re looking at a quick and dirty photo of the work-in-progress painting for the back cover of my upcoming book Up UpDown Down Left WRITE: The Freelance Guide to Video Game Journalism. I am consistently blown away with the amazing work cover artist Blake Wheeler comes up with – particularly sinceIusually provide him with acrappyPhotoshop doodled and hand-scribbled messwith vague notes. This is what he comes up with. Amazing! He’s also been a really stellar guy to wor...

Full Scale (Building the Real Millennium Falcon) Feature (@The Magazine)

Super stoked to announce my first contribution to The Magazine is now live! I wrote this fun piece about a group of seriously dedicated Star Wars enthusiasts working to build a full-scale replica of the Millennium Falcon using crowdsourcing online. There’s a touching and funny love story woven throughout the piece too. If you haven’t heard about The Magazine, it’s a very cool site/app that runs a slew of interesting articles every two weeks. ABSOLUTELY worth paying $1.99 a month to subscribe...

Ask The Freelance Dude #20 – Shopping Around

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Dear Freelance Dude,

I’m gearing up to start pitching some things but have always wondered what the hard and fast rules on pitching a single idea or spec piece are. Is pitching one piece to multiple outlets a bad idea? Also, can you keep pitching a rejected piece to other outlets until it’s picked up? Are there any other tips to speed up the process or is it best left alone?

Signed,

James A.

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Dear James,

Welcome to the danger z...

Freelance Game Journo Guide Book Update

So once upon a time some freelance writer dude who makes a living writing about video games for lots of awesome magazines and websites across the universe had an idea: to write a book and jam-pack it full of in-depth, useful advice for aspiring game journos and established writers looking to carve out a careerfreelancing in the game industry. Oh hey, that’s me! And the book? Up UpDown Down Left WRITE: The Freelance Guide to Video Game Journalism.It’s coming out in justa few more months! Here’...