Share
The Sartorial Geek Podcast
A Kid’s Guide to Fandom with Amy Ratcliffe
This week’s episode is sponsored by the wonderful geeky illustrator Karen Hallion. Click here to check out her beautiful art and her Patreon!
Speaking of Patreon, this week we want to thank Kellie, Michelle, Janelle, Angie, Sophia, and Michelle. If you’d like to join them in keeping things running at The Sartorial Geek, you can head to patreon.com/sartorialgeek.
Drumroll, please… this week we’re chatting with Amy Ratcliffe! About her new book! That Liz and I are featured in!
If you don’t know Amy, she’s a writer and geek who contributes to various outlets including Nerdist, IGN, and Star Wars Insider. She’s written lots of wonderful nerdy things, including her latest book A Kid's Guide to Fandom: Exploring Fan-Fic, Cosplay, Gaming, Podcasting, and More in the Geek World.
The goal of A Kid’s Guide to Fandom is to help young fans get in touch with their inner geeks with the ultimate guidebook for creating, sharing, and enjoying the world of fandom.
Filled with history, trivia, tips and advice to getting started, and insight from creators and artists from across pop culture and specializing in a wide variety of mediums, A Kid's Guide to Fandom is the perfect geeky primer for young fans. Organized by type of fandom medium, each chapter offers a brief introduction, facts, history sidebars, and easy to digest information on how to:
- Create Fan Fic or Fan Art
- Design and Create a Cosplay
- Start a Podcast
- Design and Create Games (video games, tabletop, and other role playing games)
- Find and Create Supportive Communities
- Find and Attend Conventions
Plus, interviews with popular creatives like Alan Gratz, Erin Lefler, Jen Bartel, Daniel José Older, Rose Eveleth, Kat Kruger, and your favorite Sartorial Geek hosts!
Pre-order A Kid’s Guide to Fandom for every young person in your life, and make sure to follow @amy_geek all over the internet!
Special thanks to our executive producers for this episode Geeklery, Galaxy Gear Boutique, NW Nerd Podcast, and Karen Hallion.
More episodes
View all episodes
179. We're Back! with Liz Crowder Serota
21:16||Ep. 179178. For Christmas with Kerry Frances
24:38||Ep. 178This week’s episode is sponsored by the wonderful geeky illustrator Karen Hallion. Click here to check out her beautiful art and her Patreon!We’d also like to thank some special Patreon supporters: Sharon, Katie, Andrea, Casey, Stefanie, and Miranda.We could not be more excited to welcome Kerry Frances back, and for something so special!You may remember Kerry from Episode 91, where she talked about starring in her first movie—freaking Knives Out! Now Kerry is back to celebrate the release of her first single, titled “For Christmas.”You can listen wherever you normally listen to music, like right here on Spotify. There’s nothing like a little Christmas music to get you in the holiday spirit.Thanks for listening, enjoy your holidays, and stay nerdy!Special thanks to our executive producers for this episode Galaxy Gear Boutique, Kal-Elle, LoganArch, and Karen Hallion.177. Ray Ray Paints a Portrait
16:30||Ep. 177176. The End of our Small Biz Series
18:21||Ep. 176175. Pivoting Isn’t Failing with Tara Theoharis
28:15||Ep. 175We’d like to give a big thank you to this week’s sponsor, LoganArch! Check out their Chicago-based shop for all of your geeky and nostalgic needs.Continuing our small business series, this week we’re chatting with The Geeky Hostess, Tara Theoharis. Tara and I chat about the journeys both of our businesses/brands have been through, from our hopeful beginnings to creating full time to taking a step back so we could have a paycheck.If you run a business or brand and feel like you need a change but don’t want to “fail,” I hope you feel less alone after listening to this episode. And please reach out to @geekyhostess or me if you’d like to chat!Have a great week, and stay nerdy.Special thanks to our executive producers for this episode Galaxy Gear Boutique, Kal-Elle, LoganArch, and Karen Hallion.174. Hire a VA with Pixie Pickaxe Creative
27:20||Ep. 174This episode is sponsored by Geeklery, the small batch fandom jewelry brand of your dreams. Make sure to follow them @geeklery because their small batch collections change often!Have you ever hired a VA? Thought of working with one? Even know what that is?If you’re a tired or overwhelmed business owner, this episode is for you. If you’re very organized and like helping other people stay organized, this episode is also for you!Andra Hermann of Pixie Pickaxe Creative walks us through the wild world of Virtual Assistants. She tells us about her unexpected journey to becoming a VA and explains the ways a well-suited VA can help businesses of any size. Honestly, recording this episode made me wish I had hired help like this ten years ago!To learn more about Andra and her VA business, follow her on Instagram and head to her website.Have a great week, and stay nerdy!Special thanks to our executive producers for this episode Galaxy Gear Boutique, Kal-Elle, LoganArch, and Karen Hallion.173. Understanding PR with Kosi Harris
21:55||Ep. 173Thank you, NW Nerd, for sponsoring today’s episode! NW Nerd is a podcast chronicling the people and the passions that make geek life so great. These are the stories that make us nerds. Listen wherever you listen to podcasts and follow online at @nw_nerd.For our third episode in this SG Small Business series, please welcome your friendly neighborhood publicist Kosi Harris.Before I started working with Kosi, I really didn’t understand the difference between PR and marketing. Thankfully I had Kosi to explain that to me, and luckily now you do, too!I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Kosi in different ways over the past few years, and I’m really glad you get to meet her now. If you’re considering expanding your business with publicity, I hope this episode gives you some insight into questions to ask yourself ahead of time and ways to get your business ready for PR.If you have any questions or would like to inquire about working with her, please follow Kosi at @kosi_harris_pr. Have a great week, and stay nerdy!Special thanks to our executive producers for this episode Galaxy Gear Boutique, Kal-Elle, LoganArch, and Karen Hallion.If you enjoyed this episode, you might love the rest of our episodes! Click here to browse the archives.172. Creative Whirlwind with Mallory Shoemaker
29:29||Ep. 172If you’re looking for fun ways to sport your geekiness, may we recommend Galaxy Gear Boutique. Galaxy Gear Boutique is the place to go for ready-to-ship items like headbands, scarves, and scrunchies to custom sewn clothing items like gloves, kimonos, and leggings. Follow @GalaxyGearBoutique for the latest!Welcome to the second episode of our SG Small Business series with special guest Mallory Shoemaker!Mallory and I have been working together for years, and I’m so excited to talk with her about the behind the scenes of being a creative. We talk all about the whirlwind of doing all kinds of creative projects at all kinds of capacities: hobby, freelance, and full time!If you’ve ever been overwhelmed by creative possibility, this episode is for you. If you’ve ever felt like every other creative person must have a path straight from the heavens and you’re constantly struggling to find the way, this episode is for you. If you feel alone on your creative journey, we hope you fell less alone after chatting with us.Also! Mallory has a Kickstarter that you should absolutely check out (and share and back if you can!).Alright, friends. Have a great week, and stay nerdy.Special thanks to our executive producers for this episode Geeklery, Galaxy Gear Boutique, NW Nerd Podcast, LoganArch, Kal-Elle, and Karen Hallion.If you enjoyed this episode, you might love the rest of our episodes! Click here to browse the archives.171. SG Business School with Rose del Vecchio
34:18||Ep. 171This week’s episode is sponsored by the wonderful geeky illustrator Karen Hallion. Click here to check out her beautiful art and her Patreon!This episode marks the beginning of a special series dedicated to our geeky small business owners.Each week for the next (?) weeks, we’re chatting with fellow nerdy business owners about the behind the scenes of running their brands. Our hope is to help each other prepare for the holiday season and feel less alone in this chaotic journey of entrepreneurship.First up is Rose del Vecchio, co-founder of FanMailBox and Charmed: Box of Shadows.In this episode Rose and I discuss the different forms our business ownership has taken: as a hobby, as a full time job, and as a side gig while working various hourly/salaried positions.We talk about the difficulties in trying to have enough time and energy to do *everything* as well as the perceived shame in not running your business full time.I hope this conversation is helpful to anyone trying to navigate how to pay themselves while also following their dreams. And if there’s anything specific you’d like us to cover in this series, please let me know!Have a great week, and stay nerdy.Special thanks to our executive producers for this episode Geeklery, Galaxy Gear Boutique, NW Nerd Podcast, LoganArch, Kal-Elle, and Karen Hallion.If you enjoyed this episode, you might love the rest of our episodes! Click here to browse the archives.