On My Amazon Affiliation — Why? How? What!?

To All My Anime Compatriots,

As you know, dear readers, I am a hobby blogger (*cue jazz hands*); no matter how much I may love blogging (and wouldn’t it be my pipe dream to blog professionally!), I also work an out-of-the-home, full-time job. I didn’t start this blog with the goal of making money, but rather because I wanted a place where I could ramble about this new media with which I had fallen in love. And I have. I’ve rambled about everything from anime to otome to my anxiety, and you’ve all listened. You’ve been great and dedicated and supportive, so thank you.

But now that my blog has taken off in ways that I never expected (I HAVE READERS!? WHAT!?), now that it has grown, I have high hopes that it will continue to flourish and reach even more anime compatriots. I’ve started going to anime cons (so~ fun!), and I’ve met so many great people through blogging! I’ve become part of this amazing larger community, and I’m not going to let that comradery that slip from my grasp any time soon!

I also have these specific goals, you see: purchasing my own domain name, growing my readership, holding small giveaways (soon!?) connecting more and to continuing to produce both high-quality and rambling content…

…maybe to eventually move from wordpress.com hosting to the wordpress.org interface…

I’m not really sure right now.

But I do know that some of those goals take money, and while I’m not in this hobby to earn the big dollars, I like the idea of my little blog paying for itself, or even (pipe dream again) of having a small fund for when my tech bites the dust and I need an upgrade…

And hosting fees. Which stink, but are highly necessary.

Due to these things, I’ve decided to sign up as an Amazon affiliate. I’m small, but these links are a way to see if I could maybe take a step toward my goals. (Right now, my own domain name/hosting-through-wordpress.com-or-otherwise is high on the list.)

But that doesn’t mean I’m going to be pushing products on you for no reason at all. That would stink and it is so NOT what “Shoujo Thoughts: Otaku Ramblings” is all about.

As of today, my affiliation just means that if you click the ad images at the end of a post (like the Tokyo Ghoul post I just published)—each of which I will always select because I think they are cool and applicable and relevant and maybe I even own them, I promise—and then buy said product (or any product after getting to Amazon, honestly, so long as you got there through my link), I will make a little money. (^^)~**

It’s also super neat because I can lend support to the industry, too!! (Like, “Hey, look! If you like Attack on Titan, you can buy the DVD set legitimately and then you would OWN it and wouldn’t that be awesome!!” You know? Not that anyone ever has to buy anything, but just as an example!)

I guess I just wanted to make this post in the interests of full disclosure and transparency. I wanted to keep you guys updated on my goings on.

So, let’s see how this goes, and I’ll catch you guys later!

~Shoujo 処女 ✿♡

Yes, this is the thing I am doing

[Look! Random affiliate links to cool stuff that I own!]