Hi, everyone. My name's Phil Yu, and I'm the founder, editor and primary blogger behind this blog, Angry Asian Man. I've been running this website for over thirteen years. When I first launched the blog, it was a humble little endeavor, and I honestly didn't expect anyone to read it, outside of a few close friends. Well, it's still a humble little endeavor, with maybe just a little more notoriety now. Somehow, over a dozen years later, it's become a thing. A destination. A resource. And I've dedicated myself to managing and writing the best blog I can.
So thank you for reading.
Heads up. Later on in this post, I'm going to be asking you for money. Just letting you know, if you're not interested in reading that sort of thing. Before we get to that part, I have a few things to share.
Happy Anniversary
Last month happened to mark the one-year anniversary of getting laid off from my job. For nearly seven years, I worked as a content producer for Yahoo! Movies, one of the internet's biggest movie-related websites. It was a fun job, and had its share of cool perks -- not least, a steady paycheck plus benefits -- but it had to come to an end. One year ago, I packed up my cubicle and wondered what the hell I was going to do next.
The answer was fairly obvious. It was finally time to make Angry Asian Man my full-time gig. By then, it was already certainly way more than a hobby. I had already been working at it longer than I've done any one thing my entire life. For years, I had been devoting long, late hours to the blog while concurrently working the regular 9-to-5. It was basically like working two full-time careers. It was now or never. So I took the plunge.
I normally don't divulge a lot of details about my personal life. A lot of people have probably assumed for years that running Angry Asian Man was my full-time gig. Now it actually is. The past twelve months have been one of the most creatively fulfilling periods of my life. It's also been incredibly challenging.
The Ask
It's taken me a long time to work up the courage to write this post. Part of it is a hesitation to open up about myself, but the other part is a reluctance to ask for help. I wavered back and forth over whether or not people would be willing to open up their wallets and lend a hand, but as a good friend advised me, I would never know if I didn't ask. So... this is the part where I ask. Can you help me keep Angry Asian Man going?
I am continually amazed and thankful for your readership. But as this blog has grown, so has the cost of keeping it running. We're not in danger of going dark or anything, but between escalating server costs and other fees, steering this ship is not cheap. On top of all that, running this site has become my job job -- it is partially how I pay the rent, utilities, groceries, etc. This website generates a little bit of cash through banner advertising and affiliate sales -- fairly typical, though not particularly lucrative methods of generating blog revenue -- but as I assessed the situation, I got to wondering what could happen if I directly appealed to you, my readers.
Would you consider joining with me to help keep Angry Asian Man going? Are you a regular reader? Is this blog a daily destination for you? If you've found this site's content useful, informative, entertaining, provocative and/or valuable, would you consider pitching in with a modest donation? Your generous support will help pay the bills, keep the work going, but most importantly, affirm through your partnership that this work is important and appreciated.
Join the Angry Asian Nation
I've set up a donation page with PayPal links. You can make a one-time donation, but it would really help if you signed up to make a recurring monthly automatic donation at a level that works for you. Even a regular contribution of as little as $1 a month will make a difference. You can cancel it anytime.
There's no paywall, no restricted content. Either way, you can continue to read and enjoy the blog as usual.
Editorially speaking, things around here will continue as usual. There is no squadron of Angry Asian Bloggers -- it's always been pretty much just me, with the help of one awesome, intrepid intern (who receives a tiny stipend). Eventually -- with your help? -- I'd love to get into a position to take on more paid contributors.
This is a new reality for me, and I thank you for your understanding. Consider this the first of many semi-regular appeals for support. I'd love to set up some kind of nifty reward system, where you get like a tote bag or something for signing up. That's probably coming. In the meantime, all I've got is an honest appeal to your altruism, and the thanks of a grateful blogger. Donate here.
Stay Angry.
