Heroes of Cosplay Sanctuary

Welcome to 2020 Cosplayers!  Are you looking for a platform that isn't completely driven by an algorithm? In this Podcast, I'll give you my honest review of Vero and how it compares to some of the other platforms that can still be used to build a following and gain under-priced attention. If you haven't heard of Vero, you can find out more below: The Vero YouTube Channel https://www...

Happy New Year! In this very special Year-End Episode, we're talking to the Squad: Adi, Nina, Lis, Michelle, and Erika talk about their experiences in Cosplay. We were live at Holiday Matsuri in Orlando, Florida for this cast where the group performed as both the Spice Girls and Mean Girls. Of course they were each there showcasing many other Cosplays for the event. Their collaborations are a...

Are your Cons a little crunchy?  Are you throwing a bunch of stuff together at the last minute and hoping the hot glue sticks?  Is it just the stress that gets you through the event? I hope not.  There's a lot that goes into a live even, while trying to keep everything else balanced and going at the same time. We're just normal people, so time is everything. I have a few tips for avoidin...

An important topic, I feel, for sure is bringing up the overtones of how lopsided Comic Books are in terms of male and female characters - those that we portray and have fandom for in the world of Cosplay. One thing I do not mention, because there's a lot going on here, is any genderbend in the interpretation of a character.  Possibly we'll talk about this in a later episode. It's a...

Cosplay and Fandom are international phenomenons.  People all over the world spend time creating fan made art, costumes, and promote the stories and movies that we have grown to love over the years. This week, my guest, an upcoming Cosplayer in the International Cosplay Community - Lady Canary Cosplay. Living in Italy, her passion for Black Canary has been recognized all over the world, and even c...

In part two of this series, I'm telling you about the basics of fitness. Fitness is everywhere.  You can't scroll without noticing, it's on YouTube, streaming, cable, radio, and all places in-between.  There are online programs, at-home programs, apps, trainers, and thousands of choices. This cast is all about keeping it simple, because you're a Cosplayer and you have enough st...

First of all for those listeners in the United States - Happy Thanksgiving! In terms of health and fitness, the holidays are generally the low point.  It's the time when we 'forget' about training and nutrition and spend time with family...usually eating a lot.  New Years typically becomes the time when we think we need to get back to the gym. So, today, in this episode, I'm go...

Not to be confused with "Why a Cosplay Podcast", which was my first ever episode, this episode talks about why I decided to spend time on this mainstream Fandom hobby to see what it would lead to. In previous episodes and even my interivew with Astravoid Cosplay, I mentioned having a strong "why" in Cosplay as you may have with any other interest or passion. If you're here...

Cosplay is for everyone and it's for fun...so why are there so many politics? Like every industry, it does have it's unwritten 'do's and don't's' for what is acceptable and what "should" be done at a Con or as a Cosplayer. Some ignore it, some create it, and others (like me) generally avoid it. Competitive Cosplay can get rough. There's a lot going...

In this episode, I talk about the impact you can make with Cosplay. This is optional. Cosplay is for everyone, and it's not a requirement that putting on the superhero costume means you have to be an actual superhero. What I mean is, you have an opportunity to make a positive impact with what you've chosen to do. There are many ways to express this, to reach out to the community, and cre...

My very first Special Guest for the Heroes of Cosplay Sanctuary is an East Coast-based cosplayer who has recently taken the internet by storm. Even though she considers herself new to cosplay, she’s been featured on many Instagram pages for cosplay, and has won several contests for her amazing costuming ability. Her likeness to Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey has been recognized by websites like xmenfil...

The expectations for the Cosplayer have changed dramatically in the last few years. It's ultra-competitive, it's all about gaining more and more followers, attending every single convention that comes up, and every single weekend of your life is supposed to be working on costumes, coming up with more and more creative ideas and outdoing yourself.  Always raising the bar as the bar of exp...

Are you being judged? By yourself and others in Cosplay? Cosplay has become ultra-competitive.  Not only do you feel the pressure of making the costume and showing up, but now it seems that you'll be judged if you do not show up in a costume!  It's just expected when you go to a Con. This week, I want to explore the feelings behind, and the imagination that goes into judgement. Often, it...

Not me...but are you? Are we all? More and more it seems that we have to obsess over our hobbies and addict ourselves to the escape of Cosplay. How do I know when I've gone too far, spent too much, or need to "unplug" like I would from any other hobby that becomes habit forming?  Good thing you're here. In this episode I'm walking through the feelings of addiction with Cos...

What if I told you that you DO NOT have to be a role-model for anyone when you Cosplay? Would you agree with me, or disagree? Do you even care about what people think of you at the conventions you attend with your friends? I believe that you do. This is one of the toughest spots for a Cosplayer - getting beyond starting and attending and into a place of influence where there are expectations for b...

Welcome back HoCS fans! After a series on Instagram, I thought it would be a good time to talk about the overall picture of influencer marketing. More often now, it's becoming part of a marketing mix for companies large and small to reach out to individuals online and ask them to promote products and services in exchange (often) for that product or service. Sometimes it's attending a Con...

In this episode, we're talking about one of the more difficult things to do as a Cosplayer - batch content. What do I mean by that? Cosplayers seem to want to capture each single moment as it happens - as stories, snapchats, and in single pieces of micro-content.  All of this - especially if you're trying to gain traction on a platform - is time consuming. There's a right way to bat...

You've created a great profile, and you have 1000s of followers, but suddenly, no one likes your posts.  It's freaking Instagram again! Or...is it? In this episode I want to talk to you about shadowbans and the most common reasons they happen.  Often, it's the user, not the program that causes you to disappear from everyone's feeds.  The biggest issue is hashtags, and we may co...

You've got the basics, and you've figured out posting, and how to be patient because everyone starts at zero, but now what? Where do you go from here? Instagram is the starting point, and really you don't have to start here, but for the industry of Cosplay, there may be only a few other platforms as free and as versatile for what you do. Instagram can scale your stories/snaps, brand...

We all start at zero. There' s a day when you start to do something, and you aren't a sudden expert at it. You try it, you improve, and you learn as you go. It develops into that 'overnight' success you hear about all the time over the course of months, years, and sometimes even decades. Wherever you're seeing someone in Cosplay, it's probably not their first day. If...

I felt like I should, sooner than later, tackle a subject that has been bothering a lot of people in the Cosplay Community: The Instagram Algorithm. Yes - it's suppressing your posts. Yes, it's catering to business and sponsored ads. Yes, it's placing more ads in your feed and becoming more of a marketplace every day. But should you stop now that you have the largest body of under-p...

Impostor Syndrome is a real thing and it prevents many of us from ever doing anything with our passions because we do not feel it's good enough or could be "better" than what someone else is doing. We feel like frauds if we try to make money with something we know how to do. If you've been a Cosplayer for 10 days or 10 years and you want to get started and make some money with...

In this episode, I cover a topic that a lot of Cosplayers may want to know about: making money with Patreon and other sites where you can set up a donation center for your Cosplay.  I'd also like to point you to an example below which I think you should visit because this Cosplayer adds more value than anyone I've seen or reviewed inside the Industry: https://www.patreon.com/ErikaCosplay...

In Episode 4, I talk to you about the safety concerns of being an online influencer in the Cosplay Industry. This isn't just a talk about going to Cons and staying safe or knowing where the exits are or how to 'defend yourself' by getting Krav Maga training or carrying pepper spray. We WILL talk about the space where you think you're safe, but you might not be - online behind y...

In this episode, I talk to you about some of the main issues cosplayers are faced with internally or stereotyped with having. There's a lot to cover so, this is just a first discussion on the subject. What we are not talking about at length is harassment - that's a completely different topic! It's also one I have to cover at length and with several guests because it needs the attent...