Surely after reading many of the comics here, some people have thought about how nice it would be if more people, not just those in Japan, but all over the world was in on authoring these works, right? Some have, of course, but not enough to make a noticeable scene―except for maybe in Taiwan, which I've been told about.

In order for that to happen, there needs to be motivation for such hard work since drawing is not an easy thing, and drawing comics even less so. Earning money is a guess that I've seen often, but only by those who don't seem to know much. That is because if the author is well-known enough to plausibly make any money from these doujinshi comics, they probably earn a much more respectable amount from all the commissions they receive for various jobs like game illustrations etc., so doing this would be more of an additional hobby for self-satisfaction to them, not a lucrative occupation.

Concerning that self-satisfaction, though, I suppose that perhaps expressing yourself is quite satisfying, but showing it to others of like-minded interest even more so. And this is especially when it comes with the excitement of a live event where you can meet such like minded individuals, even if it is a small one like that one-off Cookie Clicker doujin event among other small events like that Mou Nani mo Kowaku Nai event, that MadoMagi-only event―and especially when there are individuals that you look up to and identify with that do this kind of thing, so that you can exchange works with someone you are a fan of and have something to talk about with them. This is just a guess, but I think that it is these set of motivations that we are currently missing outside of Japan.

My ambition is to also become an author for comics like these and make works that I like so that I can be satisfied with myself as a person and also to inspire others to do the same―so that I can create these motivations we are currently missing. As I am not skilled in drawing and illustration as of yet, I have a long ways to go, but hopefully I will be able to make a difference.

I mainly make this post in hopes that there may be some who feel the same way. Well, even if there is indeed nobody here who feels the same, at least I get to find out the hard work ahead of me in convincing people that this is worthwhile.

-applause-

Well, I agree we lack the active circles and events for doujinshi to become a thing outside the japan, but looking at all those webcomics etc. I guess it is possible to live by doing what satisfy you. I actually plan to become "yuri mangaka" outside the Japan so I can definitely see where you are coming from. I'm in similar boat since I have ideas but can't draw yet xD Anyway, I wish you good luck ;3

last edited at Oct 17, 2015 7:57AM

All that aside, holding doujinshi events in other places is also hindered by copyright issues. Even in Japan it is a gray area with a sort of unspoken agreement to generally overlook the practice of selling doujinshi because it encourages a healthy and growing fanbase which will then spend more money on official products. However, you are still making money off intellectual property owned by someone else, and there are some franchises that will aggressively defend the copyright. The owners of Doraemon have done it in the past - particularly against pornographic doujinshi.

Taiwan and I think there may be some in Shanghai and other parts of China get by because China has a history of just ignoring copyright laws altogether.

Other places, particularly in western countries, seem like just asking for trouble on that front, though.

The owners of Doraemon took action mainly against one of the works that caused confusion and made people think it was actually Doraemon.

Even if you suppose that some corporations might take action against people making money from their work, that doesn't mean all the big ones would. Look at all those let's players in the West making tons of money from all the games they play, for example. Perhaps you might not have noticed, but people actually already sell fanart in conventions in the United States. Even if corporations were against it, they may prevent such works from appearing in stores, but patrolling events that last only 1-3 days wouldn't really be possible.

The most important part though, is that we've seen nobody outside Japan say they want to do this but can't because of copyright issue. So it's a non-issue for now. The main issue is getting people to want to do this in the first place.