Intl Wota Samizdat will be a DIY method by which fans of J-music and idols can easily share their enthusiasm with others in an informative manner.

As currently conceived, Intl Wota wants to provide PDF files that people can print / photocopy and pass around to interested folks at conventions and other gatherings where others would be open to J-music or idol culture. What these handouts will contain are very short introductory articles about different aspects of Japanese music, and it can be tailored to suit the needs of the person handing it out or the event being attended. So if a VK band is playing at a con, it can use rock-oriented articles; if the gathering is loli-friendly, then U15 and pop girl groups could be the focus. Ultimately, all the samizdats directs the reader to Intl Wota and other related sites, hopefully expanding everyone’s audience.

That means having a basic format and then filling it in with whatever is requested by the person who’s requesting the samizdat. This also means having a library of articles covering a wide range of tastes and interests. Interested samizdat-users will look at a menu of possible articles, go “I need this this and this” - the IW team compiles it, converts to PDF, and send the file off. They get to spread the word on J-music in an informative manner, we get some publicity.

With that in mind, the first step is to hold an open call for short articles - 150 to 200 words - for possible inclusion. The compact nature of the writing makes it a bit of a challenge, but certainly one within the reach of most bloggers in our community. If your article is included in a samizdat, your blog’s title and URL will also be a part of that article..

If you’re interested in contributing, please e-mail at samizdat@intlwota.com with your blog’s name and URL as well as what subjects you wish to write about. This could include a particular group or idol, a very general how-to guide (how to buy Jpop online, where to go for the latest news, etc), or anything else that would help a new fan of J-music. Do not write the actual pieces yet, though, as we are still in the planning stage.

There is no timeline for the samizdats as yet, but we would like to have them available by the summer anime convention season.