published cosplay books

Published Works

I’ve been writing and making art since I could hold a pen. My cosplay career actually started in the world of academia! Around 2004, I did my first research on anime fans in Europe. Then I discovered cosplay, and I’ve never looked back from there.

While I focus on blogging and tutorial writing today, my texts have been published in a few books and magazines over the years, in English and German. I also work as a freelance editor to help my fellow creatives with their texts.

Hit me up if you need help with your research on cosplay and fan cultures – I love chatting with young academics and journalists to educate more people about the wonderful worlds of cosplay!

Tutorial Books

  • How to Make myCostumes (2015, co-author). Frankfurt: myCostumes-Verlag.
    (German) Award-winning cosplay tutorial book. Out of print
    Buy used on amazon

Academic Writings

  • „Cosplay“ (2020) in: Handbuch Gameskultur. Über die Kulturwelten von Games (pp. 160–163). Edited by Olaf Zimmermann, Felix Falk. Berlin: Deutscher Kulturrat.
    (German) Overview of cosplay history and culture, with a focus on the video game community.
    Order here | Watch our panel at gamescom congress (in German)
  • „Kostümwechsel: Weibliche Rollendarstellungen im Cosplay“ (2016) in: Japanische Populärkultur und Gender. Ein Studienbuch (pp. 237–271). Edited by Michiko Mae, Elisabeth Scherer, Katharina Hülsmann. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
    (German) Article on girls’ and women’s cosplay culture, sexism and female gender performance in anime.
    Buy here
  • „Cosplay: A Transnational Fan Community?“ (2013) in: The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 121-140.
    English article on cosplay cultures and transcultural exchange in the anime and Star Wars fandoms. Think of it as a condensed version of my German thesis.
    Read online
  • Fan Costuming and Cosplay zu Star Wars und Anime: Die kulturelle Praxis von Fans japanischer und amerikanischer Populärkultur (2013). Gießen: Longtai Verlag.
    (German) Doctoral thesis on cosplay in the anime and Star Wars fandoms. My masterpiece and one of the first academic books on cosplay, ever!
    Read review (archived) | Buy used on amazon or contact me
  • „Cosplay“ (2010, co-author) in: Leben in Szenen: Formen juveniler Vergemeinschaftung heute. 3rd edition (pp. 45–53). Edited by Ronald Hitzler, Arne Niederbacher. Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag.
    (German) Co-author Christoph and I made the first attempt to describe cosplay as a youth subculture in the 2000s: where cosplayers meet, how they build a community inside the fandom, and why they cosplay. Written before the advent of social media, this is super retro.
    Read online

Other Articles

Cosplay Community

Contest and Con Reports

  • „DCM Finale 2017: Cosplay auf der Frankfurter Buchmesse“ (2017) for Teilzeithelden
    (German) Con report for a role-play and pop culture news blog
    Read online
  • Staff writer for DCM-Magazin (2013)
    (German) Con reports, interviews and behind-the-scenes features for the official blog of the German Cosplay Championships (DCM)
    Read online archive

Tutorials

  • „Perücken für’s Larp: Seidenglanz und Lockenpracht“ (2015) in: LARPzeit #49 – #50
    (German) Live-action role-play magazine
    Buy here

You’ll always find my latest wig tutorials in my books and here on my blog. Do you want to know what keeps me motivated? Learn more about my mission and how I started writing tutorials!