It’s-a me, Toeps, business manager. This blog is a selection of the things I have done in recent months. Because a lot has happened, and a lot is still going to happen! What exactly, you ask? Well…
The Italian translation of "But you don't look autistic at all" came out
I had known this was coming for a while, but because this translation went through Italian publisher Il Margine and then past Blossom Books, I heard very little about it. I knew that all of Il Margine’s books used the same cover format, so I would get a different cover. At one point, I received a request through Blossom asking if they could purchase a portrait of me – a photo I had taken before, which they had seen on my Instagram. I sent an invoice and the hi-res image, and then heard nothing again for months. Occasionally I would visit the website, to see if I was already on it, but I never was. Until one day Blossom asked me if I had another photo, for the Italian author page. Oh, something was happening again.
Not much later I received two interview requests, from major Italian newspapers. I was dumbfounded, though that was just me. I hadn’t quite realized that the Italian publisher was also going to promote the book! (Which of course makes perfect sense.) So I answered the questions, which at times felt like signals from another universe, from a time when I didn’t yet live in Japan, and had bright pink, green or blue hair. The interviews aren’t out yet – they’ll probably schedule that around autism week – but according to Amazon, the book shipped to François’ father yesterday. (He’s from Corsica and also speaks Italian.)
I gave interviews in Japan
A while ago, I hired Olga to work part-time on my marketing and PR. So when the English version of This Autistic Girl Went to Japan came out, Olga started emailing newspapers, magazines, YouTubers and other influencers. For example, she emailed Nobita from The Japan Reporter, who previously made videos about autism in Japan. He followed me for a day and interviewed me for his channel.
I took pictures of my book with Elyse
Together with Elyse, a Dutch girl who also lives in Tokyo, I went to Kasai-Rinkai-Koen, the park next to Tokyo Disneyland, to take pictures of This Autistic Girl Went to Japan. And because she was sweet enough to help me, also of Elyse.
Sometimes it’s crazy that this is work, just taking pictures of my book. But since this book is not being published by another publisher, but by me (that is, I AM the publisher!), marketing through social media is one of my most important channels. We often dwell on the negative sides of social media – which are certainly there – but it is also precisely thanks to the Internet that my book is read worldwide. Isn’t that great!
I spoke with a Japanese researcher about autism
Do you know what’s secretly kind of my dream? Besides happily shouting “oishii!” and “sugoi!” as the guest of the week on Journeys in Japan, the travel program of Japanese broadcaster NHK? Releasing my book in Japanese! Now that’s not directly what this meeting was about, but perhaps it’s a step in the right direction.
In fact, last week I spoke with a researcher and editor at a scientific publishing house who focuses on girls and women with autism in Japan. With Olga by my side to interpret (that girl really is golden, SO glad I hired her), we discussed autism in Japan, my experience as a foreigner on the spectrum, AND the Japanese book market. We got valuable advice, and the two books pictured above.
There is no immediate Japanese book deal in it for me, but perhaps some other collaboration. I think it would be incredibly cool to support Japanese girls and women with autism, talk about my experiences, or contribute to increase knowledge and acceptance in Japanese society. I am deliberately staying a bit vague, because I don’t quite know all the details myself yet, but I think it is already pretty awesome that this researcher managed to find me, and invited me for a conversation.
I took photos for Aafke's new podcast
Back in January, while I was in the Netherlands, I photographed Aafke and her husband Bram for their new podcast, Opslaan Als. The job had to be crammed into my schedule at lightning speed, because I was almost back to Japan. Fortunately, the photos didn’t have to be ready the next week, so that was fine. I asked Maan to shoot with me, and Charlotte to do hair and makeup, so the super team was complete again.
Aafke and Bram’s podcast is about fascinating stories that should not be forgotten. Last summer, for example, they stumbled upon an overgrown cemetery in the Belgian countryside that belonged to a now-abandoned mental institution. What had all happened here? The first episode of the podcast comes out May 6 and can be listened to via NPO Luister.
Additionally...
I built websites for some regular clients (Iris Esther now has a wholesale page, a government project has a new backend, and for Blossom Books I’m working on a website to go with their book series And Now What?). I also had preliminary meetings for upcoming shoots, scouted locations (like the above brutalist gem in Kawasaki), met with Kei, had Japanese classes every Friday, and spent weekends with François. In short: Things are going pretty well.
PS: Follow me on Instagram for more snapshots like this. My username is @biancatoeps. PPS: If you bought my book, be sure to tag me in your book posts and/or reviews and I’ll share them! PPPS: Did you read my book and did it make you happy? Then be sure to leave a review on Goodreads or Amazon! That way my book will be found by more people.
Related posts
Two
Two big things are happening this week. One, the physical version of the English translation of my new book comes out tomorrow. The digital version came out last week, but because of Amazon’s annoying procedures, the paper edition had to wait another week. I also haven’t received an author’s copy or proof yet, because they don’t send those to Japan. Instead, I had Riemer look at it, and film it, and I made final adjustments based on that. For tomorrow’s festive photos, I just printed a color copy at the convenience store. 50 yen and some advanced origami magic, and it’s just like the real thing.
Interviews and press, and how these things actually work
Thanks to the launch of my new book (and a cringeworthy opinion piece in Trouw that we had to respond to), I have been in the papers, on the radio and even on TV over the past few months. While I was generally pleased with the coverage, I also worried from time to time, as some of the headlines were somewhat unsubtle. Although I invariably did my best to emphasize the diversity of both Japan and autism, that didn’t always come across well.
Which jobs are suitable for autistic people?
In the silly piece in Trouw to which I responded with some other autistic writers, two critical “giftedness coaches” wrote that we couldn’t have autism at all, because, ‘Writers who say they have autism but write books and are in relationships are not examples of people with autism to us.’ Why their entire article made no sense we explained clearly enough in our reply, but the fact that they mentioned the very profession of being a writer made it extra funny to me. Did these two think that someone who sits like a hermit all day in their attic, in a cabin in the woods or, in my case, at the foot of Mt. Fuji, crafting sentences, cannot be autistic? How…?
The Ikea haters
“Ikea furniture is not made for moving. It will break.” The Japanese gentleman from the moving company looked troubled. He spoke in Japanese to Google Translate, and then his phone spat out the translation in Dutch. Just before, he had asked if all my stuff was from Ikea, to which I cheerfully replied, “yes.” I love Ikea. The Japanese do not.
Why infodumping may not be the best love language after all
A girl is talking to the camera in a short clip made for platforms like Instagram and TikTok. “People often think we autistic people are egocentric because we respond to your sad story with a similar story from our own lives – but this is how we show empathy!” A bit later, a brightly colored image appears in my feed: “Infodumping is my autistic love language.” We need to normalize it, because this is how autistic people show they care, according to the widely shared post.
I like to move it, move it (the Japanese way)
Ever find yourself in this situation? You plan to move just a bed, so you contact a moving company, and before you know it, half your stuff is at your boyfriend’s place? That’s exactly what went down this Tuesday on moving day.
I went to a meeting for autistic girls in Japan
Some time ago, I was invited by Kohei Kato, an autism researcher at Tokyo Gakugei University who also works as an editorial manager at Japanese publisher Kaneko Shobo. He immediately told me not to expect too much, but he wanted to get acquainted. He gave me two books from his publishing company about autism in girls and women, in Japanese. I haven’t read the books yet (my Japanese isn’t that good, unfortunately), but the titles were promising – these books were about camouflage, or masking.
Coughing Out Loud
“I’ve never had COVID,” I said earlier this year to a friend who canceled our plans because she was down with it for the third or fourth time. “That seems unlikely,” she said. “You’re probably just someone who doesn’t show symptoms.” Although I wanted to believe that, I wasn’t so sure: “I’m still one of the few who wears a mask…” Living in Japan certainly helps with that; here, it’s quite normal. But even in the Netherlands, I wore a mask on the train; my visits are always short, and, as I reasoned, getting sick would just be a waste of my time.
Snap visit
“You know what I’ve been missing?” I thought the other day. “Just running around Tokyo with Charlotte, taking photos, reels, or whatever other content I can use for my socials.”
Soaring
Usually, when I write a blog, I know exactly what I want to say. The story has a beginning, a middle, an end, and ideally a twist, conclusion, or point I want to make. Not this time. I’m not entirely sure what I want with this piece, except to get the incident out of my head. It’s been circling around there for a day and a half now.
Narita, more than just an airport
When I was still living in Zaandam, I once saw a poster of the famous Inntel Hotel in Zaandam (which looks like a stack of traditional Zaanse houses), with the I amsterdam logo underneath. Look, I get the idea: tourists only know Amsterdam, so let’s just call everything that. The famous Muiderslot castle became Amsterdam Castle Muiderslot, an outlet in Halfweg was branded as Amsterdam The Style Outlets, and of course, our airport is called Amsterdam International Airport Schiphol – even though it’s located in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer.