Anime-Planet.com Columnists Wanted - Apply Now!

[sothis]

Per this thread, I'm officially requesting applications for our upcoming articles section.

We're looking for dedicated writers (with a strong grasp of the English language) to author occasional columns on Anime-Planet. Columns would be weekly, biweekly, or potentially monthly.

Given the need for consistency (and the fact that your readers will likely love your work and come back for more ), please only apply if you know you can dedicate ongoing time to your column; meaning, if you know you can write a biweekly column for 3 months and then will be too busy during [school/etc], it probably won't be a good fit for what we need.

We're open to suggestion for topic types; the more creative the better, including for traditional type topics. For example, I'd love to have a 'this week in news' type column that simply goes over that week's anime/manga industry news with editorial comments on each story, rather than just posting straight press releases. Lots of ideas were brought up in the thread above and all of them were interesting, including a Japanese recipe column, cosplay column, language column, all of them!

Finally, these are volunteer positions, but you'll be getting a huge amount of press, not to mention exposure to thousands and thousands of people. It's a perfect time to get onboard as we're just getting started! :)

If you're interested in applying, please email webmaster [at] anime-planet [dot] com with the following FOR EACH COLUMN IDEA you'd like to formerly apply for:

-The name of the column - the more clever, the better!

-The description of the column - a short writeup that would describe what your column is about

-Two sample articles of approximately 500-600 words; please have these be articles you'd actually consider posting for a column, rather than a completely fabricated topic. For example, if you submit a news column, write it about actual news right now. If it's about old anime, find an old anime and write a column about it. If it's a Q&A type column, have your friends ask you some questions and then answer them. Include an article name with each writeup. Like the overall column name above, the more clever the better.

-Pictures are ok to be included, and preferable than no pictures (unless your article really doesn't make sense with anything visual). Feel free to submit the article in a word document or something so you can put pictures in, or an HTML email, etc.

-A short intro paragraph for each of the two sample articles above; this would be seen on the articles homepage as an intro into that week's column (see ANN's homepage for examples)

-Indicate the frequency of the column - weekly? Biweekly? Monthly?

-Five to Seven future article titles, and the short paragraph (this is important for each of you to think about, as you'd need a relatively consistent set of ideas to be able to continue writing this column in the long term. :) ). NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED TO SUBMIT 5 MORE FULL ARTICLES - just the TITLES and SHORT PARA

-------------

Please write your articles with a casual, conversational tone (but still professional). Make sure to run your articles through a spellchecker, get feedback from others, and try to emphasize a creative flow and tone. We aren't looking for the best writers in the world (but if you are, great!), but we do need people who are engaging and interesting to read. ^_^

Again, send this to webmaster [at] anime-planet [dot] com. At this point I'm unsure how many columnists we'll have or how many columns will run; I'll be putting together the list based on the submissions. Even if we don't choose you to be a columnist now, it's possible we might in the future. ^_^ For anyone who takes the time to apply, I greatly appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to do so.

Thanks!

[TheOmnipotentLemur]

That- That is some application. Ill get writing now, Ill have it in by christmas. =P

[sothis]

yeah... it may seem daunting, but we wanted the application process to be non trivial so applicants would be able to gauge their interest level in committing to this - as we definitely want people who will continue to come up with ideas and write for their column, rather than write one off articles. by submitting two full articles and ideas for future ones, it proves that the applicant has thought seriously about their idea, knows there's longevity to it, and makes it more likely the person would continue if given a column. ^^

[Viduus]

If I wanted to do some sort of Q&A column, how exactly would I go about writing 2 sample articles for it? Or is that an idea I should just scrap?

[sothis]

I suggest chatting wtih some anime buddies of yours, ask in the #anime-planet.com (with the .com!) channel in IRC, ask your AP friends in profile comments, etc... and have them ask you some sample questions that you could answer. :) if that doesn't work you could come up with some sample questions of your own.

Q&A-wise, make sure you specify what sort of Q&A you'd like to tackle. For example, having a general one might be too broad if you aren't fully entrenched in what's going on in the anime industry. On the other hand, if you are really into current anime, anime culture, etc, that could be another option. Or maybe you're a badass into everything and it could be a general column. Just food for thought ^_^

[TheOmnipotentLemur]

Yes! Ask us in the IRC! We will have deep, insightful questions.

(Application: 3 pages and counting. Fun. >_<)

[Viduus]

Hmmmm allright, I'll see what I can come up with.

And uh... if people read this and want to help me out, send me some questions (anything you can think of in general for now) just to see what I can come up with :)

[ThePatches]

Originally Posted by TheOmnipotentLemur

Yes! Ask us in the IRC! We will have deep, insightful questions.

(Application: 3 pages and counting. Fun. >_<)

Go for iiiiit!

Note: 500 - 600 words ~ 2 pages double-spaced. one single spaced page in 12 point font

[TheOmnipotentLemur]

Double spacing? Weak. True men work at 9pt font single spacing, in the blood of their enemies.

[sothis]

Additional suggestions:

-Make sure articles submitted have been given a thorough once-over before submitting. Sending to friends to read, revisiting the articles after a day and making sure grammar/spelling is correct via spellchecker is highly encouraged. ^_^ We will likely have an editor for minor updates, but at least at first the articles might be peer reviewed by the other columnists. Site reviewer-level english isn't required, but should be relatively free of mistakes with a good, conversational flow. (actually i forgot to put conversational up in the first post, adding now)