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Young Writers Society


Squills: Now Hiring



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Mon Mar 09, 2015 1:35 am
BluesClues says...



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Are you an avid reader of Squills? Do you dream of writing as part of our regular staff someday? Well, dream no more! We here at Squills are interesting in hiring several new general reporters, as well as potential columnists.

What the Heck Is Squills?



For those of you who don't know, Squills is the official YWS newsletter. It includes columns on writing advice, a humorous Q&A column, coverage of YWS events and contests, polls, and interviews with site members. You can find our past issues here or search articles by author, column, or topic by checking out the index .

What We’re Looking For



We want people who are enthusiastic about YWS, interested in writing for the official site newsletter, and willing and able to dedicate the time to writing one article every other week. As you may have noticed, our newsletters tend to be on the short side lately, so this third quality is extremely important if you’re interested in applying as a staff member! As Squills is the official site newsletter, we are looking for writers who are willing to work to revise and edit their articles as needed so the newsletter can maintain a high standard.

What You Could Write



If you read Squills regularly, you know that we have several columns (such as Two Cents and Adventures in Writing) as well as general articles about site updates and events, member interviews, random polls, and contest coverage. While you can apply to be a columnist, if you have ideas for a fresh column, all Squills staff members are expected to contribute to general articles as often as possible. For example, I always cover New Arrivals as well as my regular column, while @Aley or @Omni often snag a Featured Member interview. There are some articles that absolutely must be covered, so if we don’t have enough general reporters, the columnists need to lend a helping hand!

How It Benefits You



In addition to winning the people’s fame and ovation forever, you get to be part of a great staff that writes a fantastic newsletter. Furthermore, this newsletter caters to a site of over 30,000 members! If you contribute regularly as part of the Squills staff, this can be a nice touch on your resume. I will willingly write letters of recommendation for regularly contributing staff who have been a part of the team for at least three months. Our other editors may also choose to do so at their discretion. Plus, as a staff member, you have the opportunity to contribute to the running of Squills by throwing out ideas for publicity, new columns or articles, events, or anything else you can think of! And when the current editors retire, we hire new editors out of our existing staff, so there is also opportunity for advancement.

How to Apply



If you're interested in applying to Squills, PM Squillsbot indicating your interest. Let them know whether you would like to be a general reporter or a columnist.

If you are interested in being a columnist, please submit a proposal for an original column. This should be a column that is not a repeat of an existing column, or a column that puts a new spin on something we already have. For example: We do not have a column that keeps up with contests around the site, so you could do that. Alternatively, you could do a writing advice column--which we do have--but shake it up by using an unreliable narrator-type persona that tells writers exactly the opposite of what they should actually do. ("Never show, kids. Always tell.")

Once you have indicated your interest, you will be asked to submit a sample article. If you're applying as a columnist, this should be the type of article you would write for your proposed column. If you're applying as a general reporter, this can be any type of article you might see in Squills--an interview (for purposes of your sample, the interview can be made up), coverage of an event or contest, or an update on a Storybook or novel that you're following.

Your sample article will be submitted to the staff for voting.

What If I Get a Rejection?



Here's the grand thing about Squills: You get as many chances as you want to apply! If the staff gives an initial no to your article, you will be given feedback on your article so you can revise, edit, and resubmit. Even if the staff votes no then, you can reapply at any time in the future. Similarly, if we feel your idea for a column is too similar to a pre-existing column, you can always apply as a general reporter instead, or return to us with ideas for a different column!

So what are you waiting for? PM Squillsbot to apply!
  





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Mon May 18, 2015 2:51 am
SquillsBot says...



Available Positions



1. General reporter. General reporters cover general articles. These include required articles like coverage of Review Days or Featured member interviews, as well as anything else you can think of (i.e. holiday articles, etc).

2. Columnist. There are several columnist positions currently open. A complete list, including descriptions of each, can be found in the spoiler below.

Spoiler! :
Community reporter.This columnist is in charge of covering events around YWS. This could include upcoming or recently-completed Review Days, YWS holiday events like the Valentine's Day Extravaganza put on by the mods in February, or the YWS Hunger Games. It also includes interviews with Featured Members, authors in the Literary Spotlights, top Review Day reviewers, or moderators. Finally, this column can also include polls of YWSers' interests and similar things. Examples can be found here (interview), here (polls), or here (events).

Social correspondent. The social correspondent is in charge of the "Society Pages," a column that's a bit like a nice version of a gossip column in a regular newspaper or magazine. Examples can be found here .

Code master. The Code Master is in charge of "The Code Breaker Challenge," a weekly challenge that presents three codes at varying degrees of difficulty. Each code is assigned points, and the first Squills reader to solve a code gets points and is announced in the next issue! Examples can be found here .


3. Original columnist. The third option is to pitch an idea for your own original column. Before submitting a sample article, you would first have to pitch your idea. Basically, we would want to make sure that it's different from anything else we already have as part of the newsletter.

Once you decide which position you would like to apply for, you'll need to PM us a sample article. You can write about anything you'd like--just imagine that you're part of the Squills staff and are submitting an article for publication. The best idea is to write the kind of article you would write if you got the position you're applying for. If you're applying as an original columnist, you'll want to write a sample from your planned column; otherwise, you can use one of the ideas from the descriptions in the spoiler.

(If you choose to do an interview, I suggest inventing a fake user and making up the interview. Just make sure the introduction and interview questions are good.)

You do not have to worry about official Squills formatting in your sample article.

Make sure the sample article is your best writing, because it will be presented to the staff for voting! If the staff votes yes, you're in. If the staff votes no, we'll give you their specific feedback, and then you're welcome to revise and resubmit. You can resubmit as many times as you want.

If you become a staff member, we will expect an article at least every other week.

Further examples of articles from previous editions of Squills can be found in the Index .
  








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