Last reminder: WoW Insider is LFM!
by Elizabeth Harper 
Mar 26th 2007 at 2:44PM
Just a reminder, we are looking for some new bloggers and columnists to add to our staff. If you weren't aware of this already, you can read up on the details here. However, today is the last day we'll be accepting applications, so if you want to apply you've only got until midnight (EST) to send yours to us. So what are you waiting for? Read up on what we're looking for and send in your application!
Filed under: WoW Insider Business
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
freehugz Mar 26th 2007 4:26PM
You have more than a hundred applications and you still want more ?!?!!?
I kinda feel bad for whoever has to sort through all of those.
Ryan Carter Mar 26th 2007 5:06PM
Yeah, but if the application person just hits SHIFT and clicks on them, it will autoloot much easier. Saves time.
Jim Mar 26th 2007 6:14PM
I’m kind of sad that they found more than a hundred people willing to write for ten cents per word. Sure, for $0.10/word you can hire a student or wannabe semi-pro looking to build a portfolio. They’ll be disappointed to eventually learn that they won’t be able to use their tearsheets for just about any kind of work outside the genre game industry, of course, which is one of the reasons why niche writing generally pays out for more than the market rate. Even as a regular gig as opposed to one-shot freelance work, IGN should be paying at least a buck a word. Anyone who’d take less than that is wasting their time.
Skew Mar 26th 2007 5:24PM
Its just too bad that the vendors dont want them, and they're not disenchantable into something useful.
seperioth Mar 26th 2007 7:14PM
Hmmm I got a question.
RL is kind of busy I got alot on the go. But I think I could write up a couple nice posts like you guys do. I dont really care about being paid or anything. Is there anything for a guy like me who will write the odd thought out post?
Elizabeth Harper Mar 26th 2007 6:06PM
Well, I don't know that I really WANT to read through any more, but I am interested in getting the best writers possible. And since we gave everyone a 10 day application deadline, I felt a last reminder would be polite.
And shift-clicking is way too slow for me -- don't you know there's an "autoloot" feature you can enable in interface options? ;)
Quoi Mar 26th 2007 6:28PM
Umm, Jim, you'd be getting paid to write about WoW. It's not like it's the freaking New York Times (no offense meant, actually, WoWInsider probably has more journalistic integrity).
It would most likely be a side job for anyone who takes it, and a pretty good one at that.
Jim Mar 26th 2007 6:55PM
"Umm, Jim, you'd be getting paid to write about WoW."
I'm trying to figure out how this does anything but reinforce my points.
Websites tend to underpay for content, specialty websites tend to underpay even moreso, and genre game sites are even worse than that. I see this as taking advantage of a fannish market to get cheap content, not as a boon to someone who is driven to write about WoW. It's not a good side-job, by any reasonable and objective standard.
No, we're not talking about the New York Times. We're talking about niche market web content, and no matter how you slice it, $0.10/word is insulting. I make my living as an editor and write here and there in my spare time (not often, but occasionally). I am a mediocre writer and I still won't miss Galactica for less than a buck a word, and that's my 'friends' rate. For ten cents a word, they'll get what they pay for -- amateurs and students who will, years down the road, be sorely disappointed that they took the gig.
"Well, they're writing about what they love! No dollar value can be attached to that." This is the chronic excuse of the cheapskate. I like lots of things: WoW, Family Guy, David Mitchell novels and pie. But a cheque for $50 gets you fifty words on any of the above, not 500 words. And that's if you're a non-profit society or a blood relative.
"Hey, Jim, you just wrote more than fifty words for free, you hypocrite." Not the same animal. Not even the same species.
What I want the applicants to ask themselves is this: "Am I willing to take one-tenth the average going rate for a new writer on contract with no benefits or guarantees of continuing work, and if so, for how long am I willing to do so? If I really, really liked to teach kids, would I be willing to do that for three bucks an hour? If not, why is piece-writing any different?"
John Mar 26th 2007 7:57PM
Jim,
I, like many others, cherish the thought of just putting words down about something they enjoy and getting paid for it.
I have a full-time job and writing has always been a hobby. Getting paid to do it? AND choosing my topics? AND writing about something I enjoy? Write me a $10 check and I will endorse along the dotted line all day.
And if I don't get it? I tried. It just means more time to hone and perfect my craft. But at least I tried.
I can understand your argument, but I don't think a majority of readers would balk at the chance to get paid to play WoW.
Krystalle Mar 27th 2007 1:19AM
Jim,
To be honest, I'd write about the game anyway. Be it in emails to friends, running a community (which I already do), on guild forums, in IMs with other gamer friends, etc. This would simply serve to concentrate that writing, and give it a home.
If I get lucky enough to land a post here, I see nothing but a situation full of win, personally. I'm not out for the glamour and fame. (Well, okay, if I develop a elite cadre following of guys who want to bring me pie and are willing to let me have first dibs on all the rogue leather drops, maybe fame would be cool.) I'm out for the love of the thing; writing, meeting other cool folks, and WoW.
I'm sorry, but I just don't see a negative at all in it. :)
Quoi Mar 28th 2007 1:39AM
Man, Jim, being an editor and writing for a living must have made you jaded. When I write, I do it because I enjoy it. I would enjoy writing about WoW. Hell, I'd do it for free. Getting paid for it would be cool, though. Not all of us are journalists.
Mylena Mar 29th 2007 8:09PM
Jim,
You're right, it is a niche market, and perhaps we are being offered less than the professional going rate. But you forget one thing: this is a niche market that we WANT to write for. Amateur does not necessarily mean bad writing. Some of us have no way of commanding the sorts of fees that you suggest we hold out for, simply because we need the experience to show we are worth the money.
An opportunity like this, in a cut-throat industry like this, is rare and cherished by those of us looking to make use of our writing for more than just forum posts and rants. I have had only two chances to break into the industry I love, and this is by far the most compelling. This chance is not for everyone, true, but to disparage the opportunity because of the lack of viability of the experience outside the industry is to ignore how vital it would be for those looking to stay in the industry.
Mylena Mar 29th 2007 11:45PM
Jim,
You're right, it is a niche market, and perhaps we are being offered less than the professional going rate. But you forget one thing: this is a niche market that we WANT to write for. Amateur does not necessarily mean bad writing. Some of us have no way of commanding the sorts of fees that you suggest we hold out for, simply because we need the experience to show we are worth the money.
An opportunity like this, in a cut-throat industry like this, is rare and cherished by those of us looking to make use of our writing for more than just forum posts and rants. I have had only two chances to break into the industry I love, and this is by far the most compelling. This chance is not for everyone, true, but to disparage the opportunity because of the lack of viability of the experience outside the industry is to ignore how vital it would be for those looking to stay in the industry.