A new food-related blog's looking for a few writers

The call went up on Slashfood.com for a couple new bloggers earlier today, so apply if you think you've got what it takes.

[Disclaimer: I started writing recently for Joystiq.com, a video game-related sister site to Slashfood under the same parent company, but no one put me up to posting this -- I just figured that some of the folks here might fit the description of what they're looking for... maybe eerily well. ]

Mods, if this thread is in the wrong forum, feel free to move it elsewhere, but I figured that the Shopping & Cooking description on the main site index fit this content the best: "Suppliers, recipes, bottled beverages, food media and other non-restaurant food chat." As a member of this message's intended audience may not work in a food-related capacity yet, I figured that the Professional forum wasn't quite the place for it. I'm always open to correction, however.

At any rate, if you're up on all the latest "foodie" news and can elucidate yourself in a cogent, yet concise manner, then this might provide a nice part-time job for you; I actually got my game-related job applying in a similar fashion. Read below for what was actually posted regarding applicants. Good luck to any and all who try for it, and I hope all your meals are pleasurable and serene. Cheers.

--Dan

P.S. I might've applied for this position myself if I weren't so caught up with the other blogging that I'm doing already (and if I were a bit more eclectic in my gustatory preferences; see my username for that ).

http://www.slashfood.com/2005/08/19/cal ... g-with-us/

Are you one of those people that can waste an entire day wandering aimlessly around Whole Foods or Dean and Deluca, buying nothing but tasting everything? Do you find yourself constantly getting invited to potlucks thrown by friends of friends of acquaintances, just because somebody told somebody who told somebody else about this thing you do with three kinds of cheese and a sliced apple? Do you take pictures of every freakin' thing you eat?

Slashfood is looking for a couple of obsessive foodies who want to translate their passion for great eating into great blogging. Style wise, we're looking for Ruth Reichl with the volume turned up. Actually, come to think of it, that would essentially make you Anthony Bourdain. Well, hey Tony – if you're available ...

Interested? Send us three 100-300 word sample posts. [There's a comments field on the contact page for that.] And spread the word – Slashfood knows no national boundaries.

Or, of course, you could post on LTHForum...

I suppose there are reasons it might be advantageous to somebody to be on Slashdot, but it's kind of too bad to see that blogging is already being redefined as something you apply to become, writing something that fits an editor's idea of what should go into a slot, at a specific length.

How old media of Slashdot...

slashdot != slashfood

slashdot is a product of the OSTC or OSDN or whatever their acronym is today, slashfood is a product of weblogsinc

dan, I don't suppose you get sent "evaluation" units to review for joystiq, eh? If so, where do you live and when will you be out of the house?

-ed

slashdot is a product of the OSTC or OSDN or whatever their acronym is today, slashfood is a product of weblogsinc

Well, that clears everything up!

gleam wrote:slashdot != slashfood

slashdot is a product of the OSTC or OSDN or whatever their acronym is today, slashfood is a product of weblogsinc

dan, I don't suppose you get sent "evaluation" units to review for joystiq, eh? If so, where do you live and when will you be out of the house?

-ed

To Mike: /. is the site for "news for nerds/stuff that matters," while Slashfood is more of a business/professional site from the WIN network of topical blogs. (See weblogsinc.com for more.) Slashdot is certainly the more established brand at this time.

To Ed: I'm not quite at that stage of the game yet (in terms of review copies and debug hardware), but it has been fun with this newfound motivation to try to keep up with the latest developments in the world of games. Oh, and I still live in Rogers Park, by the way. Working online means that I'm in the house more than usual, however.

--Dan

Dan, I've been reading a few of their sites (including Joystiq -- congrats!) for a while now. It strikes me that their writing gigs don't seem fulltime, rather maybe more like the sort of thing you'd slip into the rest of the workday when the boss isn't looking? Or is this the sort of thing one could do for a living?

Bob S. wrote:Dan, I've been reading a few of their sites (including Joystiq -- congrats!) for a while now. It strikes me that their writing gigs don't seem fulltime, rather maybe more like the sort of thing you'd slip into the rest of the workday when the boss isn't looking? Or is this the sort of thing one could do for a living?

Hey, thanks, man. Most writers can post to these blogs in their spare time (though I'm sure we wouldn't advocate updates while the boss is away ). Some people, I'm sure, do this for a living, but you'd have to make a lot of posts (on perhaps more than a few different blogs) to support yourself with it. At least that's my current understanding of how this works. I view it as part-time now, but that could change in the future, I suppose.

--Dan

Thanks, Dan. It looks like a perfect way for, say, a freelancer to ensure some steady cash flow -- but since copyediting a 60-page monthly doesn't guarantee that there'll be many breaks in the course of a day, the schedule's probably a little too awkward for me. Good luck with the Joystiq gig!

Bob S. wrote:Thanks, Dan. It looks like a perfect way for, say, a freelancer to ensure some steady cash flow -- but since copyediting a 60-page monthly doesn't guarantee that there'll be many breaks in the course of a day, the schedule's probably a little too awkward for me. Good luck with the Joystiq gig!

Hey, Bob. You're right that scheduling time to blog is kind of important to the job. Consistency is a valuable asset when updates are made most every day, depending on your post count goals. But thanks for the encouragement, man, and I hope that your work on that monthly continues smoothly and apace. I'm sure that copyediting is a tough but rewarding job for someone with an eye for detail, and it's certainly something I've considered. It's good to hear you're making a living from it!

--Dan

P.S. Hey, I grew up in Edgewater, right by Ridge and Paulina. Hope you enjoy the food out there.