Become a Paid Writer For Make Use Of!

photo credit: Alun Davey

Are you hopelessly addicted to the internet? Do you Digg, Stumble and blog on a daily basis? Do you Twitter while you’re Friendfeeding?

We are always looking for more writers to help us turn the site into something bigger and better than ever before - and our next star writer could be YOU.

Are You Wondering If You Fit The Bill?

Well you can easily find out by taking the following Make Use Of entrance examination:

Are you totally obsessed with computers and the internet?

Are you constantly telling people about the latest new cool web app that you have just found online?

Are you the first person people come to when they have a question about their PC or web?

Are you good at explaining stuff and getting your point across in a neutral unbiased sort of way?

Can you write regular posts on a long-term basis? At least one 600-800 words long post or a couple of quick ones a week?

Do you have a good working knowledge of the Wordpress blogging platform?

Are you able to take screenshots and turn them into images that can be use in articles?

Do you have a panic attack if your internet connection goes down for two minutes?

If you answered “yes” to all of these questions then you are the person we’re looking for!

Other Requirements Which Would Endear You To Us:

You make yourself available as often as possible online and you respond to emails and instant messages in a timely fashion.

You are available on at least one instant messaging network (Google Talk preferred).

You respond well to us editing your work and offering constructive suggestions and perhaps the occasional constructive criticism.

You have a sense of humour and a team spirit, ready & willing to help out.

You actively participate in responding to readers comments to your published posts.

You keep us continually notified of your progress through the internal staff wiki.

You bribe us with laptops and other electronic goodies (OK, this one was a joke!)

What We Can Offer You In Return:

Full credit for the article.

A link to your website or blog at the bottom of every article in the form of a footer.

A link to your website from the MakeUseOf homepage (see ‘MakeUseOf Authors’ in the footer). That’s a highly regarded link from a established website. But to qualify for this perk, you need to give us a story at least once every 10 days. More would be excellent and would qualify you as our new best friend!

We will promote your website wherever possible. With over 75,000 Make Use Of subscribers (and rising fast), you’ll be sure to receive traffic to your site.

Performance-based monetary compensation. Payable via Paypal at the end of each month. Payment will be $25 a post (or 8-10$ for directory contributors). Depending on the perfomance of the article you might also get a hefty bonus. We try to be as generous as possible within the limits of our budget. As time goes on, we will consider slight pay increases if we are happy with your work.

Full editorial support when writing your articles. If you have any problems with your articles, we are happy to help you out

Participate in a monthly prize draw which hands out cash prizes to four of our writers. So as you can see, we do try to be really generous!

Apply To MakeUseOf Blog

If you are interested in writing for us, just drop our Publishing & Managing Editor Mark O’Neill a line at : post4us[at]makeuseof[dot]com with links to your website / blog and also tell him why you would be a good fit for the Make Use Of team. Maybe you could also suggest some topics that you’d like to write about?  We would also appreciate hearing about your background - age, location, what your day job is, etc.  That enables us to get a fuller picture of the person behind the application.

If you don’t have a blog to show us, we would ask you to write a no-obligation sample article of around 500 words so we can assess your writing skills. If we like the article, we will hire you, publish the article and pay you. If we don’t like it, we won’t hire you, won’t publish the piece and promise never to publish it behind your back.

As well as studying your past writing experience, we will also study the subjects of your past posts to see if you are in the habit of picking winning topics which would make MakeUseOf more popular with readers.  We will also ask you some other questions to gauge your general attitude.

Any applications with spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, written in an unidentifiable language, with dodgy links or attachments will be rejected and deleted outright.

Apply To MakeUseOf Directory

If you’re also interested in becoming a contributor to the MakeUseOf Directory (www.makeuseof.com/dir/) then send an email to directory-apply[at]makeuseof[dot]com. The directory articles are mostly quick reviews of useful websites. While directory articles are easier to write (25-30 min), they don’t get as much exposure and have a lower pay, between 8-10$ per post (excl. bonuses). To get a better idea check out latest directory additions here.