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We want to bring you as much fantasy sports coverage as possible, but sometimes there aren't enough bodies to help us write, so it is time to add to our fantasy writing staff.
I am looking for several writers to fill the following roles:
Fantasy Baseball Writers - we are looking for several writers who can focus on the minor league prospects to bolster the excellent prospect coverage that Jason Hunt provides every week. I would like to add a few prospect writers to help Jason Hunt with our prospect coverage. He does a great job, but he has been a one man show during the regular season.
Below is a list of some of the offseason projects the prospect writers will assist with:
- Prospect Rankings - We will be completing our top 10 lists and top 100 list from October to December, and will be looking for writers to help with discussion of ranks as well as helping to complete some of the prospect writeups (100-150 words per prospect). Since these are brief writeups, I'm looking for them to be more specifically targeted for fantasy (player can be a top 10 SS, player can provide high stolen base totals) rather than pure prospect analysis, which would fall more under the prospect profiles.
- Prospect Profiles - We aim to complete 2-3 prospect profiles each week as a part of 2016 position rankings weeks. These will likely be closer to 750-1000 word profiles, and run in January-March
- In-Season Coverage - to be determined at this point, but the assignments could include: prospect profiles, the Buy and Hold, and midseason ranking updates.
Fantasy Hockey Writer- I am looking for a few new hockey writers to add to our existing staff of writers as fantasy hockey season will be here before you know it. Troy Langefeld, who did a great job with our fantasy hockey coverage last season, will not return this season.
Fantasy Basketball Writer - I am looking for one fantasy basketball writer to help out with the coverage that Bobby Del Rio will be providing once again this season.
Before reading the rest of this post, or shortly thereafter, make sure you do three things:
1. Sign up and join for Fake Teams
2. If you want your real name to appear on the site, please use it when joining. Otherwise, you can use any name you want.
3. Write a fanpost here at Fake Teams so I, and our readers, can get an idea about your writing skills and your fantasy baseball/hockey/basketball knowledge.
What am I looking for?
1. I am looking for experienced, or inexperienced, writers who have a passion for the fantasy sport they are writing about. I live and breathe fantasy baseball, so I write about fantasy baseball, and would do more if my schedule allowed.
2. I am looking for you to contribute at least one article per week, more if you have the time.
3. You would be writing according to a set schedule during the season. During the off season, there is more flexibility in the scheduling.
4. Need someone willing to write on assigned topics from time to time.
Is the position a paid position?
Not initially, but could lead to one if you show your writing chops and meet deadlines on a consistent basis. Budget also comes into play here.
Why isn't it a paid position?
I have been doing this since 2008 and have seen plenty of good writers come and go. Some have written for a few weeks/months, then either got burned out or have lost the desire. Coming up with good ideas to write about isn't always easy.
With all that said, I have seen plenty of writers come and go, but leave to write elsewhere. Here are a few:
1. Many summers ago, a journalism major came to me asking to write about fantasy baseball while school was out. He was the editor at his college newspaper, and had a passion for writing. He is now the Jets beat writer for the New York Daily News. His name is Seth Walder.
2. Several years ago, when adding fantasy football coverage to Fake Teams, one of the first fantasy football writers I added was Mike Gallagher. He now writes for Rotoworld covering fantasy basketball and SB Nation fantasy covering fantasy football.
3. Kenneth Arthur joined Fake Teams several years ago, covering fantasy baseball. In addition to writing for Fake Teams from time to time, he now writes for Rolling Stone magazine, Sports on Earth, SB Nation Fantasy, Field Gulls - SB Nation's Seattle Seahawks fan site, and for the fantasy football news desk writing player updates several nights a week during the season.
4. Several of my former, and even current, writers have moved on to write for Baseball Prospectus, including Alex Kantecki, Bret Sayre, and Craig Goldstein. Bret now is on charge of all content at BP.
5. One of our former writers, Andrew Ball, who also wrote for SB Nation's saber-slanted site, Beyond the Boxscore, now works as a scouting intern for the Tampa Bay Rays. Andrew also worked for the York Revolution in the independent league.
6. Nabae Asfar began his writing career here at Fake Teams covering fantasy soccer and football and is now the Vice President and co-founder of Page2Sports.com and soccer writer for BlastingNewsUK, and has over 12,00 Twitter followers.
As you can see, writing for Fake Teams has led to other opportunities elsewhere on the 'net, in newspapers and even in major league baseball. I cannot guarantee any of this will happen to you, but if you are a good writer, someone may come knocking.
Ok, I am interested! What do I do now?
Once you have joined Fake Teams, I need you to write a fan post, the ones that you see on the middle of the right side of the front page. You can pick the topic. Maybe you think player X will have a breakout year in 2015, or player Y will disappoint. Or, you want to publish some early position rankings with proper support for your rankings. Go ahead and write a fan post about it.
Also, shoot me an email at raygu@comcast.net to let me know when you have posted your fan post, and what your Fake Teams name is.
Why do I have to write a fan post? I have written elsewhere.
Ok, send me examples of your prior work, if it is within the last few weeks. If not, I would like you to write a fan post as described above.
I will review every fan post written, and if I like it, I may even promote it to the front page.
I look forward to working with you in the future. Let's do this.
Last Word
If you ask anyone in the industry, fantasy or not, they will tell you the same thing - if you want to become a writer, you have to write, write and write some more. Then write more. To differentiate yourself, write about something no one else covers, or very few cover. Or, show your versatility by writing about several sports. But just write.You WILL get noticed.