How to land a job or voulenteer work?

[sven]

How can I attract gaming sites attention except sending e-mail and such. Seems as though to whoever I send a mail to (which I try to keep professional) they almost never reply. I got turned down twice because they had nothing to give me but said I write nicely. So is there some secrete to it or what? How to land a job or voulenteer work?

[Stew Shearer]

Are you sending any work samples along with your applications? Even if you've never been published before, it's important to include something demonstrating you know how to do more then just play video games. Also, what sites are you shooting for? If you're just starting out you made need to aim for websites just as desperate as you are. It's all about working your way up.

[sven]

Yes of course. I don't have much for now ( only 2 really long works) and I don't go for some big sites. I just take a quick look at voulenteer work on www.videogamejournalism.com .
Since that site is made for newbies in writing and other small sites post what they need. I applied but rarely anybody answers.
You any site I could go to and write for? For free of course :)

[Stew Shearer]

Hmm....

If you're a fan of RPGs, you might try RPGamer.com. When I worked with them in the past they tended to be a bit short staffed. I don't know how that's changed.

Other sites I've worked for in the past as a volunteer include GamePositive and EGCgames. Try getting an account at Gameleon.net as they have some pretty extensive volunteer listings.

Beyond that I have a few more suggestions.

Rework you samples or write new ones. You described them as longer pieces and in my experience, web writing is more about succinct work. Write some samples and try to keep them under a thousand words. Anyone can write a really long piece and have it come halfway smart if they put enough work into it. Show these websites that you can produce something shorter -under a 1000 words for instance- that is still interesting, informative and creative.

This one will require less work but is just as important. I've noticed in your forum postings here several typos and mistakes, a la missing words and such? Have you been careful in your query letters to make sure those sorts of mistakes aren't present? You can have the best writing samples in the world, but if you start an email to an editor with, "Hi, I writer. Do need work?" there's a good chance they're may just hit delete before they get any further.

Again, I don't know if you're doing this, but try to remember that people are putting a lot of time and money into these sites. For some people this is a career and so you need to approach them with the utmost professionalism.

Best of luck!

[Chris Cesarano]

From what I've been reading and learning the past few months, it's actually probably best to try and send out a few freelance articles first. Offer someone an article, see how much they'll pay for it and if the article hits well then they'll see about getting more articles out of you.

My issue now is I'm not quite sure how to try and sell a freelance article. It seems a bit presumptious to send an e-mail saying "Hey, got an article idea, here it is attached, how much will you give me for it?"

[Ian Royston Westrip]

I have to say I disagree with this, no offence, it's just my opinion. In my experience alot of people don't appreciate unsolicited work like that. Again, just my opinion but if it works for you, go nuts by all means!

[Chris Cesarano]

It'll probably vary from one person's experience to the other, but it seems to me that a lot of people manage to become permanents at a website by simply freelancing first. Of course there is no one way to do it, but it just seems to me that the odds are better if you start out with freelancing.

Granted, volunteer work is fine, too, but often enough volunteer work also doesn't do much to force someone to become a better writer since volunteers are typically filled with non-professionals. Then again, this also means work is unedited, so it's in a more genuine form.

At the very least, writing some freelance articles will get you paid something rather than getting nothing.

[Troy Goodfellow]

Yes, you have better odds if you start right with the freelancing, since there are so many volunteer sites out there now it can be hard to get noticed. Mind you, a well run volunteer site - a needle in a haystack of course - will help train their writers and you won't get comments on an unsolicited article that no one wants.

In my experience, very few sites accept completed unsolicited articles. Most of them will accept freelance pitches, of course, and if the article is already completed, then fine. With freelance budgets so tight these days there just isn't room for random submissions that have not been okayed by editorial. Mind you, if the piece is really good or the site is starving for original content, then the odds are considerably in your favor.

But pitching is the key. Writing a good pitch takes work and time, but here's how it goes:

1) What is the article about?
2) What argument does the article make?
3) Why would readers care about the content?
4) What sets this article apart from other work on the topic on the internet?
5) What is the time frame for completion and what research needs to be done to complete the article?

Do not pitch reviews or previews, of course. Lists are also a bad idea unless they are completely original.

[Ian Royston Westrip]

Indeed, I do agree with the freelancing first thing, being that I'm a professional freelancer, the only part I disagreed to was the sending of unsolicited work.

Although, Troy, I do agree that sites will accept pitches, without work attached. Therein being the difference between solicited and unsolicited work. If you make a successful pitch, they ask for a sample, and there's your solicitation. Much the same way that a publsiher won't accept unsolicited manuscripts for books. I do have to say I sympathize, I'm sure all of you would agree there is some atrocious stuff floating around out there, and to be bombarded with it all day would be pretty irritating after a while.

I didn't mean to get anyone's knickers in a knot, I was just throwing my 2 cents worth in.

[sven]

First I'd like to thank everyone for replying means a lot and I appreciate you helping me out with this. Stew thanks for the hint about shorter articles and I tend to make spelling errors when writing non-officially however I will try to practice my writing that way.
When freelancing I should just go and research on anything new in the game world and then sell an article on the topic to a site that doesn't have it?
How can I persuade them to take me seriously? What can I possibly write in a e-mail that would make them at least read the article before saying no (or hopefully yes)?

[Troy Goodfellow]

As I said above, start with the pitch, not the article. If you can write a professional looking pitch, then they should expect a professional looking article. If the pitch is accepted, that can even give you leverage for research you are doing. It is much easier to say to a prospective target of an interview "I am writing an article about X for Y website/magazine. Can you comment on Z?" than it is to say "I am writing an article about X. Not sure if or when it will be published." (In fact, one of the first things PR people ask is when and where they can find the article.)

If you have no experience, they will generally only take you seriously if you can link them to writing samples. But before you do this, make sure your writing samples are actually good. I've seen many writers think they are actually up to snuff when they are not. Yes, there are crap writers writing for major websites and magazines. They usually had some other way in - education, internship, friendship, contacts, low cost, etc.

New writers with little experience cannot take this chance.

There is no way to guarantee that they will read your submissions. Freelance budgets are tight and I'm sure some sites get dozens of wannabes every day. This is probably the worst time to try to start being a games journalist.

You should certainly research the sites you are submitting to. Not every site has a need for features - it's not something they do. Some sites like humor, others kill it. Not every article fits every site. Something I write for The Escapist would probably not fit on IGN.

[Ian Royston Westrip]

Lol it certainly wouldn't, IGN don't like to have a personal flavor to their articles... Whereas The Escapist is much more focused on the writer & their feelings

[Lewis Denby]

Top tip relayed from PC Gamer Editor Tim Edwards:

"As editors, we're constantly terrified of losing touch with our audience. If you can come to me and say 'Hey, everyone's talking about this. Why aren't you covering it, you idiots?' I'll probably pay you to do so for us."

It's also worth saying that we're always looking for talented writers to contribute towards Resolution on a freelance basis. We can't pay, unfortunately, but we do have a good readership and a few people have landed paid work off the back of stuff they've written for Reso. Check us out at www.resolution-magazine.co.uk if you're interested.

(Plugging? Me?)