You wake up in the morning, and check Hackaday over breakfast. Then it’s off to work or school, where you’ve already had to explain the Jolly Wrencher to your shoulder-surfing colleagues. And then to a hackspace or back to your home lab, stopping by the skull-and-cross-wrenches while commuting, naturally. You don’t bleed red, but rather #F3BF10. It’s time we talked.
The Hackaday writing crew goes to great lengths to cover all that is interesting to engineers and enthusiasts. We find ourselves stretched a bit thin and it’s time to ask for help. Want to lend a hand while making some extra dough to plow back into your projects? We’re looking for contributors to write a few articles per week and keep the Hackaday flame burning.
Contributors are hired as private contractors and paid for each article. You should have the technical expertise to understand the projects you write about, and a passion for the wide range of topics we feature. You’ll have access to the Hackaday Tips Line, and we count on your judgement to help us find the juicy nuggets that you’d want to share with your hacker friends.
If you’re interested, please email our jobs line (jobs at hackaday dot com) and include:
- One example article written in the voice of Hackaday. Include a banner image, at least 150 words, the link to the project, and any in-links to related and relevant Hackaday features. We need to know that you can write.
- Details about your background (education, employment, interests) that make you a valuable addition to the team. What do you like, and what do you do?
- Links to your blog/project posts/etc. that have been published on the Internet, if any.
What are you waiting for? Ladies and Gentlemen, start your applications!
You must also understand that not everyone knows everything, and have the patience to deal with the personality flaws of those who think they do.
Or maybe HaD can invest in real editor. The one that can do a 5min wiki search.
“Pride goeth before a fall.” Especially when a valid points of content consumers are ignored.
So, can I write about my own projects?
Yes, sometimes, but not exclusively or often. A big part of writing is actually picking which projects to write about, and it’s hard to have the emotional distance from your own work.
But writers do occasionally document their own projects in long-form, and I think that’s appreciated by the audience as well. What do you think?
I meant that tongue-in-cheek, but your comment system didn’t include my grin.
That said, I’d love more long-form how-to and project articles here. But apparently, it’s hard enough to get 150-word overviews, so I guess lining up feature articles would be brutal if not impossible.
My only concern with your offer would be finding enough source material but what the heck? I’ll give it a shot.
We put out 8 daily posts and 2 long-form articles per weekday, and relax it down to 8 dailies on the weekends. That just takes a lot of work. That’s why we have a lot of people!
Re: source material. The tips line is full of fantastic tips, from many many helpful tipsters. We really _do_ rely on the community to keep Hackaday running.
It seems a rare thing, but because of that it seems fine. One difference I think is that those entries have more detail.
At its core, Hackaday is about writing up _your_ hacks, and I think it’s important to keep it that way.
Till one starts hacking DNA. Then the horrors start.
I would be interested but without knowing the payment per article, and commitment requirements, I will pass on basically giving away a ready to go article.
Payment is per post, with a significant per-article bonus when you write 15 or more posts per month. We expect at least two or three blog posts per week.
Daily posts are 150-300 words in length, and the vast majority come from the tips line, although we’re happy when writers come in with hacks from outside as well. They should take around 45 minutes or so to write, and the resultant hourly wage isn’t extravagant, but it’s not bad for freelance work either.
100-300 words of wisdom in 45 minutes?
I guess that rules me out!
B^)
So [Elliott], who got fired?
J/k
Well, personally I’ve been very quiet lately due to home life issues, but I’m raring to go again as soon as I get home from vacation. I think people come and go based on similar experiences as me, sometimes life just gets in the way of cool hacks for a few months!
What about original content? It takes a lot of research but it’s rewarding to write. I’m plotting a few things, just gotta get my ass back on the sofa with enough time to do it.
I look forward to any articles that you may post.
I got fired by the previous editor. No names mentioned. However, if anybody goes for this gig, I can vouch for Elliot Williams as an excellent person to work for. Supportive + easy to work with + does not play mind games. Your ideal boss. Go for it !!!
I was only joking.
(Ofc, I was only joking when some of my comments were nuked too!)
No, I am not going ask you to identify yourself, but, do you still comment here under a new username?
I keep changing my username, which is why they are normally awaiting moderation. Maybe I now settle on this one? I’ll comment if the topic is interesting and i can think of something reasonably intelligent to say …. so not too often !!!
BTW, I also got fired from my last job, which was delivering parcels, but for a completely different reason. This time, I unearthed a series of scams and frauds which started with a multi-million pound weights and measures fraud which went on to be investigated by the UK Houses of Parliament. Since then, the company had to install volumetric scanners at all their 200 or so main depots, but they continue to operate other scams such as unnecessary harvesting of telemetric data and even phone hacking. The telemetric data side of things is particularly interesting as they claimed that an insurance company was asking for it to be done, but on contacting said insurance company, any such requests were categorically denied ! I’m proud of the work I did and it’s a great shame to union (mentioning no names) were so corrupt and useless. One day I’ll turn the whole saga into a film script and send it to Ken Roach.
I got fired from my last job (still looking for new employment) because I forgot they had a zero-tolerance policy for horseplay.
(sigh!)
Sometimes an employer can be so soulsucking that one tries things out of the ordinary to see if they are still human.
Come on Ren …. spill the beans …. what exactly was the horseplay that you indulged in? (Lol)
Let’s just say the horse didn’t think it was funny.
B^)
Kind of fitting question
What is the connection between Hackaday.com and Hackster.io ?
Sometimes tipps send in to Hackaday.com do not get posted here but on Hackster.io or at both sides with different text
There is no connection between Hackaday and Hackster.io. They started up a couple years after we began hosting projects on Hackaday.io, and are run by AVNET, an electronics distributor.
That said, people often submit tips to both places, resulting in us both writing up the same hacks. Any other resemblance, as they say in the movies, is coincidental.
Or maybe they read Hackaday too? Nothing wrong with that! :)
Thanks for the explanation!
Thought some writers may write for both sides and use the tipps from here, which could still be the case.
No, that would be a serious conflict of interest.
Got it :)
Thanks again!
Be Brief
Hemingway didn’t respect writers who, as he put it: “never learned how to say no to a typewriter.”
I have always like “Brevity is the soul of wit” but this is even better. Thanks.
“Sorry for the long response. I didn’t have time to write a shorter one.” Bill Bonner
What’s the website’s/editor’s policy on submitting freelance articles?
For instance, if I were to submit a tip and formed it into a HaD article format, is that something that would be welcome by the team for publication?
Risk with that is, that they already had that tip and it collides with an article in the pipeline.
I recall that happening, duplicate posts.
Never! :)
We don’t accept unsolicited outside posts.
But if you write up something good, post it, and point us (and/or the world) to it, we’d be more than happy to have a look.
This looks interesting. Looking for a different perspective? new to tech, cross training from medical, ( oh! and i am old) looking to specialize in cyber security/Forensics maybe. Currently working on my first cert. It has been an interesting experience so far. Maybe a serial, Noobs in Space-(cyber)!