Want to Join the Puckett’s Pond Staff?

Here on The Pond we’ve been going through a number of changes and transitions. Chief among those was the “re-launch” of the site on January 28th when Twinkie Talk morphed into Puckett’s Pond. To coincide with that change, I came on board as the new Lead Writer for the site.

A lot of inital networking and clean-up followed on the heels of those two changes. Now we’re just a week away from the start of the 2011 MLB season and it is time to turn my attention to the next phase of building up this site. We need to add more staff to cover more aspects of the Minnesota Twins organization.

Erin’s departure this week certainly adds to the necessity to find a few new writers, but it was a step that we needed to take whether she remained on this site or not.  Ideally I’d like to assemble a team of 5 writers, in addition to myself, here on Puckett’s Pond. With Josh and Steve already on board, that means that we have 3 Staff Writer slots open – provided that we can find the right people to fill them. These positions are unpaid.

[Follow after the jump if you’d like to learn more]

Previous writing experience is not a requirement. Some of the most talented writers we have on our network never wrote formally anywhere before joining FanSided and I am a believer that true talent can come from basically anywhere. What is a requirement is that you love the game of baseball and have a passion for the Minnesota Twins.

So, if you’re interested in becoming a Staff Writer for Puckett’s Pond – proud member of the Fansided.com Sports Network – here’s what to do:

• Write a 500+ word article about the Minnesota Twins. This can be about any topic you choose but it should represent your best work and be fully edited. Writing is one part ideas and one part presentation, and both carry a lot of weight.
  • If you have other work published elsewhere, you are welcome and encouraged to provide links to some of those articles. The more work I have to evaluate the better feel I can get for you as a writer and how you may or may not fit in with the direction of the site.
• This follows in line with the first bullet point but deserves it’s own due to its importance: your work should be fully proofread and edited. Nobody’s perfect and clearly I am included in that, but your submission will be the first impression you provide to us as a writer. You should take the time to read, re-read and perhaps have a picky friend or family member read your submission before sending it.
• Email your article (in MS Word, Adobe PDF or cut and pasted into the body of an email) to me at the following address (puckettspond@gmail.com). In the subject line please put Puckett’s Pond submission or something similar so it will stand out in my inbox. I’m almost always online (unless I’m sleeping) so I should review and get back to you within a few hours.
• This should be obvious, but there shouldn’t be any profanity. A “hell”, a “damn” – no problem. If they can say it on the radio, you can say it here. Strong opinions are wonderful, but please be classy with them.

As far as what is expected of Staff Writers, it is pretty straight forward:

• You’d be expected to post at least one (1) article a week, but would have the option open to post more if you chose to do so. If you have a particular day and/or aspect of coverage you’d like to focus on, that’s great but it can also remain open ended as well.
• You’d be expected to participate in any staff discussions as well as contribute to and help shape any collaborative efforts we undertake.
• You’d be expected to carry on regular communication with myself and the rest of the staff as needed.
• Finally, Staff Writers are free to produce work for other Twins or general baseball sites in addition to the articles they publish on Puckett’s Pond. However articles written for and published on this site should not be “dual posted” or appear elsewhere online or in print.

If you are interested, but have questions on any of the above (or on anything not covered in the above) please don’t hesitate to email me: puckettspond@gmail.com.

If you’d rather complete an application online, you can do so by clicking here.