Weekly Prospect Writer Opportunity for All About the Jersey

Oct 2, 2022 - 3:00 PM

As the 2022-23 season is about to begin, All About the Jersey now has an opening for a weekly writer focusing on prospects. Brian is going to be leaving the site after many years of contributions and words about the team’s prospects. It is a mutual termination and we at All About the Jersey wish him the best in his future endeavors.

What this means is that now we have an opening on the staff for someone to write weekly about prospects for the site. That someone could be you, one of the People Who Matter. As I prefer to do for this site, I want to elevate one of the readers on this platform. This is a New Jersey Devils blog by New Jersey Devils fans with something to write regularly about the New Jersey Devils, something they are willing to put their name on, and something they want other Devils fans to read. If you want to do that, then this is your opportunity.

The Position

The writing position is for a New Jersey Devils to write weekly at All About the Jersey about the Devils’ prospects, Utica Comets and others in the system. This includes but is not limited to updates about the prospects, details about their performance, and larger-picture pieces about the prospect pool. There may be other activities within the blog to participate in, but the main task is to write weekly about the team’s prospects at All About the Jersey. The position will be compensated with a small monthly stipend. Ideally, this would be every Tuesday, but this can be flexible.

The Requirements

#1) Be a New Jersey Devils fan. Again, this is a Devils blog for Devils fans by Devils fans.

#2) Be a registered and non-banned user. If you haven’t registered for AAtJ, then please, sign up as soon as you can. It’s free, it gives you access to join about 300 other blogs on the network, and add to their respective communities. If you’ve been banned, then I don’t think this is going to work out at all. After all, if you can’t follow the rules, I don’t see how you can follow direction on how to make a post or when things need to be up on site.

#3) Write reasoned and write well. You don’t have to be a perfect writer - I’m definitely not - but you will have to take this seriously to a degree. No one comes here to read what standard clichés any mainstream reporter comes out with, or hear from some lame pundit espousing the same narratives over and over. One of the big reasons why AAtJ is as highly regarded as it is because that the posts are written well enough, arguments are backed up with facts (link to your sources / references), the writing is respectful to the reader (and the player, you notice it’s not just “the defense sucks,” it’ is “the defense sucks because...”), and content is regular. You do not need to write like Brian (and you shouldn’t since you’re not Brian), but this point is the expectation.

#4) Develop and share your passion. I basically let the other writers do as they do provided they stick to the schedule and make the posts. While I can provide suggestions on what to write about or be a sounding board for any post ideas; it is ideal that you come up with your own ideas and topics. I find that writing is better when you are writing about what you want instead of what someone tells you to write about.

#5) Be willing to be active with the community. Unlike many other platforms on the Internet, the comments section is not your enemy or akin to a sewer of feedback. The readers are willing to argue in good faith and behave in doing so. Likewise, I would like the writers to be willing to be involved and interact with the other People Who Matter about their posts and other people’s posts. We all may not agree on much beyond wanting the Devils to be great, but we get along. That’s what makes a site like this so different than just a series of essays.

#6) Be able to communicate. Since you’ll be a part of a blog on the Internet, it is vital that you’re easily reachable by e-mail and you’re able to keep open communication with me and the other writers. Occasionally, there may be matters to discuss among all writers or perhaps there’s something I or someone else want to pass along your way. Maybe I need to tell you something, so I need to know if you’re going to see that and recognize it. Maybe something’s come up and real life requires that the blog gets ignored (which I would understand), so I’d like to know you’d actually tell me instead of skipping out on a commitment.

#7) Be ready to put your real name on your posts. If you’re selected for this position, then I want you to write under your real name. If you write something worth reading, then it’s worth knowing who wrote it. Better to have the world appreciate your work by name than by some pseudonym. Don’t worry about your account, changing the user name is easily done.

How to Apply & How This Will Work

This is an opportunity. As the season is coming real soon, then I am looking to fill this opportunity as soon as possible. Here is how to submit a piece for this opportunity:

1. Write a post about the Devils prospects relevant to the upcoming 2022-23 season. It can be an update on current prospects. It can be a deeper-dive into a specific prospect. analysis of a player. As long as it is about the Devils prospects.

• You can (and should) link to sources of data or referenced posts. Please do not include pictures. Please do give it a headline and a brief summary that would entice someone to read it.
• Note: I will not post any submissions on the site. Again, this is not an open audition where I want to see feedback. You should not either with a FanPost or some other medium. If I say otherwise, than that is different - but do not try to circumvent the process.
• If you wrote something somewhere else, then that is fine, but please make that clear. Original pieces are preferred.

2. E-mail it to me with the following subject line:

2022 AAtJ Prospect Writer Post - (your username at All About the Jersey) - (post headline)

My e-mail address is in the site’s masthead.

Please use the same e-mail address for your account here so I am able to cross-reference the account.

3. I highly recommend that you do not delay because I could very well take the first submission that impresses me. But I also do not want to just take the very first one I get either. To that end, I will not review anything until October 4, so you all have a little time to think about whether you can and want to do it.

I do want to thank everyone in advance who does make a submission. Even if you do not end up getting selected, I do appreciate your willingness to want to join us at All About the Jersey. That is another reason why I call you, the readers, the People Who Matter. Thank you and good luck to all those who apply.