Viewing topic: Writers wanted!

Hi folks,

This isn't a *job* as such, but a voluntary position that could give:

# The chance to get your name out to Russian companies
# A chance to practice translating skills (with support)
# Possible paid part-time work in future (hopefully by spring next year) for people with the right enthusiasm

The project is TimesRussia.com - an 'alternative' news site.

By the end of the year I hope to have a small team of volunteers, including Russian students of English (part of the plan is to create more contacts between students and teachers), who will be translators, and English teachers, who will be editors/writers.

In the last two days I have picked up two members, and reactions from others have been pretty enthusiastic!

The possibility of turning a voluntary position into a paid position relies on being able to get sponsorship for various sections of the site. So, if all goes well, whoever is 'in charge' of a section at the time when sponsorship comes in will get the offer of a paid (part-time) position. That relies on how well the section is run & edited, i.e. it depends on you!

You can get your students involved - it should hopefully give some motivation for more advanced students to improve their writing when they can see it published online with your corrections. I originally tried a similar system with students at a software company writing articles for VisaRus and some really got into it. Unfortunately the system on the site for managing articles was a bit too clumsy and difficult to use.

The system on TimesRussia.com is very easy to use, and kind of fun

Right now I need people interested in:

# Politics
# Business
# Sport
# World current affairs
# Local current affairs (anywhere in Russia)
# Culture (covering entertainment, eating out, reviews, etc.)

In theory, I can give some people a 'press pass' and if you're really cheeky you can try to get free meals in return for reviewing a restaurant

The site as it is now was put together in the space of a couple of coffee-fueled late nights. There will be bugs and other issues to sort out, plus more features to build in, but at the moment the most pressing need is to fill it up with news.

Ideally, the focus of the site will be 'human interest' - as much as possible stories that affect real people. How the Georgian situation is affecting families, etc.

It's perfectly acceptable to simply take stories from papers, other sites, etc. and reword/translate them, stating the original source (and linking to it if possible).

If you're interested, PM me- you can get started right away!

I should add that I wouldn't want anyone relying on making a lot of (or any!) money out of this - it's very much an experiment running on a very tight budget - a lot remains to be seen!

Not everyone will get anything back from it, so best only to get involved if you're genuinely interested in the project and in using it to 'get your name out' into the ether.

Four already!