Hey, You! Yeah, You! Wanna Start Writing For Maize n Brew?

Well, it’s that time of year again. Snow is falling. The trees are cold and barren. It’s a perfect time to stay inside, drink some hot chocolate, and work on becoming the next great sports writer in Michigan athletics.

Alright, so I’m being told it’s actually not winter, but all the other stuff is true. If you come and work for us, you’ll get a chance to do what you love, get a great platform for a wonderful reader base, and sharpen your skill set with our help. There’s no pay in this, unfortunately, just a great opportunity. I may be able to chip in some marshmallows for your cocoa, but no promises.

Okay, here is a small list of the things we’re looking for:

• Good writing ability. You need to show us that you can write a well-paragraphed, interesting column of two hundred words or more. More on this later.
• A work ethic. We won’t expect you to devote 168.5 hours a week to MnB, especially if you have other obligations that limit your time. (Let us know about those and we’ll be extremely accommodating.) But being able to show up and do your work, and also double-check and improve your work as needed, is a valuable skill for anyone.
• The ability to add something new. Good writing is a plus, but there are a lot of voices who are writing about Michigan sports. Having something new to say is a key part of being successful. This might come from creativity, thorough investigation, or good old-fashioned interviewing. But think about what you do well, and think about what you do differently, when applying.
• Lastly, be true to yourself, but be flexible. This may sound cheesy, and it is, but audiences gravitate toward someone who is able to communicate who they are and how they feel. (This kind of reinforces bullet points #1 and #3.) It also helps you handle the ups and downs if you feel comfortable with what you’re doing and why.
  With that said, it’s also important to be willing to learn and grow from being in the media, which is a strange and different arena than it looks on the other side of the glass. If you’re not able to challenge yourself and grow, then this is a difficult activity to pursue.

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Okay, so here are the all-important details. To send in your application, write an article for us (or link an article you’ve already written somewhere else) and email it to septoranges@gmail.com. We would like to see a sample of 200 words or longer (for context, this post here is over 550) to see how comfortable you are with writing. The perfect submission is anything we’d look at and go, “Yeah, that’s ready to publish” - something that’s well-edited, brings something new to the table, and shows your personality and style.

Please also tell us what sports you’re likely to cover, how much time you could devote to writing during the summer and the fall, and maybe a few words about yourself. Please also tell us your favorite flavor of ice cream, and a good recipe for bundt cake, if you have it.

And lastly - thank you. Whether you send in a submission or not, thanks for being a part of this corner of the Internet we have, as readers and practitioners who support an always changing (and hopefully growing) part of the Web. You’re the best. Go Blue.