---
tags: document, ssb, draft
---

# Looking for newsletter writers!

#jobs #handshake-council

The SSB Handshake Council is has a "job offering" for people willing to write newsletters about progress and events occurring in our ecosystem.

## Job description

The Scuttlebutt community is alive, active, and interesting. But not everyone knows about this, specially people who are not yet on Scuttlebutt, they have limited view into what's going on here. And we need more funding, we want this Handshake Grant to generate more income, as opposed to just being depleted quickly.

One way to make a difference is to regularly report to [backers on OpenCollective](https://opencollective.com/secure-scuttlebutt-consortium/) about the ongoing evolution of Scuttlebutt. This has two effects: (1) it keeps backers informed and motivated to remain backers, (2) it shows potential new backers that their contributions will make a difference as joining an alive movement.

This job is about **writing newsletter posts** [see proposal HC06](%E9vV1aFzcH/+DoSR6+ABD1I2XHhOD3YOO7EuYCvARmc=.sha256) shared through OpenCollective. We're looking for persons who write engaging, easy-to-read summaries of our community. We're looking for good writing abilities, ability to view our ecosystem from a big picture and track trends, ability to identify and highlight individual phenomena, and empathy towards the audience (ability to consider and respect their time budgets, respect their diverse backgrounds, respect their motivation for donating and reading the newsletter).

As ideal examples, see the [Manyverse monthly updates](https://opencollective.com/manyverse/updates/). We need that, but for the entire Scuttlebutt ecosystem, not just Manyverse.

Responsibilities:

* Write an engaging newsletter post, monthly
* Posts are multi-hundred-word long
* Posts are written within a deadline, sent for review

## Terms of the job

This is a job, but not a typical full-time role. We expect you to be independent, proactive, and comfortable with horizontal advice-based co-working (as opposed to vertical command-based hierarchy, and having a supervisor).

This is a freelancing-style gig, not a permanent position. You would be paid **per newsletter written**, and we expect you to be able to create and send invoices ("submit expense") to one of the Scuttlebutt-related Open Collectives, being paid (preferably) through PayPal or other means. Read Open Collective's [Help Page](https://opencollective.com/faq/expenses) and [Wiki](https://github.com/opencollective/opencollective/wiki) to learn more about that process before applying for this job.

You can also expect to share this role with potentially other newsletter writers. If we end up having multiple good applicants, it is possible that each month we choose a different writer to author the monthly post.

## How to apply

Send your application as a reply to this post (publicly) or as a private message to [@elavoie](@IgYpd+tCtXnlE2tYX/8rR2AGt+P8svC98WH3MdYAa8Y=.ed25519) or email to [andrestaltz](mailto:[e-mail]), describing the following three topics:

**Prior work.** Show links to short posts that you have written before, that display the abilities we're looking for (e.g. engaging summaries, big-picture narrative, individual phenomena highlighting). If you don't have prior work, you can make a convincing argument about your motivation, see next paragraph.

**Motivation.** Alongside showing your past abilities, tell us why you want to do this. The nature of the job is likely that it can't provide a full monthly income, so it would be a complement to your existing income. Let us know what your vision for Scuttlebutt is, how you want to help the ecosystem get there, and why you are involved.

**Your price.** Name your price (in USD or EUR) per newsletter written. This job would be paid per post submitted, not per hour, not per month. The Council proposes an initial amount of 150$USD/post, subjected to approval of the required funds in the final Budget.

The application period closes on **February 27th**, one week from now. The Council will then select among the candidates in a private vote and will then announce the results publicly. The first newsletter is expected to be written for the month of April.

Please share with people you think might be interested by tagging them in the comments.

:sunny:

(Credits: [@andrestaltz](@QlCTpvY7p9ty2yOFrv1WU1AE88aoQc4Y7wYal7PFc+w=.ed25519) wrote the first version of this description, which we discussed and ajusted in later discusssions between Council members. [@elavoie](@IgYpd+tCtXnlE2tYX/8rR2AGt+P8svC98WH3MdYAa8Y=.ed25519) clarified the application process.)