The editorial team here at Tom’s Hardware is looking for a few good men and women who are passionate about technology, comfortable in front of an open test bed, and eager to write for an audience on a freelance, contractual basis.
More specifically, we’re looking to expand our coverage—beginning with the stories you’ve thought up that would make our community more comprehensive, more informative, and more interactive. Have you ever had an idea you wished we’d cover but never did? Now’s your chance to share that information with the rest of the world!
An ideal candidate is someone who already runs their own benchmarks, just so they know how their hardware performs. You don’t get any bonus points for doing it at three in the morning surrounded by Rockstars and pizza boxes, but at least you’re in good company, because we do, too. Be familiar enough with results that you’re able to analyze data and identify possible issues/work with vendors to get answers. Know enough about Microsoft Excel to create and format charts in a way that readers can easily interpret for themselves.
Equally important are creative writing talent and English proficiency. Technology can be painfully dry if you let it. We love covering the latest and greatest, though, and want to work with folks who share our passion for comparing processors to automotive engines and Macs to masonry bricks (just kidding, Tuan). Moreover, if you’ve ever complained in the comments section of a story about our inability to write proper English—you know who you are, and we still love you—then now’s your chance to show us a true master at work.
If you’re interested, please send an email to Chris Angelini at cangelini at bestofmedia dot com. Please include relevant technology background information, any links to published work, and a brief writing sample that covers what you’d hope to contribute to the site.
And as always, please feel free to send your feedback along at any time. Thanks for reading.
Regards,
Chris Angelini
Managing Editor
I don't think I wanna contribute, I wanna read mooo
I totally would, if I had the time to do rare freelance work. Infact, I'd love to, but I doubt it helps that I dont have access to extra income to contribute to test bed products, dont live anywhere near best of media offices, and really dont have enough mountain dew atm.
I do totally want to write an article as a followup to the FirePro article answering questions about the Gaming graphics modding community.
Just a few ideas here:
1) Age requirement.
2) Location requirement (Do we need to be near the office?).
3) Required hours per week.
4) Exact role (author or editor?).
5) Do we get paid?
6) At what times do articles need to be submitted? Are there deadlines associated with this job?
7) For benchmarking - are we required to do this? If so, are we responsible for buying the hardware ourselves?
RIP, Second Take...RIP
Lawl. There's a running joke amongst us IS people about how the world lives and dies by Excel..
Honestly, I didn't even know they were gone. The second takes were a bit to foolish for me and their opinions and thoughts always seemed to go against my own which increased my dislike.
But aside from personal thoughts, why did they leave? Just got bored?
I wonder if they didn't make this just to shut people up. I mean, I think I could do better than Mr.Parrish (at least when it comes to reporting news, I'm sure his brand of simile and metaphor would be better suited to more creative writing), but they seem to need people ready to benchmark hardware. And I don't read any news sites as consistently as I read Tom's as of late.
Tom's Games got axed.
However, I hope their call for help comes up with some good talent and results in a lot more content. (Of course, unlike others, I like the indirectly related content... ones that pertain to the environmental sustainability of computing, energy issues, and alternative technologies.)
I confess to writing comments about the usage of English in a couple of articles .. but you now it's mostly true. The style is sometimes cliché and the proofreading is apparently optional
Too bad that I'm not a native English speaker, that I live 5,000 miles from the closest Bestofmedia office and that I don't have easy access to the latest hardware
Anyway, I hope someone picks up the gauntlet and writes it, since I've read some very well written and thoughtful comments on this site
Ispy,
There is no age requirement, there is no location requirement, there are no required hours per week. As stated in the news clip itself, I'm looking for freelance, contract-based writers. Yes, authors get paid. Deadlines and story requirements are discussed on a case by case basis--if benchmarking is required (and it most often is), then yes, this is part of the job. As far as having testable hardware in-house, bonus points if you have access to much of what we're writing about here.