About writing for the site

[Phlakes]

I've decided it was time to flex my writing muscles again and started an article I might submit to this site sometime, but there are a few things that aren't covered in the guidelines. I'll just hope someone who knows will see this thread, but anyway- first, is there an age limit? I'd expect one because of the whole payment thing, but I don't know if publishing writing has some kind of regulation or whatever. I'd love if there was a way to work all that out. Second, if we want to link to videos or other articles, do we format it ourselves, or wait until after submission? And I guess most importantly, is there any reasonable chance for a writer with no real credentials to be commissioned?

EDIT: And I want to make it clear that I really do know what I'm doing, this isn't a starry-eyed dream of being a game journalist from a kid with the writing conventions of a middle schooler.

 

[Sassafrass]

I don't think there is an age limit, although the youngest person I've know to write for the site is 17/18, so I'm guessing around that age and above is fair game. They might accept lower but you'd have to PM Susan or someone to find that out.

As for the second issue you bring up, I'd probably do the formatting straight off, although I think BB Code is a no no, so you'd have to use MS Word's formatting tools or the formatting tools of whatever you use. Again, PM Susan if you want a definitive answer.

And thirdly, yup. I know Hubilub got an article published here and as far as I know, that was his first crack at writing. So sure, you'll have a chance. I doubt the editors would turn down a well written article just because you've not written too much, plus they wouldn't advertise it as blatantly as they've been doing of late.

So...yeah, hope this helps in a way and good luck if you do decide to pitch an article.

 

[Marter]

I only have an answer to the first question as Sass covered the other two properly.

I'll tell you that when the site was asking for regular content uploaders, you did have to be 18 in order to be accepted. I would assume it's the same for one-off deals as well.

 

[Sassafrass]

Just keep in mind that The Escapist has a public record of not always paying. Still, being published is nice.

An invoice and writer's agreement must be submitted for all articles accepted for publication. Payment will be made 90 days from the date that the article appears. Rate is $250 flat fee per article. You will receive a copy of the writer's agreement upon publication of your article, at which point you will fill out the date, your name, address, contact information, article title, print date, and return it to The Escapist.

They got ya covered on that front.

 

[Phlakes]

I don't really care about the money, though. I know it's cheesier than a Kraft factory, but getting published by the site is worth way more than $250.