Children's Newspaper Opportunity

Work Type: Seeking Freelance Authors with Experience in Children’s Nonfiction

Description: Press4Kids is a producer of children’s news publications, and our initial product will deliver daily news articles to children at the elementary level (grades 2-5). We are looking for freelance writers to join our team of reporters, and we need enthusiastic authors who can engage reluctant readers and help teach them about the world. It’s our mission to inspire children to read while empowering them with the knowledge that they themselves have the ability to change their world.

Because this digital newspaper will be delivering content for very young readers (whereas “news” is often considered an adult concept), we are trying to revolutionize the news experience. We will cover important national and international news, but always with a positive approach. Our on-staff child psychologist vets every story for age-appropriateness, and we need to ensure the safety and security of our readers. We will also, of course, report on whimsical, silly, and kid-friendly current events as well. But every story is based on the latest news – events that occurred within the previous 24 hours.

Job requirements:

We are looking for experienced authors of children’s nonfiction and/or writers who may have been educators at the elementary school level. We need writers who understand how to explain potentially complicated concepts – hurricanes, al Qaeda, the New Hampshire primaries, etc. – with simple and straightforward terms. Our articles are relatively short, but the text must be gripping and clearly organized. It will be the quality of our content that will make us a success, and we will not have time during a day to make substantial edits on a story.

We need writers who understand what level of text is appropriate for our readership. The vocabulary and the complexity of the sentences cannot be too advanced, but we can’t talk down to our readers either. We will not infantilize the world news -- we will expect some level of sophistication – but of course readers at this age may not have much prior knowledge.

While the articles will be assigned by the Editor-in-Chief each morning, Press4Kids also looks to its team of writers to help discover the news each day that will inspire our readers: stories of courage and triumph, human and scientific achievement, kids in the news, even sports stories. The more proactive writers are more likely to get more frequent assignments.

Because we are delivering the news on a daily basis, we need writers who can work in the morning on a very quick deadline. However, we require no long-term commitment for any of our freelancers; because each day brings new assignments, authors can opt out of assignments for days or weeks at a time and then pick up assignments again when available. The project has no end date.

To apply: Please email a resume to info@press4kids.com with a description of why you are qualified to write nonfiction for students. Title your email, “Press4Kids Writer”

Location: Remote
Rate: $75 per short (150-word) article; $100 for the main story of the day; $20/hour copyediting
Contact name: Russell Kahn, Editor-in-Chief
Email: info@press4kids.com