Are you guilty of criminally good legal thriller writing? Are you an experienced writer who wants have a real say in how a manuscript turns out? Join a team of experienced writers and editors to work on the bestselling Peter Kirkland pen name.
Job Outline
Our ideal candidate will work within the Relay Publishing outline template to write the character set-up and plot for the book. The end result is detailed character sheets outlining goals, motivations, and internal conflicts for each of the main characters, as well as a full chapter-by-chapter for the book.
This process requires regular back and forth communication from our writers and editors, so a love for collaboration and talking story is a must! This is a 5-stage process which will demand a flexible schedule.
To paraphrase Stephen King’s writing methodology “Try to put interesting people in difficult situations and then write to find out what happens”. You will be the creator of the interesting characters and their difficult situations, giving the manuscript writer a detailed roadmap to flesh out.
We want to work with people who are creative, passionate, and conscientious on an ongoing basis. As a virtual office, communication is key—we like to work with individuals who can meet deadlines and communicate clearly and efficiently to keep project coordinators up to date with your progress.
Necessary Skills & Experience
- Extensive experience within the genre of Legal Thrillers, and preferably knowledge of Criminal Law.
- A love, bordering on obsession, with the legal thriller genre. Grisham, Connelly, Turow, Traver—you’ve read them all.
- Work collaboratively with editors to build a comprehensive outline to a complex legal thriller
- Writing or editing experience, with a drive to see your story come to life on paper
- Excellent communication and problem solving skills
- Time management and prioritization
- Technologically savvy
About You
A deep knowledge of the sub-genre is required—viable candidates should already have written, edited or read widely in the Legal Thriller genre, and already have a specialist level of knowledge of criminal law. You could be a current writer of legal thrillers that has too many ideas and is looking for an outlet. Or an editor with developmental editing experience looking to use knowledge to create. Regardless, you need to have high familiarity with the sub-genre, know how to plot and structure a story, and have a good mind for what readers in this genre want.
You will enjoy a challenge and using your problem-solving skills to define what is next in the story. You are a person who enjoys the brainstorming process and high level collaborative creation.
What’s in It for You?
An amazing freelance, online, remote working environment with a real collaborative virtual office that fosters teamwork, development and open communication. We are passionate about creating an online workplace that really works! We use an online project management software that helps us keep an open, collaborative approach to all our projects. Just because we work remote, doesn’t mean we have to be remote! We want to nurture our team and work with a consistent group of professionals to be part of the company as it continues to grow. We use an online project management system to run our projects which integrate seamlessly with your emails.
We thoroughly believe in long-term collaborative relationships and that is reflected in our approach to all our projects. We offer competitive rates, clear briefs & expectations, and friendly and fun communication throughout. Flexibility is one of our core work principles: as long as the work gets done, you can do it whenever it suits you. Unlike a traditional office we don’t require you to be at your desk 9-5—you pick your own schedule. If you’re serious about writing or editing for a living, we’d love to hear from you.
We have grown dramatically over the last couple years and we plan on growing more, come along for the ride!
Next Steps
If the above sounds like you, please fill in the application form below. You can indicate your interest in more than one role and genre but will be asked to supply samples to illustrate this.
When adding samples of your work:
- Please read through the instructions on the application form.
- Bear in mind that we are looking for samples that demonstrate your specific skills for the role indicated so please choose your excerpts carefully. If you are applying for both a manuscript writer and an outline writer roles we are looking for an example of each.
- Please check out our currently published books here to get a feel for what we are looking for and this may help with your sample selection.
- And lastly, we do receive a lot of samples for review so please select the best excerpt and try to stick to the recommended word count where stated. We do not have the capacity to review entire novels/ manuscripts!