We are looking for a creative, organized, and deadline-driven Outline Writer, who will provide the roadmap to an exciting, action-packed Post-Apocalyptic series that keeps an audience enthralled!
Job Outline
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.
Our ideal candidate for this role will work within the Relay Publishing outline template to write the character set-up and plot for the book. The 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 of the book. This process requires extensive back and forth communication between the outline writer and our outline editor as well as input from our concept creator. 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, creating a blueprint for our manuscript writer to write a great story!
This is a commissioned assignment and all rights will be transferred to Relay Publishing upon completion.
Necessary Skills & Experience
- Extensive experience within the post-apocalyptic genre, specifically “One Second After” by William Forstchen, “Dies in the Fire” by S.M. Stirling, and “Cyberstorm” by Matthew Mather.
- Work collaboratively with editors and concept creators to build a comprehensive outline that lays the groundwork for a story on what would be the key to survival and hope in total destruction.
- Ability to envision a world stripped bare, and to find the elements of rebuilding that world that draw on your character’s strengths and weaknesses
- Particularly looking for those with experience with survival preparedness.
- Writing or editing experience, with a drive to see your story come to life on paper.
- Ability to use characters and story arcs to build drama for your readers.
- Excellent communication and analytical skills.
- Time management and prioritization.
- Technologically savvy in order to work with our project management software and Word!
About You
A deep knowledge of the genre is required—viable candidates should already have written, edited or read widely in the Post-Apocalyptic genre. Particularly looking for those with experience editing these tropes: Man vs. Nature, Survivalism, Wasteland, Zombie or Contagion Apocalypse, Safety in Numbers, etc. In addition, a strong knowledge of the Five Principles of Preparedness and their implementation.
In addition, you 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 are always open to ideas. We like to have brainstorming sessions and offer incentives for participation. Whether that’s a new book or business venture, a change to processes and workflow. No matter what your role, you are part of the team and your voice counts.
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!