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The Mary Sue Wants You: To Be Our Fall Intern

The Mary Sue

Description: It’s that time again! The Mary Sue seeks a kick-ass editorial intern. This is a no coffee-and-errands internship; our interns spend 90% of their time writing and most definitely receive bylines for all of their stories.

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“But what will I do as an intern?” you ask, wringing your hands in anticipation, or possibly consternation. You’ll join us in our offices, write, look at Google Reader an RSS reader of your choice, write, write some more, learn to be a Real Live Blogger, etc.. “How can I get this wonderful gig?” you ululate, collapsing to the floor in paroxysms of excitement, perhaps foaming at the mouth for a bit of effect. It’s pretty simple.

What we’re looking for: The ideal candidate is a current college student looking for hands-on writing experience at a news startup. Start and end dates are flexible, but generally fall within your college quarter / semester. Yes, you must be available to work in our office in NYC. No, this is not a paid internship. Yes, we will give you credit. In a nutshell:

Editorial Intern at The Mary Sue
Category: Writing / Editing
Company: The Mary Sue (themarysue.com)
Duration: Fall (September – December)
Hours: 8-12 hours per week during regular business hours (flexible)
Location: New York office (SoHo)
Pay: This is an unpaid internship. Individuals must receive school credit from an accredited postsecondary institution to qualify.

The primary qualification for this job is an encyclopedic knowledge of, and obsessive enthusiasm for, multiple aspects of geek culture. If you are knowledgeable about weird, obscure anime or manga, thrive on television and movie casting news, or have incorporated the names of pages on TVTropes.org into your conversational vocabulary, then this is the job for you. The secondary, but just as important, qualification is being able to write quickly and clearly (on topics from your geek specialties to gender issues), without weird grammatical or spelling issues, on topics that you yourself think up / discover on the interwebs.

Bonus points if you have any of the following qualifications:

  • Encyclopedic knowledge of and obsessive enthusiasm for multiple aspects of geek culture.
  • Ability to write quickly and clearly (on topics from your geek specialties to gender issues), without weird grammatical or spelling issues.
  • Knowledge of the major personalities and figures in both the real and fictional sides of geekdom.

Even less important qualifications but things that we still want to know about:

  • Knowledge of anime and manga fandoms.
  • Experience in advanced science courses or science writing.
  • Knowledge of blogging software.
  • Experience with photo-editing software.

To Apply: Please attach THREE (3) documents to your application email. Applications not containing all of these documents will NOT be considered. Please attach:

  1. A resume, including references (please include any weird skills you might have, like the ability to read Legolas by Laura out loud without laughing, or knitting Jayne hats with your toes).
  2. Three or four samples of your academic or journalistic writing, preferably in more than one style (long-form vs. short-form, magazine vs. blog, basic post about news vs. longer thinkpiece, etc.). The purpose of your writing samples is to demonstrate that you are a good writer (and that doesn’t just mean style or comedy, but basic construction) as much (if not more) as it is to demonstrate your geek cred.
  3. A brief (1-page) cover letter explaining why your experience, knowledge, and personality make you the ideal junior writer for a girl geek culture blog. Please also list in your cover letter your earliest experience with truly bad fanfiction; if you don’t, we’ll know you didn’t read the entire posting!

Please submit a cover letter, resume or CV, and writing samples to [email protected].

Contact: Questions? Contact [email protected]

(top pic via Kate Beaton’s Hark, A Vagrant!)

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]

Author
Susana Polo
Susana Polo thought she'd get her Creative Writing degree from Oberlin, work a crap job, and fake it until she made it into comics. Instead she stumbled into a great job: founding and running this very website (she's Editor at Large now, very fancy). She's spoken at events like Geek Girl Con, New York Comic Con, and Comic Book City Con, wants to get a Batwoman tattoo and write a graphic novel, and one of her canine teeth is in backwards.

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