I applied for a writing job at About.com

Never Done: I applied for a writing job at About.com

A good friend of mine writes for About.com, and she says that it compensates her fairly well. She has a good, evergreen topic to write about -- one that holds both her own interest, and the ongoing interest of her readers. Since I've been blogging daily, it occurs to me that I've been honing my short and quick writing skills, and that I really enjoy writing like this, and that I would love to be paid for it. So every day now for about a month, I look at About.com to see what topics are up for grabs.

Even though I feel like I know about a lot of things, I rarely see a topic that I think is right for me. Right now, for example, they are looking for people to write about The Young and the Restless, Vintage Clothing, Annuities, Tires and Wheels, Baltimore, and Jeans and Denim. I mean, I've worn a lot of jeans and denim in my day, but write about it on a regular basis? I don't see it.

I keep waiting for Soup, or Home Cooking, or Gluten-free Cooking, or Low-cost Adventures, or How to Give Great Presents, or Adapting to City Living, or Adapting to Country Living, or First-Time Triathlete, or Adopting Older Children .... but instead, I've just kept coming up against Bankruptcy, Cincinnati, Urology, and Mobile Homes.

Until now, when they posted Disability and Immigration Issues. OK! Two topics I know quite a lot about! One of which I've written quite a lot about! When I went to look at what About.com writes about immigration, I found something quite interesting: the writing is liberal to progressive, and the comments are reactionary. (The anti-immigrant "environmental" group NumbersUSA posts on their comments with some frequency.) This tells me that the anti-immigrant forces routinely troll the site and counter-post, making About.com either an actual forum for debate, or just a forum for argument and a free platform for messaging. Oooh, that makes me want to get the job writing about Immigration Issues.

So I applied (for both) and now I wait for them to review my application, as per this nice auto-generated note:
Thanks for applying. We have received your application to be an About.com Guide for Disability. We have many open topics right now so, while we strive to review all applications as quickly as possible, it may take a long time for you to receive a response. Please do not resubmit your application until you receive a response from us, because that will only delay us further. We look forward to reading your application soon.

OK, I can wait. And in the meantime, I will keep checking the site every day to see if they post a job writing about the Red Sox, or Documentary Film, or Community Building through Ice Cream.