Dudettes Needed (and Dudes)

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Published on Friday, 28 January 2011 23:06

Written by Brad Butler

Attention female divers!

Somebody brought it to my attention that three male authors calling themselves "Dudes" (a gender-specific term in some circles) might send the wrong message, that people might interpret our site as a "men only" kind of gig. That couldn't be further from the truth. It just happened to be a group of three guys who sat down and banged this thing out over some beers.

We seek female divers who want to write and/or take photos about diving. If you are interested, e-mail JLIB_HTML_CLOAKING and continue reading. Guys, I suppose you're welcome as well.

At the moment, this is a non-paying gig, but you will be published on the (soon-to-be) most prestigious and widely read dive site on the internet. Plus, there are no deadlines, no contracts, and no nagging commitments. No cons, just prose. And photographs.

Who should apply?

Ok, there is no application process. Just e-mail us. Anyone who has any connection to diving, is a diver, wants to dive, or has seen a movie about diving can have something useful and interesting to say about diving. That is all we seek. Experts are wonderful, but beginners are usually better writers, and they're better in tune with what people want to read. We'll take both.

How this works

You can get as involved as you would like to. Each of these steps will get you closer to becoming a full-blown Dude or Dudette, but if you're interested in participating all you really need to do is come up with something that is interesting to read.

Write an article. It needs to have some passing relevance to diving, should be reasonably well written, and consist of about 500-1500 words (This one is about 800). For web writing, paragraphs should be short, preferably 50-75 words apiece. There should be a catchy intro of 2-3 paragraphs that flow into the article. These will be displayed under the title on our blog page, before the "Read More" button. Longer articles are OK, but they should be well thought out and well organized and should have section titles. Photos and graphics are appreciated, but make sure you have the rights to distribute them!

Write a bio. Actually two. One should be very brief, roughly 25 words about your background. This will be displayed with each article that you write. The longer bio can be as long as you want, but follow a similar format to the article, with an intro of 2-3 short paragraphs.

Take a photo of yourself. No nudity or offensive gestures, but pretty much anything else goes. One photo will go at the top of your bio and all of your articles. It should be some sort of head shot.

A note about style. CoolDudesDiving has a very informal atmosphere. We take fun seriously. When given a choice between reading a lab report and reading pulp fiction, most will choose the latter. We intend to capitalize on this, so have fun with your writing style and don't get too bogged down in formality.

Have a thick skin. We will edit your piece before publishing. We try to remain true to your intentions, but spelling and grammar mistakes will be corrected. If our changes go beyond that level, we'll ask for your thoughts before publishing.

Ask for help. We don't expect you to do everything by yourself. We're happy to help. But like you, we are also writing for free at the moment so don't expect one-hour turnaround on every e-mail.

You Mentioned Photography...

Yes. A big part of this site showcases photography. We'll be happy to showcase yours. Technologically speaking, the full capabilities of our photo site are still in the works. Soon, we should be able to sell prints, tee shirts, mugs, and all sorts of other cool things to help you earn back some of your camera investment. Bring us a DVD with photos on it and we'll be happy to add them to our albums. You retain the rights.

What about the money?

Well, this site is currently being funded out-of-pocket by our founders. Much like parents of college students, our hope is that someday in the near future our creation will begin to pay for itself. If that happens, then maybe someday after that it will become profitable. If the site ever becomes profitable, we will have a revenue sharing system with our authors.

When the photo store is up and running, you will earn money from your art. We will simply take a commission.

What Should I Write About?

Anything. Anything that you can think of is fine. If you need ideas, here's a somewhat updated list of topics that are either perennial favorites, or that we've considered writing about but haven't had time to indulge.

• What it is like to dive in (insert_location_here)
• My craziest diving story
• How to shop for gear
• Dive shop etiquette
• Dive boat etiquette
• Why you should Dive Local
• Anything else you can think of!