Nine Circles

Read the title of this post? Then you know what it’s about. Got an eye for the latest happenings in the metal world? We want you. What about a strong voice and something to say about the latest new releases each week? Yep—we want you, too. Or what if you’ve got an idea for a completely different segment we haven’t thought of yet, but that will kick the Internet’s ass six ways to Sunday? Get over here.

An important disclosure right off the bat: we do not currently have the capacity to pay any new writers/staff. Nine Circles is very much a passion project for our staff members. We all have day jobs, and none of us make any money off this site. As such, you won’t be either. (Should we suddenly become a profit-making machine — unlikely, but hey, anything is possible — we will, of course, revisit this.)

Now that that’s out of the way, here’s what we’re looking for:

• Writing ability: Because duh.

• Knowledge of / interest in metal music: Also…duh. It doesn’t matter which particular subgenres you’re into, but you do at least need to be into heavy music.

• Honest opinions: If you love a band or an album, you belt their praises to anyone who’ll listen; if you hate one, you’ll let the world know exactly where and how it goes astray. In short: you don’t hold back on what you’re passionate about. We don’t mince words and neither should you.

• A Good Radar Screen: You keep an eye out for new developments, from both new and established artists and across all subgenres. We cast a pretty wide net here, but sometimes things do get lost in the shuffle. If you can be a reliable extra set of eyes, you’re golden.

• Enthusiasm: You may not be an expert at writing or podcasting, but you are interested in constantly diving in, learning more, and applying your new knowledge. We didn’t know a damn thing about either of those when we started this thing — and we knew a whole hell of a lot less about the metal scene, period, than we do now — but here we are.

• Execution: This is key. You might sign up for everyday news updates, or you might opt for a monthly op-ed column—but whatever you do, you commit to a deadline and follow through on it each and every time. While complications do occasionally arise for everyone, you don’t let them become a habit. In short: if you sign up for shit, you make sure to get said shit done.

• Communication: We handle our assignments through various Google Docs and Sheets, but primarily keep up with each other, share links, talk shit, etc. through our group page on MeWe, a new social network / team coordination hub that’s pretty much the anti-Facebook. Joining this technically wouldn’t be required, but it is greatly appreciated; we’re all friends here — and we wanna get to know you, not just write with you!

Also appreciated but not required? Any kinds of extra “glue” skills that might be good for an enterprising young-ish metal blog. Know your way around a video camera and multimedia storytelling? Holy crap, we want you. Got a knack for web design? Social media? Holy crap, we want you, too. Or, how about podcast editing skills? Holy crap, we want you, too, or three at this point.

Sound like your kind of thing? Awesome. Drop us a line at ninecirclesblog@gmail.com with the subject “Contributor Interest” and tell us about yourself — a quick background, what you’re interested in writing about, the best show(s) you saw last year, you name it. Make sure to attach 2-3 recent samples of your own, original written work. We’re not going to take anyone on sight unseen. (Or word unread, I suppose.)

Not your kind of thing, but know someone whose kind of thing it might be? Send them our way and you’re our new best friend.

Anyway, many thanks for reading and listening so far, and many more thanks in advance for any help on this front. Keep it heavy!