Long-form Writer

The Realistic Optimist is looking for long-form writers.

Covering LatAm, Asia, or Africa. Paid €500 - €1,000 per article.

Some context:

The Realistic Optimist is a publication covering the global startup scene. We are read by VCs & MBA students worldwide.

We publish two types of articles:

1) RO Interviews: exclusive, in-depth, written interviews with founders & VCs around the world, with a special focus on emerging markets (Africa, LatAm, Asia, MENA).

2) RO Long Reads: deeply-reported, long-form articles on topics that are relevant to our readers.

RO Long Reads are written by RO Correspondents and we're looking for more of them.

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The Realistic Optimist is a publication covering the global startup scene.

We publish exclusive, in-depth, written interviews with founders & VCs from around the world, with a special focus on emerging markets (Africa, LATAM, Asia, MENA).

We also publish RO Long Reads, deeply-reported, long-form articles on topics that are relevant to our readers.

We are read by VCs & MBA students worldwide.

RO Correspondents write our RO Long Read series. They are paid by the article.

See below two examples:

RO Long Read: the Africa-Japan bridge: part I & part II RO Long Read: Iraq’s incremental shift to digital payments: part I & part II

This document outlines how we choose RO Correspondents and how the process of writing the article works.

Selection criteria

The selection process is subjective. We’re not looking for a hyper-specific type of profile.

However, a few elements are essential.

RO Correspondents should:

• Have a deep love for reading. People who don’t read rarely write well.
• Have already produced quality writing, whether through their own newsletter, at university, at a previous employer... During the selection process, we will ask for and review prior writing samples.
  • If the applicant doesn’t have prior writing samples, we’ll ask for a 2-page pitch of the story they want to write. This will help us gauge writing style and ability.
• Have a connection to the story they want to write about (prior work experience, personal connections, prior research…)

For now, the RO is a fully English-language publication. Writing ability should thus be in English.

The stories we’re looking for

The RO covers the “global startup scene”.

We have two types of readers: VCs investing in emerging markets and MBA students who want to get into this space. Stories should be relevant to our readers.

RO Long Reads can be one of two things:

• An extensive deep-dive on a local startup or VC you find exceptional.
• An analysis of an understated yet important trend (ex: ‘the rise of Peruvian CVCs’).

RO Correspondents have much more context than us on the story they want to write. We’re open-minded. Please feel free to be creative in the stories you propose.

The writing process

Once selected to be an RO Correspondent, here is how the process goes:

Step 1: Initial outline

*Refining the story’s scope and initial outline with Tim, RO’s founder & editor-in-chief. *****

Step 2: Preliminary research

Compiling all publicly-available information about the topic, start crafting the story in your head, and identify what information is missing.

Step 3: Interviews

Once you’ve identified the information you’re missing, we’ll construct a list of people who likely have that information and whom you can interview. If some of those people are in the RO network, we’ll introduce you to them. For the ones who aren’t, you’ll cold outreach (while we try to find an intro path).

Step 4: v1

Once you’ve done your preliminary research and conducted interviews, you have all the “material” you need to write a v1 of the article. You’ll share that v1 with Tim, who will circle back with edits, clarifications, suggestions… You’ll go through multiple back-and-forths before you reach a solid v2.

Step 5: v2

Once you & Tim are satisfied with the v2, you’ll share that v2 with people you’ve interviewed or who are knowledgeable about the topic. This will help with fact-checking, refining some of your points, poking holes in your arguments…

Step 6: final draft

You’ll incorporate all of your feedback from v2 into a final draft. That final draft will be reviewed by Tim and will go through some light, final editing.

Step 7: publish!

During the entire writing process, please leverage the RO team and other RO Correspondents (Rabel Kaka, Helene Ghosn, James Mahon) for any questions/advice.

From start to publish, an RO Long article generally takes 2-4 months.

Remuneration

RO Correspondents are paid by the article, based on the length of the article, its complexity, and where the Correspondent is based (life is more expensive in Paris than Nairobi - the Paris Correspondent will be paid a bit more).

Regardless of location, for an article between 5,000 and 10,000 words, remuneration will be between €500 and €1,000.

We know we don’t pay much. We’re still a (very) young publication. Being an RO Correspondent is a side-gig, and you should not quit your day-job or whatever pays your bills to do it.

We do think, however, that becoming an RO Correspondent significantly boosts one career: you get to form connections and credibility on a topic you’re passionate about, while getting access to the entire RO network.

Post-article

RO Correspondents become extremely knowledgeable about the topic they cover.

Following the publishing of the article, if you’re willing to, we’d like to organize RO Events and/or RO Webinars, giving our readers the chance to have a conversation with you about what you found during your research.

This will promote the article and further grow your network/credibility.

Interested? Please email tim@realisticoptimist.io or DM me on LinkedIn to start the conversation.

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