I put hiring in quotation marks because in this case, “hiring” carries only part of its standard meaning. While I do intend to bring someone aboard, I will not be able to pay that person (with money). The reason, of course, is that the site does not generate much cashflow at this time (nor do I ever foresee it doing so as that is not its purpose). However, the person will get all sorts of free books, which for some people is payment enough.
What I am looking for is someone who can review books. Probably lots of books. It seems that just about every day I am receiving requests to read new books, and I simply cannot keep up anymore, even at my current pace of reading 3 to 4 books a week. While this could be a temporary situation, I suspect it is not, and so I would like to have a person who can share the reading with me.
While there are plenty of people currently reviewing books through the Diet of Bookworms’ programs, these people do so as off-site or unofficial reviewers. The person I am seeking to hire will review books for the Diet in an official capacity. This means the person will have to read and review books, add reviews to the Diet, provide consensus views of the books, add news items, etc.
Here are the qualifications I am looking for (in rough order of importance). Most of these are non-negotiable:
- Theological discernment. You must be theologically conservative and discerning. The strength of Diet of Bookworms is that it provides a particular theological perspective. Thus you must be theologically conservative and/or Reformed, and must exhibit discernment.
- Good reviewer. You must be able to write good, compelling, well-formed book reviews.
- Web site. You must have the ability to post book reviews online. The more traffic your site receives, the better.
- Dedicated reader. You must be willing and able to read a lot. A bare minimum of a book a week seems appropriate.
- Well read. I’d prefer if you have read a lot of Christian books and are familiar with books and authors.
- North American. With apologies to my international friends, I must keep this to North Americans since shipping to overseas locations can take too long and cost too much.
What do you get out of it? Probably not too much. You will get free books and possibly other media (for example, DVDs) on an ongoing basis. You will also get more traffic to your personal web site. It is also possible that you will get a warm, fuzzy feeling inside, but I cannot guarantee it. Beyond that I can make no promises, except that you will have the privilege of helping other believers choose books that will bless and edify them.
If you meet the qualifications and are interested in speaking to me further, please contact me.
