Culture Eater is Sky and Ez who run an online zine that covers music, gaming, film, tv, fashion, food, podcasts and events. They have a strict ethos of not publishing anything that could be perceived as click bait – no listicles, no news features with misleading titles, no hot take pieces that contain more gifs than actual words…none of it. Just genuine reviews, interviews, features and galleries put together by and for, consumers of culture. Late last year they decided to place an ad in the hopes of offering one or two young writers some paid work writing for Culture Eater. They weren’t expecting many people, if any, to respond to the ad but they were hopeful. So when their emails blew up with over 100 replies from not just young, inexperienced writers, but also many experienced people with qualifications that put them to shame – they were more than a little shocked. This put them in an interesting position; Part of their goal at Culture Eater is to offer a platform for (specifically) young and inexperienced writers to have their work published and grow their portfolios (and also suits their limited budgets), but the amount of qualified people applying for work at Culture Eater made it abundantly clear that amazing, experienced writers are also needing work! Knowing they didn’t have the budget to pay these creatives what they’re genuinely worth, but not wanting to go back to everyone with the old ‘Dear John….’ – they decided to reach out to everyone who applied, being upfront about their situation and budgets. So they emailed every single person with the offer to join a Culture Eater contributors group where paid work would be made available whenever possible within their limited budget. As with the initial ad, they weren’t expecting much of a response. Wrong again. Almost every single person wanted in! They got to work creating a contributors forum and have started posting opportunities. Always paid.
Find Culture Eater online: