www.southerner.net

    We seek idealistic reporters driven to seek the truth, using modern and traditional investigative reporting techniques, with a little social science thrown in for good measure. And we're looking for writers with a native's feel for the South who can lay down prose so smooth you slide right through it, like a warm knife through butter for biscuits on Sunday morning.

    If you can do all that (or some of it really well, anyway) you may be just right to write for The Southerner. If so, send us a SHORT electronic query. Briefly and poignantly outline your idea. Tell us how much you want for it and how fast you can get it over the wires to us. And tell us why you have the credentials to do the definitive version of this story.

    Send e-mail (no unsolicited attachments, please) to:

    Rates at this point are negotiable depending on experience and length, and payment is in the form of deferred invoice plus stock. The goal is to pay better than scale for a regional monthly magazine. Help us out by sending us great stuff on speculation if you want to get in on the ground floor.

    BTW: We're still offering stock in exchange for work, that is, stories, editing, art and photography. And we're offering equity stakes for certain positions, including a dynamic business manager who can deliver major regional and national Web advertising.

    Of course we're not in this only for the money. We intend to make a difference and put out the definitive view of the South during our time.

1. Political analysis about the region or a part of it, particularly with a New South verses Old South angle, with implications for sprawl, or trends that might effect the 2,000 elections. Can anyone definitively profile George Bush Jr. from Texas or Al Gore from Tennessee, for example, with interviews?
2. Major regional environmental issues, such as an update on DuPont's plans for the Okefenokee swamp in Georgia, and the Monsanto cases.
3. Culture and society stories. Do you have a handle on the problem of hate speech and hate crimes in the region?
4. The best modern Southern fiction.

1. We're always looking for your special Secret Vistas;
2. Or essays on important events, trends and issues impacting the region;
3. Offbeat sports and recreation, such as the way to find mountain biking trails in the South, environmentally friendly golf courses, etc.;
4. Science stories from around the South, including ongoing research;
5. Business stories, especially with an impact on the workers of the region;
6. Anything informative, humorous or current on the Southern Bar & Grill scene, especially having to do with blues and/or barbecue : );
7. Anything of import on Southern culture, especially timely seasonal events.