"MONSTR: Tinder For Monsters" Seeking Talented Humor Writers

[Rosstin]

"I'm only interested in dating other worshippers of Pan, God of the Wild. Although, if you're really hot, I'll reconsider."

****UPDATE*****
Wow! Thanks so much to everyone who has submitted proposals so far. We've received an overwhelming response and a number of quality entries!
To keep things manageable for the team, we will be moving the cut-off for submissions up to the end of Saturday, October 1st,
so please be sure to send in all submissions before that time.

MONSTR: Tinder For Monsters (iOS) is seeking talented humor writers to create profiles for the updated October 2016 version of MONSTR.

MONSTR, is a parody of the Tinder dating app, featuring everyone's favorite spooks, ghosts, and creeps—all single and looking to date you, fellow monster! For the 2016 Halloween season we are releasing an updated version of the app with some new features and a score of new profiles.

This is where you come in! We are looking to add at least 10 laugh-out-loud profiles to the game. The profiles that appear in game are an affectionate (and often cringe-worthy) take on the weirdly specific and boastful varieties of profiles seen on Tinder and other dating apps—so if you've ever seen a dating profile so bad it was good, you know exactly what we're looking for.

The best way to get an idea of the game's current content will be to play the game, which is available (free!) for iOS on the iTunes Store:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/monstr- ... 34599?mt=8

If you do not have an iOS device, however, please see the second post in this thread for some examples of profiles that appear in-game.

Requirements
Each submitted profile proposal must include a username, statistics (such as height/weight/features), and profile text, as well as the type of monster they are and a proposed description of appearance for the monster.

Profiles must be well-written, but will be judged for their coherence and above all their humor. Be as funny as you can—but not intentionally offensive!

If selected, writers will be asked to supply a brief description of the first meeting with their monster, as well as a short excerpt of chat transcript between the player and the monster. Some brief content relating to the game's new features (TBD) may also be requested. Further details of this will be provided to selected applicants.

Payment
Accepted and completed profiles (including additional content) will earn $100/profile for the writer. Profiles, if accepted, will also have high-quality art produced to accompany them. Contributors will also be credited in-game.

Submission
The team has a very high standard for humor. If interested, it is suggested to submit multiple proposals at a time, because it is likely that only a very small percentage of submitted profiles will be accepted.

Content from submitted proposals that are not accepted will not be used in any way, shape, or form.

The deadline for proposal submissions is October 1, 11:59 PM PST. If selected, writers will be expected to complete the additional content for the profile by a hard deadline of October 14, so please apply only if you feel you will be able to work on a tight schedule.

Please submit profile proposals and other inquiries to: Rosstin.Murphy[at]gmail.com

Other questions and comments may also be posted below.

[Rosstin]

Profile Examples

spooky_rainbow_horn
Age: 19 while alive, 249 total, but who's counting?
Height: 18 hands
Magical Unicorn Horns: 1

"Yeah that’s right, I’ve got a 19 year old unicorn’s hot bod with the wisdom and experience that comes from being a 249 year old unicorn ghost. And my horn is *MAGIC*. I like rainbows, night gardens, and long walks in the moonlight.

I get a lot of offers, quite a few monster folks are looking for someone like me. So when you message me, please include the following:

- a photograph of yourself underneath your backyard waterfall at midnight (please make sure the lighting is NATURAL MOONLIGHT ONLY, no artificial lighting. You do have a backyard waterfall, right?)
- a 20-page detailed plan on how ghosts can be reintroduced to society
- your clean health record, signed by a paranormal physician within the last 30 days (honestly I think everyone should do this, regardless of unicorn ghost status. just do it.)
- a 10 page “creative” sample on the importance and modern relevance of the rainbow (I will also accept an interpretive dance for this sample ONLY)

ALL MESSAGES THAT DO NOT INCLUDE THE ABOVE SUPPLEMENTS WILL BE IGNORED"

ectogurl
Age: 30
Height: variable
Gelatin: nonadhesive

"Hey guys! I'm an ectoplasm looking for a large, nonporous container to pursue a serious romantic relationship with (or at least someone who owns one.) must be totally nonporous, for serious, I am very very insistent about this for personal health and safety reasons. hope to hear from you soon!"

KawaiiCthulhu
Age: 28
Height: 9'
Favorite Anime: Haiyore! Nyaruko-san

"I might have a huge head and I might have huge wings, but I promise that my heart is even bigger. Also, yes, my nipples are shaped like stars.

I am nearly fluent in Japanese. This is mostly because I’m planning on destroying a city over there next year — it’s been a lifelong dream of mine — and I figure that I’ll be way scarier if I can speak the language, you know?

I’m looking for someone who will be my partner in bed, my partner in life, and hopefully my partner in the destruction of Yatsushiro or some other small Japanese city."

[LeetMusic]

Forwarding to a friend.

[BáiYù]

I've sent in a few profiles myself. Please let me know if there are any other types of monsters you'd like me to write profiles for!

[Morhighan]

Sent in a submission! Good luck to everyone.

[demanrisu]

Hi,

I think it's shitty to ask people to do unpaid spec work in the hopes that they'll get compensation for it.

Writing, as with all art creation, is a time sink, and creators deserve to be paid for their time. Asking for unpaid spec work unfairly skews the job towards those who can afford the time/money/energy to do so in their day.

I personally would be more comfortable with an application process, or a "call for contractors". This isn't great.

[Albridge]

Thank you for sharing your opinion with us.
If you can'tafford to invest 30 minutes to come up with something that can hardly be qualified as 'writing', perhaps this isn't the discipline for you.
Both in the visual industry and literature industry, this kind of practice--'art contest' / 'writing contest' / 'challenge' will come to replace mass outsourcing for fundamental setup. And it is. Creative people are digging their own grave out of their own selfishness, but that's always how the free market functioned.

[blankd]

Hi,

I think it's shitty to ask people to do unpaid spec work in the hopes that they'll get compensation for it.

Writing, as with all art creation, is a time sink, and creators deserve to be paid for their time. Asking for unpaid spec work unfairly skews the job towards those who can afford the time/money/energy to do so in their day.

I personally would be more comfortable with an application process, or a "call for contractors". This isn't great.

You know normally I would agree with you, but the application itself is to come up with a short profile, the examples show variable lengths, one of which is 3 sentences long.

Your own post in this very thread is longer than that, I doubt a profile would be much longer or take a more significant amount of time.

EDIT: Given the short nature of the profiles, how is this not an ethical application process since the payment is for "longer writing" that comes after?

[BáiYù]

Thank you for sharing your opinion with us.
If you can'tafford to invest 30 minutes to come up with something that can hardly be qualified as 'writing', perhaps this isn't the discipline for you.
Both in the visual industry and literature industry, this kind of practice--'art contest' / 'writing contest' / 'challenge' will come to replace mass outsourcing for fundamental setup. And it is. Creative people are digging their own grave out of their own selfishness, but that's always how the free market functioned.

Wow okay, stuff like this is why creatives have it so bad. Hardly qualified as 'writing'? That's downright insulting.

This is the response that Rosstin gave me after I submitted 3 profiles I took care in to make sure they fit the bill of "well-written", "coherent", and "humorous but not intentionally offensive".

These profiles aren't 100% there yet, however you are getting close. I think you are striking the right tone here; these characters are real people who are earnestly putting their best selves out there. They're not perfect, they have flaws, they're eccentric, but that's what makes them interesting. They're people who are a little bit funny because they're not experts in the job of "writing a profile to attract a date". They just drank too much some night and decided to give it a fling, or their friend made them do it, or even they're the kinky type who learned how to make profiles and get a lot of first dates for one night stands and it just gives them their fix once every month, etcetera. So the real people who use sites like OKCupid. They're not despicable people, these are people with potential despite their flaws. For instance the "traditional values vampire" gives a slight impression of being a "fedora", he might hold the door open for you and get your chair which would piss some feminists off, but he's not the despicable kind, just someone who is ignorant of how his behavior might seem to certain people, and that's the humor.

In regards to your work, my conclusion is that you're doing very well with finding an affectionate stereotype and writing a profile that touches that stereotype without reducing the character down to it-- they have personal details that are funny so even if they are making fun of a hippie or a gym rat or something, it's not a shallow and artless sendup. So it's good.

The only thing you're lacking is laugh-out-loud potential and I think you could get there if you really brainstorm and write a lot of profiles. Don't be too attached to your profiles, spend a few hours just churning them out. To give you an idea, my and the other 2 writers wrote a 100 profiles over the original jam weekend and then included 20 of our favorites in the final game.

Key phrases: "spend a few hours just churning them out", "100 profiles... then included 20 of our favorites"

It is not unreasonable to ask for several entries, but this response is basically implying that I have to write 100 profiles so that they can choose just one favorite. Sure it'll be paid $100, but it's basically $1 per profile. I don't have "a few hours" to do severely underpaid work. If Rosstin is so very picky, the least they can do is actually look at each submission, specify if it has potential, and tell the writer what they can do to make it "laugh-out-loud" material.

As it is now however, this gig is essentially what my friend calls "data entry creative writing". And that's pretty shitty.

[Rosstin]

I'm sorry you feel that way. I think that for the right candidate, there's potential to make up to a thousand dollars for a relatively small amount of work. I'm not rich either, and I've offered as much money as it's possible for me to pay people for their time without bankrupting myself this month. MONSTR is also a free game I see no profit whatsoever from, and everyone involved is fully credited. So it's not like I'm paying you for work that goes uncredited, or unfairly benefiting from anyone's work. If you don't feel like this is a fair offer, you're free to move on and pursue other work.

BáiYù, I spent a considerable amount of time reading over your profiles and analysing your work. I think that should be clear from the long email I wrote you. My time is valuable too, and I would expect any writer I work with to be able to handle a little constructive criticism.

[Caveat Lector]

I think it's shitty to ask people to do unpaid spec work in the hopes that they'll get compensation for it.

Accepted and completed profiles (including additional content) will earn $100/profile for the writer.

I'm sorry, am I missing something here?

[blankd]

It is not unreasonable to ask for several entries, but this response is basically implying that I have to write 100 profiles so that they can choose just one favorite. Sure it'll be paid $100, but it's basically $1 per profile. I don't have "a few hours" to do severely underpaid work. If Rosstin is so very picky, the least they can do is actually look at each submission, specify if it has potential, and tell the writer what they can do to make it "laugh-out-loud" material.

As it is now however, this gig is essentially what my friend calls "data entry creative writing". And that's pretty shitty.

You wrote 3 profiles, OP gave VERY specific feedback on 1 of your profiles (I'd like to know the wordcount of your profiles just to compare it to the feedback he gave) and OP gave you direct insight on how the process went for the original writers on the original jam, I don't know how much more transparency you can squeeze out of this. Arbitrarily getting money for what is essentially an application (since he still needs you for the "longer writing" part, and you get money for that) reeks of entitlement at best and sourgrapes at worst.

I also have 0 idea where you got "100 profiles, 1 favorite" from that blurb you posted. You wrote your application and you were fairly politely informed how it could be improved IF you wanted to pursue it; no need to be salty, especially since you got actual critique/response for this endeavor.

But hey if you think this is so clearly unethical, what would be a reasonable method that saves everyone's time and gets the money to people who have (quality) work that makes it into the game? Please post it so that if it's reasonable and OP doesn't take it, you can point it out.

[Rosstin]

Submissions will be open for just a couple more hours.

I'm distributing this print by Emily So at GaymerX, so if you're in California and attending, please stop by and say hi!

[LadyTypewriter]

Hi. Email sent!