After a month of preparation, I’m finally ready to announce the seven candidates for the Staff Writer position at Get Rich Slowly. This is exciting for me. As I’ve mentioned several times during the past few weeks, adding another writer (or two) should make this a stronger blog, and a more robust source for personal-finance information.

As I prepare to write my first book (I’ve reached a verbal agreement and am now waiting for the contract to be drafted), I know that I won’t be able to keep up with the 10.2 posts per week I’ve been generating for the past three years. I’ll need help around here.

At the same time, I don’t want to rely solely on guest posts. Some of you love the guest articles, but others are less enthused. You like a consistent voice. I think the ideal solution is to find another writer (or two) that fits well with the Get Rich Slowly community, to bring them on board to lend a hand. We all get the benefit of a new perspective, but we also can be accustomed to a regular voice.

It’s not my goal to find another J.D. I don’t want a Staff Writer with the same voice and experiences that I have. I want somebody who will complement my work here, someone who writes well and who will engage all of us in new areas of personal finance.

I’m excited to introduce you to the seven candidates for the Staff Writer position(s) at Get Rich Slowly:

  • Jason Barr is a GRS reader and the author of a personal-development blog called Start Being Your Best. He’s 32 years old, has been married for seven years, and has a 2-1/2 year old son. He’s now a financial analyst, but he spent five years in the army as a Chinese linguist. You can read more of Jason’s background at his site.

  • Karawynn Long has been blogging since before “blog” was even a word. There would be no Get Rich Slowly without her. I discovered her web journal back in 1997 (via her toilet-trained cat), and it led me to start my own online diary. She inspired me to write for the web. Karawynn now blogs about money at Pocketmint. Here’s more about her story.

  • Neal Frankle is a Certified Financial Planner, and the author of Wealth Pilgrim, a blog about his own financial journey. He’s an active member of the personal finance blogging community, and has previously contributed two guest posts to Get Rich Slowly: How to read a mutual fund prospectus and How to find financial serenity. For background on Neal’s personal story, check out his recent article about how he went from homeless to homeowner.

  • Lynn is a long-time reader of personal-finance blogs. She is the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) of her family, and is working hard to increase the financial health of her family after years of many poor financial choices.  In the past, she has written for other financial publications, and is eager to contribute to Get Rich Slowly. For valid reasons, Lynn is writing under a pseudonym.

  • April Dykman is a long-time GRS reader and active commenter. If you participate in the discussions, you’ve probably interacted with her. She contributed an Ask the Readers question last year about whether she should buy a car or pay off debt. (You told her to pay off debt, which she did, and she doesn’t regret it.) April’s personal site has a bit more info about her.

  • Adam Baker is a relative newcomer to the personal-finance blogging community. He writes about money at Man vs. Debt, and is a frequent contributor to The Personal Finance Hour. Baker and his family recently sold everything they own to move from Indianapolis to Australia. They’re now in New Zealand, hoping to find a job. Here’s more information about Baker’s background.

  • A.J. Clark is another GRS reader who asked to audition for the Staff Writer job. A.J. is recent college graduate who writes software in the financial services industry, while trying to find his financial footing in the Real World. For valid reasons, A.J. is writing under a pseudonym, so I can’t give more background or provide a photo.

I think any of these writers would be a great addition to Get Rich Slowly. Ideally, if you had infinite time and I had infinite space, all seven would come on board, and we’d have a grand time learning about personal finance together.

But you don’t have infinite time and I only have one blog. I’m asking for your help selecting who will become a regular writer here at Get Rich Slowly. There won’t be a vote. This isn’t a popularity contest. Instead, this is a chance to see whose voice and whose message resonates with you.

Over the next two weeks, each of these candidates will share two different articles with the GRS audience. One article will run every morning. (And I’ll continue to provide occasional posts in the afternoon.) I’ll gauge your reaction and compare it to my own. At the end of this period, I’ll select one or more of these writers to become a regular here.

I’ve read through each of these fourteen posts multiple times. There’s some great stuff to come over the next couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Update: I’m allowing the Staff Writer candidates to make corrections to their bios. I wrote those myself, and want them to be able to provide their own info to GRS readers.

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