Do I have to join the SDStaff? If so, is it possible? I have a lot of spare time and I’ve been told I’m a pretty good writer.
Yeah, you have to be part of the Staff Report crew…and I don’t think membership comes too easy. You being really new yourself, while I’m not a staff member here, I think there’s a zero to zero percent chance they’d let you. As far as I know, you’ll have to be a member here for quite awhile and become a pretty well known or at least regular poster.
Email C K Dexter Haven with a description of the kinds of things you’d feel qualified to discuss and he will send you some reader-submitted questions pertaining to them, if any exist. If it meets Ed Zotti’s standards, it will be published as a Guest Contributor report. If you continue to provide good quality reports, eventually you may be made a full-fledged member of the SDSAB, with all the rights and privileges thereof (Har!)
Good luck.
What’s C K Dexter Haven’s email address?
I emailed ** C K Dexter Haven**.
My understanding is that it’s not just an issue of being a good writer. It also helps if you have some kind of specialized knowledge on topics that are likely to be report subjects. Being able to write well is good; but being a physicist who’s able to explain what happens when a plane tries to take off on a treadmill is better.
Eh, it helps, but good research and writing skills are much more important. I generally write on the subject I’m most knowledgeable about, electrical and electronics topics, but not always.
Yep, what Q.E.D. said. Hey, by the way, Q, it’s been a while since you’ve written one… 
In terms of topics, we try to test folks out (trial by ordeal) with topics where they profess some expertise, but many of the questions we get don’t fit neatly into standard academic classifications. Ed Zotti is master and editor of the Staff Reports, and his word is final.
Yes, but is he perfect master?
Are guest reports ever printed in the Reader?
So far as I know, none of the Staff Reports (guest or SDSAB) are published in any dead-tree medium. They’re online only.
No, Ed is not perfect master. Not by a long shot.
To date, a handful of Staff Reports have appeared in print media, in response to the occasional request to reprint (with proper attribution) their words of wisdom. I keep hoping that Cecil will take on another book and perhaps allow some staff reports to appear therein, but… The response is always that he’s not ready to do another book until the stored copies of the last two books get sold. So, do your part, go buy more books!
Have you not seen the Highlander?