Not For Tourists is a collection of pocket guides made primarily to assist city dwellers instead of out-of-town visitors. From their website:
Our philosophy is simple: people need to use the cities they live in, commute into, or travel to effectively. They need to use their city’s transportation systems; its governmental infrastructure; its shops, restaurants, and nightspots—and they need all of this information while they’re on the move in a format that’s more accessible than the Yellow Pages, more informative than Zagat’s, and more useful than any tourist’s guide.
NFT has published 2004-2005 guides for several major US cities and is now working on 2006 editions. (Their newest titles are Atlanta & Philly, arriving in bookstores in early July.)
The company has a variety of open positions they are currently accepting applications for. Details are located here. Positions include City Editors for new or existing cities (specifically looking for San Francisco and Los Angeles right now), or Neighborhood Editors (for 2006 editions of San Francisco, NYC, Chicago, LA and Boston guides.) Here’s more info about the Neighborhood Editor positions:
The compensation for being a neighborhood editor is 4 complimentary copies of the NFT Guide you contribute to, a small stipend, a listing in the “credits” section of the book as a neighborhood editor and an invitation to the NFT Neighborhood Editor’s Dinner. Applications can be submitted on an ongoing basis; however, we typically look for neighborhood editors to perform the bulk of their work between January and May of the calendar year — so if you’re submitting a form in July, you might not be contacted until November.
The May 2005 NFT newsletter also recently advertised the need for website contributors:
Within each of the City Pages of our website, we have two sections that we need city-centric editorial pieces for—On Our Radar and Tracts. (Scroll down on the above link to view PDF examples of each section.)
On Our Radar pieces are published on a weekly basis and include 4-8 short, succinct blurbs/reviews written as a first-hand account (with accompanying photographs) of things around your city that readers might be interested in doing; an exhibit, restaurant, museum, event, bar, etc.
Tracts, published monthly, are more discursive pieces from 1200-2500 words in length that highlight interesting and relevant things in your city.
As a contributor you would be required to produce 4 On Our Radar pieces and 1 Tract over the period of a month. Compensation will be $100 and of course, publication on our website with a byline and bio. If you are interested in contributing, please send a cover letter, resume, writing sample, and Tract proposal to contributors@notfortourists.com. All four elements are required for you to be considered.
If you know any of these cities like the back of your hand, or presently call one home, check out these openings to see if there is one that suites you. As far as future guides, their FAQ says they are currently “…arguing over Seattle, Miami, Las Vegas, New Orleans, San Diego, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas…”