2/16/11

Freelance Writers Wanted

EDIT: this was published in February 2011. As people are still responding in November 2011, I've closed off the ability to leave any new comments. My friend has enough writers now. Thank you.



Yes, it's true. My friend is looking for freelance writers to write articles, web copy, ebooks, blog posts and other assorted jobs. There are far too many orders coming in for her existing team to keep up with, so she's seeking more.

Here are the basics:

You must be able to write in US or UK English. You must be able to follow the client's preferences for formatting and style. You must adhere to deadlines. You must be willing to communicate if you have problems meeting deadlines so someone else can help you. The topics vary all the time, so we never know what to expect next. You must not submit plagiarized work - originals only. You are only expected to accept the amount of work you can reasonably complete by the deadline date. You must be willing to WORK. And you must love writing.

It sounds easy, right?

However, there is a catch...

You see, she has several writers already working with her little team (some on a full-time basis, others part-time) and they seem to have plenty of work when they want it. But despite her best efforts in the past two weeks to find new writers, she's found only lemons.

Here's a run-down of just SOME of the quality for the most recent batch of  "freelance writers" has been like that she's seen in the past two weeks:

1. One writer began working for the team, accepted the work this writer felt could be done by the deadline shown and was promptly never heard from again, leaving those jobs untouched, incomplete and needing to be completed by someone else in a mad hurry to try and meet the deadline.

2. One writer was so desperate for any work at all that there were promises made of being able to complete at least 10 articles a day - every day - without any problems. My friend was happy that someone would want to do that, so accepted this writer based on the strength of good samples. Two articles were completed. Both were woefully written and not in native-English at all - in fact, not even close to the quality of samples shown. When asked to rewrite the first two articles submitted, that writer also decided it was too hard, didn't do them and didn't complete the rest of the orders that had already been accepted. Needless to say, that writer won't be receiving any more work.

3. One writer was absolutely thrilled to be a part of a team of professional, full-time writers and was eager to get started. This writer was given plenty of work to choose from - but promptly decided it was all way too intimidating and ran away.

4. Our next lucky contestant was told that each of the jobs allocated show the word count, the pay rate, deadline, keywords required and any formatting requirements that client expects. Of course, all work is Copyscaped checked for uniqueness before being submitted to the clients, so it goes without saying that you can't submit plagiarized work. The writer accepted some jobs and completed them very quickly. Unfortunately, they were copied directly of someone else's website. They didn't include the keywords required at the density requested - and they weren't even formatted in the way the client expects and is paying for.

5. Our final contestant picked up a reasonable, realistic amount of work, made it clear that the work would be completed on time and even gave updates to let my friend know they'd be on time throughout the week. Yet when the deadline day rolled around, that writer was nowhere to be found. No responses on email or Skype. No contact at all. In fact, it's been three days and still no contact. Someone else had to complete that already-overdue job in a mad hurry to get it to an angry client

So...

If you think you're anything like any of the above ex-writers mentioned, then stop reading now. This post doesn't concern you. My friend simply doesn't need writers like this.

Writers who do these things don't tend to receive offers to work on a full-time basis. They don't receive repeat orders. Writers who accept jobs and promise to complete them on time, only to think of something more interesting to do instead also won't be needed.

However, if you believe you're able to write simple, legible articles in native ENGLISH (yes, we can tell...) and you can follow the client's instructions for the articles they are paying to have done THEIR way, you're welcome to apply.

How to Apply

As a way to test whether you CAN follow instructions or not, please apply by adhering to the following instructions. If you can't complete this simple step, chances are you won't be contacted.

Please leave a brief comment after this post letting me know of your interest in joining the team. Feel free to let me know if you've written before or not. If you're in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, or South Africa, let me know your location. If you live elsewhere in the world, you may still be considered, but your English will need to be of a high standard.

If you have a blog or a website, link to it where the comments section asks for your name and URL. Make SURE there is a way for me or my friend to contact you on that blog. If you have samples on your blog/website, we'll read them. If you don't, we may ask for them.

If you do not have a blog or website, please leave your email address formatted as follows:

yourname (at) extensionname (dot) com

Do not write out your email address in full using the @ symbol. This will encourage more spam to arrive in your own inbox and it brings way too many scammers to my blog.

If you can follow these instructions, my friend and I will be going through those compliant applications over the next week or so.

I'd love to see you all on the team, so don't let me down...

:)

29 comments:

Robert Medak said...

I have a question. What do you pay per word or project?

I have blogs at:
http://rjmedak.wordpress.com/
http://rjmedak.blogspot.com/
http://kidsandanimals.wordpress.com/
http://rjmbookreviews.blogspot.com

I also guest blog, writer articles at Ezine Articles and Factoidz.

My Website is:
http://stormywriter.com/default.aspx

I have been troubled by what some people want to pay in relationship to the quality of the content requested.

Richard said...

I am UK based.

I have 3 blogs, one of the blogs posts entries to another.

http://richard-arblaster.com which feeds to:

http://www.wizzardsblog.com

http://richard-arblaster.tumblr com which I use to share what I think is interesting from round the internet.

Anonymous said...

I cannot tell you how excited I am to have read this post! I was getting so much information out of your article about using low paying jobs along with the high paying ones in this economy, and had to read the post twice to make sure I was really going to be able to put my name in the ring for the opportunity to join a team of writers. I would love to have a shot to show you how I can shine, so all of my info is as follows:

I have written mostly medical pieces as of late, but have experience writing script for radio ads as well as entertainment/celeb articles.
I write for Demand Studios as needed as well as Textbroker.

I am located on the outskirts of the Nashville, Tennessee area. I'm a TN native so English is my first language (with a tiny dash of Southern drawl).

I can easily be reached at the following address:
nikki.seay (at)gmail (dot)com.

I look forward to speaking with you about this awesome opportunity and thanks in advance for your time and insight.

Nikki

Matt said...

Hi. Please send me an e-mail with more details to challismatt (at) hotmail (dot) co (dot) uk

I'm interested in joining the team but would like to know rates and the amount of work. I am from the UK but am living in Canada.

Thanks

Brian Lin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brian Lin said...

I was born in Taipei, Taiwan, but currently live near Chicago, IL, and can speak and write English very well.

Currently, I am a Neurobiology and Physiology research laboratory technician at Northwestern University and starting a Physiology PhD program in the Fall at Loyola, but am looking to fill the time between March - August with part-time work. I have creative IT experience in designing and creating a custom website for my lab, as well as audio/video editing experience in creating various online utilities in support of PR for the lab. I am proficient in social media, as well as various web-based user-friendly solutions. The majority of my writing is about very specific scientific topics. Please let me know if you are interested in hiring me for your position, and I can submit sample work or CV so you can check my work history.

The website I created is:
routtenberglab.blogspot.com

My e-mail is brianlinbrianlin (at) gmail (dot) com.

Janice F. said...

Bianca,

The old adage, "when one door closes, another opens" just seems to fit. I'm losing a part-time job soon and this potential opportunity couldn't be more perfectly timed. My goal is to look forward at what my future holds through that next open door rather than focusing on the one that's about to close. I want to get my writing career kicked into gear and coming across your "Freelance Writers Wanted" post makes me glad I came to your site this evening.

In the past, I have written posts by assignment for Paid Forum Posting. I have also written a column based on the show, The Young and the Restless, for a soap opera based website.

I live in the Midwest United States in Minnesota.

I do not have a blog or website so I have no link to provide.

You can reach me via email at:
FRAM0031(at)metnet(dot)edu. The last four of the first part reads as zero, zero, 31.

I look forward to being on the team!

Best regards,

Janice

Shiromi Arserio said...

Hi Bianca, I'm a long time lurker. My name is Shiromi Arserio and I am based in the US but I’m from the UK, so I can write to both styles.

My work can be found both online and in print in magazines such as DISfunkshion, Listen, OutdoorsNW and Khabar. I also run my own scifi/fantasy news site.

Shiromi

Unknown said...

Dear Bianca,

I would very much like to work as part of your friend's freelance writing team (dependant on terms and conditions, as always).

I am based in Ireland and my published work to date is composed almost entirely of historical landscape analysis but I can easily tailor my style to just about any subject - apart from hard science perhaps.

I have very little on-line presence but can easily forward you samples of my previous work.

Pleae feel free to contact me at (irishfreelancer at gmail dot com)

Tawfik said...

Hi Bianca,

I am highly interested in joining this Freelance Writing team. My location is Montreal, Quebec.

I have a limited portfolio at the moment, being rather new on the freelancing scene (begun less than 4 weeks ago). Currently, I'm involved with a well-known website and am responsible for submitting a fixed number of articles per week. My goal is to build a diversified portfolio of work in order to successfully progress, hence why I am looking for various opportunities online.

My background and expertise spans a wide range of disciplines, and I would be glad to send you my CV or samples should you express any interest. I'm quite capable in producing timely, high-quality, and original content while adhering to writing guidelines, and would hope for the opportunity to demonstrate this as part of the team.

Hope to hear back from you!

Regards,
Tawfik

tawfikberro (at) hotmail (dot) com

Unknown said...

Hi there
Am based in South Africa and would like to be part of your team.

I have written a lot of articles on different subjects.

My contact email is aardvertise.africa (at) gmail (dot) com

Juddie

Anonymous said...

Hello

I live in South Africa and am interested in joining a team.

I have experience writing online articles and content.

Please contact me at article.recipes(at)gmail(dot)com.

Thank you.

parsibagan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
parsibagan said...

Hi Angel,

I'm not sure whether I am cut out for this task, since I am from India. However, some of my articles are there on Ezine and my blog url is provided below:

http://parsibagan.wordpress.com

parsibagan (at) gmail (dot) com

Unknown said...

Hi there

I am writing this with my hands literally shaking with excitement (may sound a bit overboard, but it's true!).

The work that you have described is EXACTLY what I am looking for. I have worked for one company doing their blog before, but then with the impact of facebook etc I sadly was no longer needed. You will find the Company at www.clareflorist.co.uk and I am sure if you wanted to contact them they could verify my working with them.

I also wrote for both the school magazine and University Newspaper. I attended the University of Edinburgh where I obtained an MA (Hons) in English Literature, and so this should prove my writing is up to scratch if nothing else! As well as my ability to write to certain specifications and styles.

As I do not currently have my own blog, I would be more than happy to do some "sample" work set by you if you feel necessary.

I was made redundant from the University of Edinburgh last November 2010 where I was a Senior Secretary, and so my typing, writing and communication skills were honed further during the 5 years I worked for them. I have taken a bit of a sabbatical since, but this opportunity has resonated with me in a big way. As I am not currently working anywhere else just now I shall be able to concentrate on any work that you wish to offer me.

I would be happy to forward you my CV on receipt of your (hopeful)email. My address is: foxv190 (at) aol (dot) com.

I am from the UK, having moved to Edinburgh (Scotland) in 1995 (when I was 14), but prior to that I was brought up in Hertfordshire (near London, England).

I look forward to heopefully hearing from you soon.

Victoria Fox

Gayle (Gayze) Nastasi said...

Hi, Bianca,

Although it's been a while since I've kept up with your blog, I was a regular reader for some time. I'm currently looking for more freelance work, and am glad I stopped back in. I would love to be considered as part of the team.

I'm located in the United States and am a native U.S. English speaker. My writing credits include published short stories in (both print and online) children's fiction and fantasy/sci-fi fiction. I have also been writing non-fiction informational pieces with SEO content for the Constant Content site for the past couple of years.

In 2010, my novel for mid-grade readers, _The Corpse That Wasn't There_, was published by Fehrman Books. The second novel in the same series, _Wild Wings of Danger_, will be out in August of 2011. The third book is currently in second-draft form. The second and third novels were written as part of the NaNoWriMo writing event, which I hope you will view as an indication that I am able to meet deadlines.

For examples of my writing, please feel free to visit my blog (link provided above). There is a contact form on the blog, and you may also email me at any time at gayze.starr (at) gmail (dot) com.

--Gayze

Gigi said...

Hello.

I am interested in learning more about your friend's project and potentially joining a team of writers.

I currently write the market research column for About.com.

Here is a link to my articles for The Glass Hammer.

http://www.theglasshammer.com/?s=gigi+devault

I look forward to hearing from you about possibilities.

My email address for freelance writing is: devault(dot)gigi(at)gmail(dot)

Ciao!
Gigi DeVault

Misha said...

Aloha from the Valley Isle of Maui, Hawaii, in the good old USofA.
I am highly interested in your endeavors.
To be truthful, I haven't written for years. However, I've always wanted to pursue writing in any capacity. The ability to put emotions, events, and so many different experiences into words has always been a passion of mine.
Please send me more information.
Misha Vosburg
mishavosburg(at)yahoo(dot)com
Thank you for your time & consideration.

Anonymous said...

Hi Bianca,
I live in China but am originally from Ireland. Although my online presence is somewhat limited, I do have my own business website and have written on project management topics for Brighthub (thanks for recommending this one). Of late, I have been concentrating on editing (in both US and UK English) but would love a genuine writing gig. I am familiar with following writer briefs and would like to review the rates available for writing. My main area of expertise includes business and technical areas relating to computing and electronics. I can of course provide further info when contacted directly. My email is mjaodwyer- at - gmaildotcom. Hopefully, your friend is still looking for writers or perhaps some editors ;-)

Bianca Raven said...

Hi everyone. Thanks for responding. The positions are currently filled, but my friend will be keeping your details on file for future reference when new positions open up.

Thank you again :)

Madcap Toys YouTube Videos said...

Hi. Here is a link to one of my top blogs. Please send me information on what is paid for each project if interested in hiring me.
http://www.squidoo.com/christmascrochetdishcloths
Thanks,
Kathy

Nabila said...

Hi Bianca

I am very interested in joining this team of writers. I understand that the team is full but I am hoping that your friend will consider me, should an opening arise.

I have experience in writing web content, brochures and SEO content. I live in Australia, in NSW.

My email add is nssam8 (at) gmail (dot) com

Nabila

Suraj Duseja said...

Hi, I am Suraj from india and i have 1.5 years of experience in content writing.Some of the niches that i cover include buying guides, travel guides, medicinal, blog posts, car loan, health related, SEO content etc. I have also put up few articles on ezine. if you would like to view them - http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Suraj_Duseja

I would understand if your team is full but do consider me if you need quality work anytime. My id is surajduseja(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)in

thanks and regards

Silver Writer said...

Hi! Is this still ongoing? I am interested in applying for this position part-time.

Here's the link to one of my blogs:
http://lifepersonalexperiences.blogspot.com/

I have a poem that is recently chosen to be published by Contemporary Poetry Digest.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Ashleigh Alladice said...

My names Ashleigh Alladice, I'm 18 years old, I was born in England and I live in blackpool. Writing is my passion, I have wrote short scripts, plays, media technology work, I've had many blogs in the past but looking for something new now. This opportunity would be amazing.
You can contact me at
Ashleighnicolealladice(at)hotmail.com

Laurie Dix said...

My name is Laurie Dix, based in UK.
I have been looking for work that I will be able to undertake as a form of earning money alongside my studies and other jobs, and this seems perfect. I like to think that I have a decent writing style, and my understanding of the English language, I am confident, surpasses most of the people who I meet in every day life. At least, I am able to construct a sentence most of the time.
If there was a place for a young, hopeful writer on your team, I would be thrilled at being considered. As I am still studying, I can write formally or colloquially, so I should not have too much of an issue adhering to the requests of prospective clients who wish their articles to be written in a certain way.
Please, see my blog (I have attached a link) for my writing style. Most of the entries are 1000-2000 words and took me less than an hour to write, two hours including proof reading and editing.

Thank you for your time.

Laurie Dix

Lori Kimble said...

I would love to learn more about this opportunity. I spent ten years as an elementary school teacher before I decided to become a stay at home mom. For the past ten years I have supplemented the household budget through freelance writing.

I am fast, professional and easy to work with. Because most of my work is now owned by clients, I can't link you to anything I have written, but I would be happy to provide you with samples work I can still call my own. I would also be happy to write a sample article on any topic your friend requests.

My email is loriann_1971 (at) yahoo (dot) com. Thanks!

coldkiss said...

Hi Bianca,

I would love to be a part of your team. I hope there are still openings.

my blog is
http://tread-new-paths.blogspot.com/

My email is shshef (at) hotmail (dot) com

I have written a sample for an online company and the contract states that they are allowed to use it.
I presume that I cannot show it to you.

I am happy to write some samples for you.

I am an English supply teacher and love writing.

I have always wanted to write and always loved to teach creative writing, newspaper articles,advertising, brochures leaflets , fact/fiction to name a few.

Supply teaching is hard work but I loved it because it was always the naughty teenagers who would write and wanted me to mark their work.

Teachers had given up on them and told me not to bother!!!

I never give up and once I commit I have to see things right to the end.

I would like a change in career and the credit crunch has ensured this; no supply work.

I love the written word. I have been writing short stories which I hope will culminate in a novel.

It does not feel like work and I have to be pried from the keyboard by hungry teens.

It is my time to write.

I am in the UK after spending 17 years in Australia .

look forward to your reply

Sham

Ravi Govindan said...

Hi

I am a freelance writer from India. I basically write academic content and resumes. However, there is no reason why I should not be able to write SEO articles.

While I know that there may presently not be any vacancies for freelance writers, yet, i would still like to provide my email so that prospective employers can contact me, if required.

My email is:

rgovindan123(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)in

Thank you,

Ravi Govindan