Recently, I began perusing different freelance writing sites in the hopes that I may be able to supplement my income doing what I do best. It was an abortive, one day attempt that imparted one nugget of truth: it ain’t easy.
I figured, being a writer, I could snag a couple quick jobs writing copy or articles and move on. What I failed to acknowledge is that getting work as a freelancer is about as hard as selling creative writing to magazines. You still have to query. You still have to submit. And you’re still up against scores of other writers looking for a job.
To confuse matters, there are a lot of different types of freelance writing gigs, each with its own set of rules. I read a few articles on writing “copy,” and got turned off, as it seems to pretty much be advertising pitches. There are jobs writing for blogs, writing articles, editing and proofreading other people’s work, and much more.
Here are just a few of the sources I found:
Freelance Writing
Freelance Writing Gigs
About Freelance Writing
I think, if I put a lot of time and energy into it, I could probably start getting work this way. But the question is, do I have the time and energy for this new skill set?
You tell me.
Do any of you dabble in the freelance-arts? Is it as hard to get into as it appears?
I usually tell people I know who are already running blogs, that an option for some extra $ is to apply to http://www.examiner.com online. You need to have a specialty you write about so they know what "category" you are, but you get paid by how many hits you make. I have friends who aren't very accomplished writers, but are really into a subject and they make a few extra hundred a month doing it. It's not big cash, but if you're good at promoting your examiner site online, you can draw people to your column–especially if it's something in the funky or dark world of spooky stuff. Hell, you could probably devote a column to "Twilight" and get thousdands of hits.
Thanks for the info, Autumn. I've actually looked into the examiner at one time, maybe a few months ago. I can't remember why i didn't submit to them, maybe I'll check it out again.
I've been going back and forth on this free-lance writing stuff for about three months now. I haven't found much that seemed legit or felt right, so I"m still mulling over my decision.
I did find a couple of contract sites that worked for people, however most of them need a bachelor's degree and alas I only have an associates 🙁
there is one place for webcontent you might like to try at http://www.hitfreelance.com, again, I'm still kicking the idea around but take an gander if you're interested onipar, it's a stable site with no funny business.
Good luck on your decision!
Try Constant-Content.com. You can either submit articles that you write based on your own ideas or you can submit articles to "public requests" for consideration. So much easier to write than to query! It's an unusual writing site with no bidding. It's more like a consignment shop for articles.
Thanks for the tips, I'll check that all out.
Just to let you all know, I've been checking out guru.com, and once I have some articles, probably constant content as well.