Beware, freelance jobs advertised on the internet...



 

This post is going to be dedicated to those just starting out as a freelance writer and came about after a discussion on a LinkedIn post after someone had posted a request for freelance writers. The post was obviously a scam - clues being that the poster had used an online stock image for their photo and left no details other than a gmail address.

One LinkedIn member, who claims to be a freelance writer earning over $70,000 dollars per year from online writing, decided to tackle me on my view of scam adverts, telling me in no uncertain terms that I was wrong, including some disparaging remarks - shame she didn't read my earlier post about being careful what you write on a forum really before she hit the send button. I did question why she had needed to respond to this particular advert if she was already earning a fortune from online writing.

But how do you know if an online job is genuine or not?

Firstly there are some obvious giveaways such as the poster using a stock photo image, using a free email address, such as Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo etc. Other signs are the promises of earning 'as much as you want' and other such claims. Another sign that you're dealing with someone who, even if they are offering a paying gig, will pay a pittance, something in the range of $1 per five hundred words, is that they leave no company details to be researched.

I know it's tempting when you do a Google for freelance writing jobs and pages upon pages come up, offering you work. You think, great, this is my chance to be a proper freelance writer! In reality, even if you get offered work, it will be generic articles and you will often be tied into writing a minimum of 10 per week, at 500 words a piece and for very little pay, if you're paid anything. Many content mill companies work on a pay-per-click policy, so if no one reads your article, you won't get paid.

Now before I get inundated with more comments telling me how wrong I am and that you work online and earn a fortune, I am not saying that ALL freelancing jobs online are scams. Big companies such as AOL, Google and other major online companies pay very well, as do other genuine companies that rely on online only content. What these companies don't do is post on public forums, requesting freelance writers. They advertise in the right channels such as Gorkana, which is a source for journalists and PR companies. They don't hit public forums with, 'Freelance writers wanted! Earn a fortune!' promises.

Of course, if you want to get experience of writing to a deadline and are just writing to get your name out there, by all means write for a content mill company. However, if you wrote 10 pieces at 500 words a week for a total of $5, you could have written three magazine articles in the same amount of time and earned yourself $1100.

Added to this, even if you start writing online content so that you can build up your portfolio, editors of paying mainstream publications will hardly be impressed with your boasts that you've written 50,000 articles for a content mill.

So, when you see those adverts telling you that you can earn a fortune from the comfort of your own home by writing for them, do your research and ask yourself why they haven't gone through the right channels and are resorting to click-to-pay ads and public forums to recruit staff?

 

 

To Specialise or Not...

 

Many people have specialist knowledge in subjects that other people know nothing about, whether it's knowing how to grow the perfect marrow, having a natural flare for fashion or knowing the history of the British Empire inside out. Specialising in writing about a subject can be a double-edged sword.

On the one hand if you are an expert in a certain subject and can write about it in a way that will inform others, you can build up a good client base of buyers for that particular subject. You can very often become a columnist in your subject, or have a list of regular titles all willing to pay you for your knowledge.

On the other hand, you can limit yourself and your potential for work. Particularly if the subject you specialise in is so specialised that you end up limiting your markets for work. For example; you may be very knowledgeable in the railway network, but the markets for your knowledge are very slim, with only a handful of publications on this subject being available.

If, however, you specialise in say, natural health and healing, your potential market will be much greater. Most national magazines and newspapers like to promote natural health/healing in some form or another, so specialising in a subject such as this will open up a much wider area for you to work in.

When I first started writing for magazines and newspapers I wrote general lifestyle pieces because I knew that the majority of publications would print this type of story, giving me better odds of getting published with them. Because I've always been interested in the mind, body and spirit side of things my writing eventually leaned more to the magazines that have a spiritual or natural health slant to them. I have now written for every MBS title in the UK at one time or another, most of the women's magazine titles and for many of the national newspapers. I have even secured two regular columns with two national MBS magazines. Because mind, body and spirit covers a wide area, I haven't limited myself too much, but if you specialise in a subject that is too specialised, you might just find that although you are classed as an expert in your field, your workload might become too slim for you to survive as a freelance writer.

So, to specialise or not? It all depends on your market. Are there enough publications out there to make it worth your while. If not then broaden your horizons a bit more.

 

Career Success or Career Suicide?

 

We're talking social media today. Now, whilst I'm not an expert in the field of this relatively new phenomenon (I still have no idea what a hash-tag is or how I would use one), I do have a Facebook page and I know how to Tweet, if the need arises, and this is a fantastic way to keep in touch with what other people are doing, even if it's just to know what they are planning to have for tea that evening.

 

What I have noticed though is the amount of writers who spend a lot of time and energy detailing their rejections and bemoaning their lack of success in the publishing industry. Whether it's not getting a positive response from an agent or struggling to find a publisher, they feel they have to tell the world about it. There's truth in the saying, 'Don't put anything on the Web that you don't want the world and his wife to know about!'

 

Humans are naturally judgemental beings and how you present yourself is crucial to what people think of you. Whilst other writers connected to your blog or writers' forum may well sympathise with your writing woes, the only thing you are doing is telling the world that you're not worthy of being published; that your writing is unpublishable.

 

We all experience rejections, rubbish reviews and have files of unpublished works growing virtual cobwebs stored on our computers, but by telling the world about it all does you no favours. People are often surprised when I tell them it's not only writers who read your words online - it's commissioning editors, publishers and the general public too. If you portray yourself as someone who constantly moans about being rejected, or says things like, 'I couldn't get a proper publisher, so I self-published, please buy my book!' you've just informed everyone who looks you up that you're not very successful in your field. That you're a wannabe, rather than a success. And that includes commissioning editors.

 

You will never see a famous author bemoaning the fact that their latest book had to go through five rewrites before their publisher would consider taking it. The only time you hear from an established author about how hard it was to get published, is once they are famous. And you certainly won't find Stephen King or J K Rowling on any social networks tweeting how much they hate their agent or that their publisher doesn't know a thing about the industry. They (or their publishers) use social networking as a tool to promote their career, not destroy it.

 

Social networking can work wonders for your career, but it's all about how you present yourself. If you have self-published your book, instead of making the world think that it's because no publisher would sign you up, say it was your decision because the royalties are much higher than going down the traditional route. If an agent has turned you down, do you really need to tell everyone about it? Could you not just keep it to yourself or say you decided that a particular agent wasn't right for you? Yes, writing forums can be helpful, particularly for those just starting out and can be a tremendous source of support, but as Rhonda Byrne (author the the highly successful The Secret) points out, the more you tell yourself and others that you are unsuccessful, the more you will attract the very same thing.

 

By all means use social networking as a promotional tool for your writing, or just as a means to connect with the outside world, but always remember; people only know about you by what you tell them, so make sure it's only positive news!

 

And whilst I'm on the subject, watch what you say on other people's blogs, forums or when writing a book review. Your words will reflect who you are as a person. If you review another author's book in a nasty or negative light, people will just assume that you're jealous. If you don't like a particular book, don't bother commenting about it. People can make up their own minds. If you decide to get into a controversial conversation, your words are there for all to see, so always think before you hit the send key - you never know who might be reading it!

All Round the Houses...

 

This morning for the first time in Lord knows how many years, but quite a lot, I sat in a classroom doing maths (or math, as our American friends would call it). My daughter's school think it's a jolly good idea to get parents involved in what they are doing during their six hours at school. They were learning long division - ah, no problem, despite failing my maths exam, I can successully work out how many Mars bars I can eat in one day before I use up my daily quota of 2000 calories. Simples. You'd think, wouldn't you? Not so.

The new division system had us all (kids included) scratching our heads in mutual confusion as we all muttered, 'well, that's a long-winded way of going about it!' The system involved a very lengthy way of working out just how many pages of his book ten-year-old Billy would have to read if he wanted to finish it during his two week holiday. I've had three children, all who have been ten-year-olds at one time or another and I've never known them to actively seek to read a book on holiday, much preferring the log flume, but I digress. Whilst I did eventually work out just how many pages Billy would have to read, it took me half an hour to do so, and I was so excited that I even put my hand up, shouted 'Me, Miss!' and blurted out the answer, (12 with 2 remaining), looking rather smug that I, a forty-something woman, had outsmarted the ten-year-olds. Oh yeah! 

So, what has this got to do with writing?

I'm glad you asked.

Two things, actually:

Firstly; very often when freelancers are starting out they will go to great lengths to compile an article, spending hours upon hours, sometimes weeks perfecting it, so that it will have the best possible chance of being accepted by an editor. That's fine if you have plenty of time on your hands, but you're not making the most of your freelancing time. Whilst we all want to submit the best possible work we can, time is money and spending weeks perfecting one pitch is not only eating in to your writing time, it is also counter productive. Most editors will want to make changes to your original idea, or will have to cut sections out in order to make it fit. As I mentioned earlier, they may have already commissioned a similar idea, or have one in stock, so all your invested hours and hard work may amount to nothing.

I never write a full article until I've secured a commission. Instead I write a short brief outlining the subject I'm intending to write about, why I'm writing it and why I think it will appeal to a particular publication's readership. Then I email it to an editor. If she is interested and wants a more detailed outline I send her one. If she wants it, she will commission it - then and only then will I write it. Not only does this save you hours of wasted time, the editor will very often ask you for extras such as box outs or as recently happened to me, ask you to turn it into a quiz style piece.

Secondly; editors are very busy peeps and they really don't have the time to read through pages of attachments. They want to know what your idea is and why their readers would want to read it. End of. They don't want writers who go all round the houses, sending them articles they don't want (or even have time) to read. They don't want a very involved and lengthy email either, informing them all about your life, how you became a writer, or that you have a cat called Norris (unless of course Norris is significant to your article).

In short editors want you to get to the point. They don't need you to show your workings out; they just want the answer!

 

 

 



When No Can Mean Yes...

Rejection is part and parcel of being a freelance writer, unfortunately. In all my 16 years of working as a freelancer this is still one of the hardest things to cope with. Rejection in any form is rubbish, but when you've spent hours perfecting an article that is not only ideal for your chosen publication, but has been tailored to their house style and edited to within an inch of its life and you receive a short 'NO!' back from a commissioning editor, it's not only rubbish, it makes you feel rubbish too and it's very tempting to write back and ask why exactly is your work not good enough? Don't do this!

It could be for a number of reasons, including; the editor may have recently covered the subject (hence the importance of keeping up with your reading and read back issues of your chosen publication!), or the editor's budget may have been used up for that month. They could have enough freelance content, or they could be holding a similar article in stock. If you've stuck to the guidelines of writing a subject that will appeal to a publication's readership, written it in the same style as the publication's house style and presented it in the correct way for submission, then the negative response is probably nothing to do with your work and you shouldn't take it personally.

What you should do however, is to target another publication with the same piece of work. Aside from a few specialist titles, most magazines and newspapers have competitors and if your article is a general piece, such as health and well being, the media world is your oyster. Say for example, you had written a piece about how we are all so dependent on social media that we no longer have time to actually socialise with real people. This could be targeted to every newspaper editor, particularly if there is a new device being launched. It could also be subbed to every women's magazine editor in the country with a different angle; perhaps you could volunteer to go without your iPhone for a week and record how you coped without it?

Don't ever think that just because one editor doesn't want your work that another won't. Many magazines and newspapers are desperate for new content to keep their readers interested and if you keep subbing a rejected piece to other titles, it will eventually come back with a yes!