Freelance Writer Road

Subscribe to RSS feed Follow Freelance Writer Road on Twitter Visit Freelance Writer Road's Facebook page Visit Freelance Writer Road's LinkedIn page

Suite101 Update – January 2011

Come find out how I did after my first solid month of my Suite101 residual income project.

View full post

Bright Hub Fired Writers!

This Just In! I just received an email that Bright Hub has let all their freelance writers go. Yes, that’s right, Bright Hub fired writers, all of them. They have made a few controversial changes back in June, right after Google released Panda. Click link to read my article about Bright Hub’s recent changes. Many …

View full post

I Need My Laptop!

This has been an incredibly hard week! I can’t wait for the weekend. Not only has my laptop shit the bed, my youngest son wasn’t feeling well. This combination makes for a small paycheck, and like many people these days, I desperately need my paycheck!

View full post

My First Magazine Article Has Been Published!

I’m so exited to have my first magazine article published at Sashay Magazine! Take a look: Talking To The Waters I had so much fun writing this piece, that I’m going to do another one for Sashay Magazine. Having a magazine article published makes me feel even more like a real freelance writer. I’m not …

View full post

What Is Google’s +1 Button?

Along with the big Google Panda Update, you may have noticed the new Google +1 button on websites, blogs, and even on Google SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). While there isn’t much to this button right now, other than a way to show off how popular an article or blog post is, Google has big plans for this little button. Read this article to find out more!

View full post

Suite101 Update – January 2011 Bright Hub Fired Writers!I Need My Laptop!My First Magazine Article Has Been Published!What Is Google’s +1 Button?

Jan
11

CloudCrowd Changes

Categories:

Freelance Writing Opportunities

by Janis Bennett

Image by Zeptonn via Flickr

I’ve written a few posts about CloudCrowd in the past, including a CloudCrowd review, and my biggest beef with this content company is t

hat if you make any little mistake and the editor doesn’t feel like fixing it, your article is rejected and you have no opportunity to fix it. You also do not get paid for your time in writing the article. I previously recommended that you could post the rejected article on Suite101 or similar type of site so you can still get some type of compensation for your time. Well, you don’t have to worry about this anymore.

Last week, CloudCrowd announced that Editors now have the ability to return work to the author to fix any errors or make other changes, and then resubmit it. As long as it is accepted the second time, authors will receive payment for their updated article. It is my understanding that the author will not receive the bonus in this case, but will still get the base pay. This is a step in the right direction, in my opinion, for this company to be more “writer friendly”. Though I will admit there are many more improvements they can made to improve their reputation and the way they treat their writers.

This is a significant change that I think should had been in place from the get-go. But now that freelance writers have the ability to make changes and resubmit their work for payment, I think it’s worth signing up and taking a few credentials test. If for nothing else, simply for the fact that CloudCrowd pays every night and it’s one of the only places you can write and get paid within the same day. This is a good egg to have in your basket when you need quick money, or for filler work.

Leave comment

Dec
16

Slowing Down and Enjoying The Holidays With Family

Categories:

My Personal Experiences

by Janis Bennett

Image via Wikipedia

Yes, it’s that time of the year again… the holiday season! Some people love it, some people hate it, and some people love and hate it at the same time.

Personally, I love the holidays. I love the hustle and bustle, the big family gatherings and the time spent with my boys watching Christmas specials on TV. I don’t even mind the large crowds in the mall and it wouldn’t feel like the holidays to me if I wasn’t part of those crowds. I love seeing family that I haven’t seen since last year, squeezing into my parents house on Christmas Eve. I love my solo celebration of the Winter Solstice and knowing that the days will once again get longer and longer, albeit slowly. And I love window shopping online to build my Christmas gift list.

And the biggest thing I look forward to every year, for the past 10 years that I’ve been a mom, is seeing the look of surprise, wonder and excitement of the magic of Christmas morning when my boys see the presents under the tree for the first time. What do you love best about the holidays? Do you wish you could just fast forward to January or do you revel in every aspect of the holiday season?

With all the festivities that are taking place, as well as everyone taking stock of the past 12 months, finishing up any goals left unmet, completing projects, and planning for the next year, I don’t have to mention how busy this time of the year is. And with the world buzzing with the various holidays that take place throughout the month, the last thing most people want to do is work! — this reminds me, maybe I’ll start saving up now, so next year I can just take the month of December off! Now wouldn’t that be great?! Well, I can dream.. who knows.. maybe it will become a reality!

You have probably noticed a lack of posts this path month, and I apologize for that. I am getting used to a new schedule due to a new transcription job, a couple of new clients, and actually taking some time off work instead of sitting at the computer for 20 hours a day! (Yes, I do freelance transcription work along with freelance writing. I find it is a nice balance and the two jobs compliment each other perfectly!) And I want to thank my new clients for letting me work with them and I look forward to a great relationship in 2012! The end of 2011 has been so wonderful, that I no longer have to look for a job outside of the home!

With that said, I also want to point out that this website is my passion and my heart. I enjoy being able to help others on their freelance writing path as well as share information with other freelance writers. I want to take this time to thank my readers! You are very important to me and I hope you have found even just one helpful piece of information on this website. I share my personal information, both the struggles and the celebrations, along with anything else that I think is important for the freelance writing community to know about, because I feel that it is essential to portray what it is really like to be a freelance writer. People often think this is an easy way to make a living and they expect to make thousands of dollars a month, but we all know that is usually not the case. But us writers have something special within us, and we love our jobs, which many people can not say about their field of work.

So, with that said, as we turn the page to a new chapter and a new year, I want to wish you all a very Happy Holidays. I am going to be spending extra time with my family for the rest of this month so you may not see any, or only a few posts, for the next couple weeks. I encourage you to also take some extra time to be with friends and family this holiday season.

See you next year!

10 comments

Dec
05

Textbroker Is In The UK

Categories:

Freelance Writing Opportunities

by Janis Bennett

Image by stumayhew via Flickr

There are not as many content mills for UK freelance writers as there are for US freelance writers. But this week, UK writers have a new choice, Textbroker UK.

This well respected content mill is still going strong, despite the Panda changes that have forced others to close their doors. The original Textbroker

company is still restricted to US writers only, but have opened up a branch in the UK. According to the announcement, ” Textbroker.co.uk will accept authors from Australia, Canada, Britain and other English-speaking countries outside of the US.” And Textbroker.co.uk will pay authors in Euros.

For a quick overview, here are some important pieces of information to know about Textbroker.co.uk:

Choose an article from the list of available assignments, write it according to the client’s instructions, then choose another article to write. (You can only claim and write one article at a time)
There is no minimum or maximum number of articles required.
There are no sign-up fees or any other fees – an author account is free.
If a client likes your work, you may recieve a DirectOrder from that client. You set the price, and if it’s within the client’s budget, he/she will agree.
Textbroker bill clients for you.
Earnings are clearly listed for each article
Pay-offs occur twice a month via PayPal. You receive your full earnings because Textbroker covers all PayPal fees.
Since you are an independent contractor, Textbroker doesn’t withhold any taxes.
Every article is reviewed by the editorial staff, all of whom have degrees in English and language studies. They give feedback on errors as well as strengths to help you avoid the former and expand on the latter.
To help writers improve, Textbroker also has a fun, casual blog with grammar tips, research tricks and resources.

Pay Rates

Quality- and payment-rates at Textbroker¹
Article Quality	payment per word	payment per 500 words (approximately one letter page)
2 stars: legible	0.7 Cent	3.50 Euro
3 stars: good quality	0.9 Cent	4.50 Euro
4 stars: excellent quality	1.2 Cent	6.00 Euro
5 stars: professional quality	4.0 Cent	20.00 Euro

1) As of July 4th, 2008, payment into a Paypal account requires a minimum balance of 10.00 EUR or more.

Additional information about Textbroker.co.uk

payments:

Authors are paid for articles immediately upon acceptance by the client.
Payoff can be requested to a PayPal or bank account, as long as the balance is greater than 10 EUR.
Missed payoff deadlines will roll over to the following pay period.

6 comments

Dec
01

Bright Hub Fired Writers!

Categories:

Freelance Writing Opportunities

by Janis Bennett

Image by Poster Boy NYC via Flickr

This Just In!

I just received an email that Bright Hub has let all their freelance writers go. Yes, that’s right, Bright Hub fired writers, all of them. They have made a few controversial changes back in June, right after Google released Panda. Click link to read my article about Bright Hub’s recent changes. Many writers left after having articles deleted, even though Bright Hubgave pay raise (which was actually a pay cut since the required minimum word count for articles was also increased).

The worst of it is that your articles will stay up on their website and will be updated by their remaining in-house staff. Sounds like you will no longer earn income for page views. If Bright Hub deletes your articles, they will notify you and then you can put the article somewhere else to earn income, or sell it outright. This is one of the types of situations that I think Suite101 is perfect for.

The best part is that they are looking for a few people to contract out with once in a while, but you’ll have to apply for it. Information on applying is provided in the email that was sent out. So if you have been a faithful writer in good standing there, you may have a chance to continue a relationship with the company, if you want.

So, it looks like Bright Hub can be taken off the list of places to write… falling to the wayside with other content mills over the past six months. Once again, this is proof of how a freelance writer’s world can change and why you should always have multiple places that you can write for. Never put all your eggs into one basket.

If you are signed up at Bright Hub, you can expect an email soon, if you haven’t already. So, what do you think about this. I’d love to hear your thoughts on another content mill closing it’s doors, or at least letting a significant number of writers go.