I'm a Freelance Writer!! ... Are You Really???

United States
May 3, 2010 12:06pm CST
I am talking about those companies like Helium, Seed, and Review Stream. I am just beginning to get into these sites, but have yet to put any publications on them. How many of you use them and do you have to submit many articles and reviews to get published or get your work read? Is it the concept of "throw a lot of "s#$t on the wall and maybe something will stick?" Or do you find that many of your articles get some kind of exposure? How much time do you spend a day writing? What are the length of your articles? I just thought I would pick someone's brain to see how worth this path might be. I also just like to say the phrase "Freelance Writer" I get a flutter in my stomach when asked the question, "What do you do?" and my answer is "I'm a freelance writer!" Ha Ha..I did a lot of short story writing in college and high school, but never really did anything with it, besides write a bunch of letters and journal entries that no one else see's. I want to gain the confidence to publish..but don't know the best way to go about it. I thought this would be a great place to start. Thanks for your input!!
1 person likes this
3 responses
• United States
3 May 10
Well, I am a freelance writer and I still get tickled when people ask me what I do and I can honestly say "professional writer". True, I haven't earned the big bucks (my writing has earned me maybe $7,000 in the past year) but I HAVE been paid. I tried Helium (posted a couple of articles on there when I first got started) and it's a great place to get some writing practice, but I didn't make much money. My suggestion if you really want to make some money is to find blogs that want a regular contributor and are willing to pay. This is how I started out. Another thing I do is when I go to a website that accepts articles, reviews, and things of that sort I search around and try to find where they actually hire people. Another place I make money (not great money, but money) is on textbroker.com and mturk.com. You could probably pump out a few short articles an hour (probably more) and make $8 - 10 dollars an hour. I would recommend freelance sites but I just haven't gotten then hang of the bidding so I am not really an informed source for those sites. One more thing you may be interested in is becoming a guide/agent for ChaCha and KGB, the money is not great but the work is steady and you will learn how to research quickly and give precise answers. I have been a ChaCha guide for about 3 years and use it everyday to make a few quick dollars. I did get hired for KGB, but they prefer set schedules and I kept getting involved in this project or that project and always missed my scheduled time. :) Now, to answer a couple of your questions - I work online about 15 hours a day but not all of it is writing. On one job I have I make $10 per 350 word article and on other jobs I make $3 for the same amount. But, if you want to work at home then this is a great way to do it - it just takes guts, determination, and a willingness to give it a shot. Good luck.
• United States
3 May 10
You ROCK!! Thank you so much for the information! Good luck to you also, it helps to know that other (or at least one) gets a kick out of "labeling" myself as a writer!! Ha Ha!
1 person likes this
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
4 May 10
7k in the past year? That's really not bad at all.
• Philippines
4 May 10
WOW! Thanks for the informations. It's too bad though. I want to join textbroker but I can't since I am from the Philippines and when I tried registering only US citizens are allowed.
@bevice (10)
• China
4 May 10
Mylot is a platform where you may display everthing . I spend litte time on write before. Beacuse the mylot net speed too slowly to i can't land the discustion page . Recently ,i fund more and more person focous on how to manage oneselfs asset. Somebody says we should teach kid the knowledge of finacial wisdom,it is to avoid strive of what is finacial wisdom when they are a adult. It's use for them to know where the money have come from ,and where the money use for.How to ear money ,and how to use money born more money.From this path ,these kid will learn the basic of financial wisdom.They will not only suprised that seeing a luxury sport car from the side,but also they can said to others the car is not used hisself money buyyed.To gold this aim that the young parents also use them primary financial knowledge to teach kids. The purpose is to broaden these kids mind ,to spread them knowledge on other wide,it's not limited to study books.
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
4 May 10
I don't consider myself as a writer in the first place. I use mylot to express my opinions when I feel like giving them, and interacting with others and also to find out about things. I used to be a blogger but due to certain circumstances, I've locked it up and have not been updating. Maybe when I have the time, I'll blog again. But it's actually pretty cool to have a blog and you can just type anything under the sun. So much for being expressive. Have a great one and hope that all your writing picks off well.