Good morning FWJ Friends! I’ve got some blogging jobs this morning, along with opps for medical writers, technical writers, and copy writers. The list also has translating gigs, a job for a monologue writer, and a couple of openings for business plan writers. If you are interested in the “Writing Guru Needed” one, you should know that the ability to walk on water while carrying heavy objects is considered an asset, according to the employer. If you find your dream job here, please to let us know. That kind of good news is inspiring to others.
Leads…
- Website Copy Writer - 6 Week Assignment - On Site - Woodbridge, NJ
- Telecommuting Medical Writer - Full Time
- Swimming Bloggers @ Swimnetwork.com
- Sports Blogging and Multimedia Positions @ Most Valuable Network, LLC
- Several ProBlogger Positions @ Spaces Chicago
- Editor @ Custom Publishing (Readers’ Digest) - Internship - Pleasantville, NY
- Reporter/Writer @ Community Hangouts - Rosemount, MN
- Freelance Financial Writer @ Morningstar Advisor - Telecommute
- English to Canadian French Translator Wanted ASAP ($0.34 per word)
- Looking for Someone to Write an E-Book
- Chinese to English Translator Needed - Toronto
- Freelance Business, Statistics & Micro Economics Writers/Researchers - Greater Vancouver Area Applicants
- Chinese Translators - Telecommute
- Niche Trade Magazine Seeks Writer - Winnipeg - Work from Home ($45K-$55K)
- Freelance English Writers @ Instablog.com - Johannesburg
- Technical Writer Wanted - Part Time - Contract - Atlanta Area Applicants Preferred
- Writing Internships @ Atlanta Magazine
- Monologue Writers Needed ($20)
- Music Journalists @ Soundcheck Magazine - Telecommute
- Freelance English Writer/Editor Wanted - Telecommute
- Writing/Editing/Indexing - 3-6 Month Contract - Boston - Local Candidates Preferred
- Immediate Need for Aviation/Avionics Technical Writer
- Editor/English Teacher Wanted - Part Time/Contract - Houston
- Creative Marketing Writers for Websites, Blogs, Newsletters, etc. - Telecommute
- Internship Opportunity @ Norman Mailer Estate - Paid - Woodland Hills, CA
- Media-Savvy Freelance Editors Wanted to Write About Web Video News - Telecommute
- Business Plan Writer Wanted ($1000)
- Witty Writer for Latino Gossip Site
- Writer for B2B Website - Miami
- Ghostwriting Job for Money Manager - Minneapolis/St. Paul ($20 per hour)
- Freelance Book Editors Needed Right This Minute for Self-Publishing Company - Telecommute
- Magazine Editing Internships Fall 2008 @ Bow Tie Inc. - Irvine, CA
- Writers for Philadelphia Gay Magazine
- Short Articles About Managing People for Sports Web Site
- Proofreader Wanted @ Next American City Magazine - Philadelphia
- Business Plan Writer Needed
- Press Release Needed
- How To Manual Needed
- Writing Guru Needed - Telecommute
- Newsletter Guru Needed - Telecommute
- Freelance Writer for StoreAdore.com - San Francisco
- Paid Summer Internship June 16-August 16, 2008 - Farragut West/Washington, D.C.
Good Luck!
Jodee
June 12th, 2008 at 7:21 am
You are going above and beyond these days Jodee! Thanks so much for your hard work!
June 12th, 2008 at 7:35 am
Wow bright and early today hm? Thanks! I’m up with a newborn bright and early so it’s nice to be able to read through this stuff while a baby is attached to me
Keep up the good work!
June 12th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Jodee:
Thanks so much for your passion–you’re up super early. I was like no way will postings be up for Thursday–boy was I wrong
June 12th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Jodee, thanks for the early post! I was going to check out the writing Guru but it is already flagged! Frustrating…
June 12th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Thanks for the wonderful site. I’ve been visiting it for about a month and it’s great. I applied two weeks ago for a gig and have already sold an article.
June 12th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Great list!
I would watch out for Instablogs.com though, my experience with them has been pretty bad. They appear professional but questions regarding pay (or anything else) go unanswered. Basically they want you to write for free or for very little.
June 12th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Good Morning, great list. Thanks so much. I have a question. I’ve been getting email notices from FreelanceHomewriters which then asks for a 69.00 membership fee. anyone had any experience?
June 12th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Caron: ignore them. Anyone that charges you to find work is not worth it and they’ll probably give you the same ads you can find elsewhere.
June 12th, 2008 at 10:10 am
What a variety of leads! Thanks.
June 12th, 2008 at 10:29 am
I love this website! I’m so happy that I found it. Thanks, Jodee.
June 12th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Caron: I agree completely with Fiona. There is no need to pay a membership fee for work which can be found elsewhere.
June 12th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Like many freelancers, for now it is about finding multiple gigs and keeping multiple gigs going so the bills can be paid. A high percentage of the work I get comes from the jobs posted here.
Thank you so much for the hard work and for keeping this site going! I love you ladies!
June 12th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
whoops one of the job i interviewed for yesterday is announcing today on an ad. Erm i guess that means i didn’t get it ( lol)
June 12th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Maryam, don’t worry, might be just crossed wires. If the ad ran three or four days after you interviewed, then okay, it might not look good. But one day is probably just timing, like maybe the ad was already set to run on certain days.
You know, I’m never one to gripe about bad ads. I usually think, if it’s not for you, just ignore it and move on. And when it comes to low paying jobs, I think maybe I wouldn’t do it, but if you’re just starting out and trying to put together a resume then it’s okay (I act, and trust me, you spend the majority of your time working for free to try to build a resume and meet the right people). But there’s one ad today that I just have to point out…The one from “Most Valuable Networks” for Sports Bloggers says that they want 9000 words a month and are paying $100 a month. What?!!! Jodee, please don’t take this as a knock at you–I so appreciate all you do for us and there’s no reason you shouldn’t run the ad. I’m just commenting on the colossal nerve of some people. My calculator fainted when I tried to figure out how much that paid per word.
June 12th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
my calculator fainted hahahaha that’s so funny.
It’s true, wish we had a blogging writer association, which protected our rights or something, i accepted a job once that paid 1 per post and it was six hundred words plus finding pics! I wasn’t motivated after that. My thing is at the very least u should pay five per post, but the going rate should be ten per post. Whenever people put per month stipends beware. I once got paid per mopnth and had to work from 8 to 5 and be online all the time and they asked me for random things , had to produce like 10-15 articles a day plus extra stuff.
June 12th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
I’ll keep trying to get leads posted early for you guys, since I know you like that.
@ Skippy: I didn’t take your comment as a knock at me; I looked at that ad and clicked away from it without posting it and then reconsidered. Sometimes it comes down to a judgment call and I would rather err on the side of posting something that someone may want to apply for than turning too much into the “leads police” and not putting it up.
If you look at something posted here and think I goofed or you are scratching your head wondering “What was she thinking this morning?” please ask. If you don’t want to do it on the board, you have the e-mail address. It’s not a problem. Sometimes I do miss something and I appreciate it when someone lets me and the readers here know. I try to keep track of companies with bad reps so that I don’t post their ads after someone here has pointed that out.
As much as you say I help you, I need your help too. And I appreciate it.
June 12th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I just found this site and read everyone’s replies. I’m trying to break into the book critic/review business and was told to start working on freelancing. I’ve never donw this before so I’m not sure on how to start. Any pointers?
June 12th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Re: Most Valuable Network. My recommendation would be to stay away. I worked with them for a bit in the past, and not only do they want you to do slave labor, but they’re not the easiest people to work with. Anyone interested in that is honestly better off building their own sports site from scratch.
June 12th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
When you apply for a freelancing job, most of the time they want to see samples of your work. There are also some scammers out there who will try to get you to do something for nothing by requesting you write up a custom ’sample’ for them. A way to get around that is to have samples already available to show to prospective clients.
Check out reliable sites with info about how to write great reviews and how to find review work.
Set up your own blog or website and start putting your reviews on them.
If you see an ad for a blog site that is looking for multiple blogs and asking for other ideas, check out the site. See what they have and note what they don’t have. If they have a general book review blog, suggest a more specialized one - like children’s fiction or something. If they go for it, you just got a paying gig! That is something I did that worked.
Find sites that will pay for reviews (even if its a small amount of money) and start getting some reviews published there.
This is about getting your name out there, getting published, and getting samples built up so you can then get work/get better work.
Study the reviews written by experts in the field. What do they have in common? They are a success for a reason; and while you want to have your own style and voice, you also want to duplicate what works. Let their examples build the foundation for you.
I have gotten some book review work from a lead posted here before, so keep checking this site and others for leads.
Once you get some good clips published, contact book publishing companies and let them know what you do. If they send you free books, that is more fodder for paying clips, and it also helps get your name out there which helps build up more business.
Also, when you get some good clips out there, check print and online sites that publish book reviews or that a book review section would ‘fit’ with. Check out their submission guidelines. If you are really bold, approach them about hiring you/staring a book review section.
Hope those ideas help you. Welcome to the site, and good luck with your goal!
June 12th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Dani,
Thank you so much for your wonderful advice and enthuisam. I think you said it best “Set up your own blog or website and start putting your reviews on them.” I currently have my own ‘personal’ blog so I might take your word for it and start one about book reviews and the like.
Thank you so much and for the welcome to this blog.
Nic
June 12th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Nic;
You are very welcome. I have a few tips on advertising your review blog - I hope that’s ok.
Make sure you use all the recommended means of driving traffic to your site, too. Use the url for it as the url you enter when you sign up to leave comments at places. Place links to your review blog on your personal blog, myspace, facebook, etc.
If you can set up (sorry, I forget the name of it) a thing that shows your blogname and the last one or more posts in real time on your blog and social networking sites, that can attract interest. Blogger/blogspot has added this new feature to their blogs. You just choose the feature and enter the url. Their widget does the rest.
Find other review and book-related sites to leave comments on. People really do click on the links with commenter names.
Make sure to comment on blogs, sites, etc that get a ton of traffic even if they are not related to books. One example would be to find a popular video blogger on youtube and comment on their videos. Their high traffic can get you some clicks, too.
Traffic can equal backlinks which can equal more traffic. If you have a traffic counter on your blog it can show prospective clients the kind of numbers you are getting, and can give you a sense of how you are doing with your promotional tactics.
If you are really brave, start a YouTube account for your reviews. Show your sparkling personality, show the book cover, and give an excerpt from your review - with a link in the sidebar to the whole review.
Be creative and have fun. If something doesn’t work just tweak it or try something new. That is a big part of being a freelancer.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Hi Jodeee
As always, I appreciate the leads and seeing them posted early is a great way to start the day.
Thanks so much.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Dani,
Yes ma’am, that will be a huge project for me to work on. You are very inspirational and know exactly what your talking about, I’m very greatful to have you give me such good advice. I will let you know as soon as I get one review in and take your tips along with me.
Thank you from the bottom of my freelance newbie heart,
Nic
June 12th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
@Nicole
I’m a newbie too and I would suggest not just limiting yourself to book reviews. If you like music and movies, do some reviews. A lot of times if you don’t have samples that are exactly what the employer is looking for, it’s good to have similar ones. I actually got a gig writing about music based on my book reviews.
@Dani
Thanks oodles for the blog suggestions! I have two blogs with zero traffic. I think I have to take a day or two and study up on it. Blogging is apparently more than just great writing!
June 12th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Nicole, Book reviewing is how I started. I started with a site that did ebook reviews. From there I went to the niche market I was interested in at the time. Romance which has a whole ton of branches under it, paranormal, erotic, historical etc. Search those websites out and ask to review for them, many will take on newbies. From there I got brave and sent a clip to Romantic Times Book Club magazine and was taken on - although not for pay, but free books.
Find what you like and study the markets and sites. You can always start your own blog of reviews but try to do a few with a known site.
Get a Writers Market book and check for magazines that take reviews. I like New Age stuff and magazines like Pan Gaia and Sage Woman pay, not much but they do and they also send you a copy of the magazine.
Once your name gets out there you can then try your hand at interviews which can be done via email - check out a site called Wow! Women on Writing and put the name Gena Showalter in - I did that interview with her and got paid $75.
From book reviewing you can move to interviewing and then on to articles - it is an excellent place to start. What are you interested in reviewing and maybe I can direct you to some good sites?
June 13th, 2008 at 2:28 am
Nicole,
I started out book reviewing, and it’s a great way to begin the freelance career. I did it at Suite101 then moved on to magazines and websites. I had samples, and I just studied different guidelines. I queried one magazine about doing a book review, and even though they didn’t give me a book to review, they assigned me an article about being a book reviewer. At the time, the pay was the most I’ve ever made freelancing. I even got a review in the The Writer. If you want to get paid, make sure you will get paid for the review. Some magazines will pay for feature articles but not reviews. Good luck.
Niki
June 13th, 2008 at 9:37 am
I’ve just started with b5media and although the pay isn’t great in the beginning, there’s incentives and the community is terrific - thanks to FWJ, as they were the ones posting the links to get my first “real” freelance job!!
Most importantly, I just wanted to add to Christy’s response regarding Instablogs — I applied and heard back from them pretty quickly.
I was asked to join, but they only pay $4/per post and they want them to be at least 300 words and for you to post 2-3 times a week.
Is it me, or is that insanely low???
June 14th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Anyone have experience with ifreelance.com? I tried them for a year with no results. I’m thinking of giving it another shot but I’m wary as there is a fee. Thanks!!
June 14th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Hi Michel
I’ve been on Ifreelance as a ghostwriter since they started, and I feel it has taken them a year to get up and rolling. I’ve been interviewed for several jobs, and did receive one substantial contract for a book. I felt it was worth their fee for another year now that they are getting posts. I can say that as a freelancer, I spent a year doing books ebooks articles and curriculum and had to find my niche - books and curriculum. So I say go for it!