Comments on: Freelance Writing Jobs for Tuesday, July 8, 2008

By: Victoria

Victoria — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:04:15 +0000

@Amanda Nicole

Thank heavens I’m not the only one who thinks that is INSANE.
That’s crazy about the gift cards in general. A call for writers/bloggers/editors should be treated as such – and not just a bait and switch game.

Here’s to hoping for better offers along the way for ALL of us! With cash, the real deal – not Monopoly money or Chuck E Cheese tokens.

Best,
~victoria

By: Roberta

Roberta — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:03:13 +0000

The gossip blogger ad in Toronto bounced, too…which bites because I wrote a really nice intro….dang it!

By: CountingPennies

CountingPennies — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:38:51 +0000

The thing that bothered me about the gift-card ad (I got the same response) is that they advertised for writer. If they put out an ad asking people to share their own experiences and offered a gift card in return, it wouldn’t have been bad (it’s only 150 words). But the fact that they published this as a call for writers really bothered me.

By: bleeding espresso

bleeding espresso — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:43:58 +0000

@ Fiona, I got that from EHarmony too. Blech. Hopefully everyone will boycott so they see that is *so* not acceptable.

By: #12

#12 — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:49:43 +0000

@HeatherK: I was amused by that one as well. I considered sending them a huge, bloated marketing plan that included creating CG mockups and hiring a new architect… and then insisting they send me 10 lbs of almond M&Ms… but only purple ones.

By: Fiona

Fiona — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:21:47 +0000

I just heard back in response to an eHarmony ad from a few weeks ago. They want me to write 700 words. If they like it, they’ll pay 10c a word. If they decide not to use it, they pay me nothing. I think not.

By: Amanda Nicole

Amanda Nicole — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:01:08 +0000

@ Victoria: Wow, that’s a new one!

I’ve been noticing lately that job posters are getting (what they think is) trickier in getting around the payment part of a service transaction. Now that we’re wise to the whole “you’ll get exposure” and “we’re a startup, so we can’t pay you now but we will once we’re successful” charade, they’re having to offer lottery prizes instead! Just today I came across a posting for an editor, who would be paid in kind; that is, one day, in the undetermined future, when you need something edited, they’ll return the favour. Sorry, I don’t think my landlord accepts back scratches in place of rent.

By: Victoria

Victoria — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:37:38 +0000

Just as a heads up (don’t know if anyone else got this) – but as part of a previous job posting on FWJ for “Online Education Blogging – ELearning” from last week, I received a response today that really annoyed me. (Thought I’d share to see if anyone else has a more positive spin on this…). The email thanked me for wanting to be a blogger for the site and then outlined the following (this section is copied and pasted):
“We require that you submit at least 1 entry per week (4 per month) and as compensation, we will be giving away 4 $50 American express gift cards to four bloggers who will be selected at random each month. Each month every blogger will be eligible to win even if you were a winner in a previous month.”
I don’t know about all of you, but I take writing too seriously to be part of an online “lottery” each month for my work. Is it me??
Please help me understand WHAT THE HECK?! (WTH?!)
~v.v.

By: HeatherK

HeatherK — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:32:29 +0000

I love the “Do you have it?” post. “Send us your ideas about what you can do for us!!…even though we’re not telling you anything about our company or offering a consulting fee of any kind.”

By: Mia

Mia — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:56:57 +0000

Are any Americans getting any of the work in Canada?