Freelance Writing Jobs for Tuesday, September 9, 2008
September 9, 2008 by Jodee
Filed under Writing Gigs
Good morning FWJ Friends! I’ve got leads for bloggers, software reviewers, and editors this morning. There are a few listings for business plan writers and article writers. A couple of publications also made today’s list
Leads…
- Sports/Relationships Bloggers Wanted – must be located in New York or Los Angeles ($1,000/month)
- Editor/Writer @ Sports Video Group - New York
- American Sports Blogger Wanted ($10 per post)
- Writing/Editing Job – Telecommute
- Script Translation – English to Spanish and Portuguese – Boston
- Technical Writer – SAP Knowledge a Must – Contract – Little Rock, AR
- Business Plan Needed – Dallas
- Backroads Magazine Needs Writers ($50-$200 per article)
- Writer/Editor Wanted for Book Project – Dallas
- Article Writer - Longmont/Denver area applicants
- Associate Technical Writer @ Wall Street on Demand - Temp to Perm – Denver
- Orato is Paying for First Person Stories
- Technical Writer – Long Term Contract – Houston
- Copywriter for Digital Design/Marketing Firm – Contract – Miami
- Technical Writer – 6 Month Contract – Arden Hills
- Researcher/Writing Assistant for Cultural Arts Book - New York ($13.50/hr + 20 percent bonus on completion of project)
- Freelance Writer for Tobacco/Cigarette Trade Publication ($600 flat fee per feature article)
- English to Spanish Translator of Software Manuals – Irvine, CA – Local Candidates Only
- Freelance Writers for African-American Magazine
- Web Content Writer - Wilmington, DE
- Freelance Writer - Must be Located in Philadelphia Area
- Business Plan Writer – Telecommute
- Writing Position for Marketing Department – Contract ($25-$30 per hour)
- Article Writer Needed – Telecommute
- Copywriter/Quality Control Specialist – Contract – Morrisville, NC
- Technical Writer – Contract – Seattle
- Copywriter – Seattle ($30+ per hour DOE)
- Copywriter/Web Content Developer and Editor – Telecommute
- Technical Writer – Contract – San Francisco
- Marketing Copy Writer (2-4 Week Assignment) – Telecommute
- Seeking Experienced Grant Writers – Contract
Good Luck!
Hi Jodee!
You’ve outdone yourself w/writing ops this morning–thanks for your hard work!
Bobbi
Good Tuesday! Great list!
I’m a bit perplexed. How does a magazine like “Backroads” write an ad with so many mispelled words? It’s just crazy to think that a person representing a magaine such as this would not take the time to reread their ad.
My pet peeve of the day is ads that really don’t give you any information about what they want. “Write a 5 page document.” I don’t answer any of these. If you can’t tell me enough about your project to say what kind of expertise or background you’re looking for, or what audience it reaches, I’m not going to bother.
Not to mention saying nothing about pay rates…
Carol Tice
http://www.caroltice.com
OMG you guys, I am so upset right now that I want to cry and I wanted to post here because I know fellow writers would understand how violated and angry I feel.
In March I did some work for a guy who promised to pay me if he liked it. After I finished a TON of work, he suddenly fell out of contact with me.
Today, this jerk calls me about a job but doens’t remember who I am. He tells me to look over his site and his fricking site is full of MY WORK!!!!!
I didn’t say anything to him and revenge scenarios are flowering in my brain.
I won’t stoop to this guys nasty level however.
I think I am even more insulted by the idea that the low life didn’t’ even remember me more than a anything else.
I am LIVID and I feel used…trying not to cry but I am so upset….
I second that Carol. There was another ad there for writing the 50 year history of “an organization”. What organization? And then it asks for you to quote a rate. I don’t even know who it’s for, what it involves or the scope of the project. That’s kind of key to letting me know whethter its something I’m interested in/qualified for. Vague ads are definitely brutal.
@ Alicia–Rather then get upset, I would consider taking some form of action. It doesn’t sound like he paid you anything for the work that you did, so unless you gave him permission to use it, he shouldn’t be using it on his site. Send him a formal letter or email requesting that he cease the use of your work or pay you and if he doesn’t you will pursue the matter through legal channels. Even if a lawsuit is not worth the bother, perhaps he’ll get the message and discontinue use of his work and it may make you feel better to call him out. It might also help to post the guy’s information so that other writers here know what he’s about and to stay away.
His name is Will ( never got a last name–I am an idiot) and his site is Imposter City…
I am also in a situation where I have not been paid and have not had any of my emails returned. I was thinking today of what measures to take. If anyone has any ideas other than threatening legal action (which I will probably do) I would love to hear them. Is there an agency that I can report them to other than the Better Business Bureau?
Thanks
P.S. Keep up the good work Jodee
I actually recovered some money via Angela at writers weekly–this company owed me 300 dollars and shortly after she contacted them I got begrudgingly paid.
Thsi si what I wrote to h im:
Will,
I finally remembered you (had a sneaking suspicions) after talking to you and have non-regretfully decided that no, I will never work for you, in fact, I will warn other writer’s not to work for you as well.
In March 24, 2008 you contacted me about writing for Imposter City. After a brief email correspondence you began writing to me and made me feel as we were going o work together.
You also made it appear as if it was imperative that I get the work to you in seven days then you just dropped off the face of the planet–I thought maybe you didn’t like my style so I let it go.
It would have been nice after all the long winded correspondence I received to get a “Sorry I don’t like your style” letter or something, but that is how it goes sometimes.
So, I figured you went on your merry way and didn’t think about it –until today when I see some of my work on your site–work you NEVER paid me for!
Sure, it is rephrased, but I have the word docs and DW html’s and emails to prove it.
I wrote on TON of work for you and you never returned an email or a call, even though the below email showed you said you would.
I don’t hear from you until today September 9, but I noticed today that some of the work on your site seems to resemble my own.
For example here is what I found on your site:
Ray Ban Aviator Sunglasses
The first, Ray Ban Aviator SunglassesBefore all of the other designers came out with their own versions of the aviator style shades, Ray Ban aviator sunglasses were the first to launch the idea. Its first pair surfaced in the late 1930s, offering a better looking way for pilots to keep the wind out of their eyes. You can now find stylishly designed aviators to go with your taste and profile. There are various colors for the lens available. If you are looking for a way to match your outfit, you can do so buy buying different aviator shades with different colors. Always have a pair that goes with any clothes you are wearing.Many celebrities have worn Ray Ban sunglasses, you will find them being worn in war movies and other types of films. One of the most memorable would be Tom Cruise in Top Gun. Kanye West has also been seen sporting aviators in music videos and award ceremonies. Women like Paris Hilton have too been seen wearing the tear drop shaped aviator sun glasses. They are not only good to help keep out wind and sun, but they are a great way to accessorize your daily lifestyle.
Here is what I WROTE in March:
Aviator sunglasses for men have long been known to give a man’ s appearance an extra pinch of pizzazz. A classic in the realm of men’s eyeglasses, they are the quintessential shades for any male wardrobe.
Aviator sunglasses for men were born in the 1930s, and were primarily worn by military pilots in an effort to keep the glare of the sun from their eyes during flights.
In time, aviator sunglasses for men grew in popularity outside of the air force, becoming a coveted item for the average guy.
This was largely due to the fact that Aviator sunglasses for men were enormously attractive. Their unique design and usually reflective lenses could instantly transform any man from an everyday dude to a stylish hunk in matter of seconds.
Today, Aviator sunglasses for men come in many fetching shades and styles, from mirrored to tinted lenses, with metal, colored plastic or tortoise shell frames. The generally large lenses found in aviator sunglasses for men are not straight, but tend to bulge out slightly to cover the entire eye. This is another reason for their surging popularity.
Aviator sunglasses for men have been worn by many famous actors, musicians, writers and noted celebrities, making them the choice of dashing sophisticates who like to stay on the cutting edge of fashion.
************
The fact that this is paraphrased is beyond obvious – you even make mention of the 1930s date at the top of your article and celebrities using the sunglasses at the bottom of the piece as I did. The flow is exactly the same just re-arranged word wise. This is almost always indicative of a poorly paraphrase piece.
Because you did this however, I will have hard time making my case—however, I find such SIMILARITIES all over your sunglassopedia section of your site!
Sure, one article being sorta the same can be a coincidence—but almost all of them having the same elements of the work I sent to you is too astronomical to be believed.
I still have the word documents and the Dream Weaver Templates you gave me that I sent to you…
I am going to every writer forum I can think of to tell them about you as I not only think you are thief, I also think you have little respect fro writers and the work that they do.
1– 15 dollars for a 1,000-word article–r u high? That isn’t even a penny a word! Only a beginning writer would accept that and only for a while before they too advanced. I have been doing this for years so, uhm, no thank you.
2 – You’d want me to do a ton of “projects” for you but can’t even tell me what you would pay?
I seriously don’t even care about the money at this point—Keep your ill gotten words and enjoy them, me on the other hand, I will rest easy knowing that I am protecting my sister and brothers of the profession from the likes of people like you!
Please don’t call me nay more and do not write to me—at this point I consider my working relationship severed.
If you do write or call me again, I will look at that as an aggressive act of harassment and will do what I need to protect myself and family with legal remedy.
Alicia
I’ve had a good experience in the past with using a collection agency to collect from a deadbeat client. They take a hefty chunk of $$ as a fee, but some money actually collected was better than $0 collected when I tried to go it alone.
For other general legal matters, I highly recommend becoming a member of Pre-Paid Legal. It’s like health insurance but legal. I’ve had this for about 4 years and they have been awesome. It’s like having a law firm working for you, for $17/month.
You can tell I’m a fan. It works well against the shady clients… being able to have an actual attorney from a respected firm call them, write to them, remind them of the law, etc.
There’s my business owner advice. Hope it helps.
I currently have Angela Hoy working on getting some money that I’m owed. Angela is wonderful and definitely on the ball when it comes to getting people to pay up.
@ Alicia,
Wow! I totally feel for you. The REALLY sucky part is that the articles are probably changed just enough that they wouldn’t be considered plagiarized. Scum bags like that know excactly what they’re doing. Who knows? He might have even taken those articles, advertised a position “rewriting” articles, and then gotten others to rewrite the articles as “samples.”
The only thing I would say, and this is not to say any of this is your fault, is that you shouldn’t have done so much work without payment. When I start out with a new client, I usually only do a hundred dollars or so worth of work before requesting payment – at least for a little while. Once I feel there is a trust established, I go to a monthly invoicing arrangement. This applies whether or not I have a contract.
Good Luck!
Thank you guys–and you are right Krista–hindsight is 20/20 — this is why I am starting to cement a NO SAMPLE policy…
I am still smoldering though–
Must…listen…to Enya…
@ Alicia:
His articles are rewrites, not the originals, and TECHNICALLY since he didn’t use your articles, he doesn’t owe you money. Does that mean he was right? Of course not. But the fact is that there is nothing you can do. Skip the long-winded rant (that he will not read more than a sentence of), and simply let him know that you are aware that he cheated you out of income by having your articles re-written. If you want, let him know that you want at least a portion of your promised pay, and notify one of the wonderful bloggers or other systems to get deadbeat clients to pay up.
Oh I am aware He cheated me and don’t want money–I just let him know that I know what he did…
And re-write or no, it was still plagiarism…he didn’t write it from scratch did he?
Besides which, if people can commission work from us, promise to pay, then rephrase it so that they become TECHNICALLY their own, we are all in trouble.
Especially since “edited for clarity” could mean anything…
He actually contacted me, ask me to write, then blatantly reworded my work so he could get over on me.
If any writer works for him they could be robbing a fellow writer out of money, esp if he asks them to “paraphrase something…”
It wasn’t like he ran across my article on an ezine and decided to use a snippet–
He asked for a contribution, took the entire article, including the arrangement and flow, and used it…
If that isn’t plagiarism I don’t know what is…
Besides, I think I am more than entitled to a “long winded rant” thank you very much!!!!!!!!
I am not asking for payment–I am being “paid” in my ability to vent, whether he reads it or not!
Alicia- I’m sorry that happened to you, that sucks! I definately felt your pain! It makes me a little bit weary of sending any samples..like for the ad in today’s post (send your true human-interest story idea to http://www.orato.com/oratopitch) I’ve got a couple good ones,but to just send it to them without anymore information and then have them use it without pay? No thanks!
Is there a site where we can post “deadbeat clients”? If not, there should be!
@Jodee- Thanks for the leads..a couple good ones I think I’m interested in.
Doesn’t paraphrasing equal plagiarism?
Thank you sooo much Scribette–my point exactly–otherwise all Publishers and Editors have do is “wise up” and all of sudden all writers are having their stuff paraphrased and TECHNICALLY made to become someone elses property…
How then would we make money?
I will agree with others that paraphrasing is indeed plagiarism. I’m not sure why it would matter if the content was rewritten as it still sounds to be plagiarism. If I decided to rewrite an article in the NY Times, essentially ripping off the actual author’s work, I believe that would constitute a pretty big plagiarism suit.
Thanks Chris–that is why I feel so violated…
Thanks for the links Jodee! I’m really interested in the gig for the Afr. Amer. magazine, but there isn’t any contact information. Alicia, that’s primarily why I dislike sending samples, and DON’T send them because there are so many scammers out there. I hate that happened to you, and I am glad you called that scumbag out! I hope your experience teaches helps someone else.
Thanks Shermika, that is why I now have a no sample policiy too–you
want to take chances but when stuff like this happens it just makes you want to say no way…
Yes, I do hope this helps someone else out — thank you find your kind words…
Reminder: WILLIAM SHAKER impostor City sunglasses — if he is smart he may change his game, but look out for his routine…