Comments on: Freelance Writing Jobs for Thursday, October 30, 2008

By: Scribette

Scribette — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:25:57 +0000

What is with employers who want an audition sample BESIDES the dozens of samples that you have in that topic?

By: Elijah

Elijah — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:36:41 +0000

Lisa — thank you very much for your advice and suggestions!

By: lisa

lisa — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:35:21 +0000

Hi, Elijah! Grant writing can be lucrative, but it’s a niche specialty: you really have to know what you’re doing to win.

Often a client will think you, the writer, should be able to find the right foundation; help develop the program; write the grant and the budget; put it all together; and then win. They may even offer to pay you a portion of the proceeds as your fee.

But it’s not that straightforward. First: A LOT of the onus is on the client to develop a great reputation, make a connection with the prospective funder, build a terrific board, and so forth. Second: the project needs to make sense and be well conceived. Third: there must be a plan for evaluating the success of the project. Fourth: there must be a plan for continuing with teh project after the grant money is spent. Fifth: it is highly unethical to pay a grant writer from grant money,since the grant money is intended for a very specific purpose.

It’s relatively easy to write winning grants for a great client. It’s almost impossible to do so for a client that’s inexperienced or unaware of how fundraising works.

If you’re seriously interested, I’d suggest you read a book or two, take an online class, and then volunteer to write grants for a charity of your choice. Get some experience under your belt – and THEN try selling your skills.

Good luck,

Lisa (www.lisarudy.com)

By: Elijah

Elijah — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:15:50 +0000

I was wondering how can I train myself to be an online grant writer? Seems like a lucrative niche with a constant flow of offers.

Any resource or advice will be very appreciated.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:15:06 +0000

Thanks so very much for this site and the listings! You’ve carved a big part out of my day, and made it soooo easy to pick out the opportunities that look like a good match for my background!!

Best,

Lisa Rudy

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:52:13 +0000

@ Kathy–I thought the same about the “Happy Stories”. Didn’t quite sound right and the $50 for 100 words seemed pretty high, unless the 100 words was just for the sample and not indicative of actual pieces you’d be writing if hired. Looked like fishing for free content to me.

By: Pamela

Pamela — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:06:26 +0000

I betcha Sarah Palin could write that one for a fishing and hunting writer in Alaska.

The first one for description writer was flagged. Don’t know why?

By: Ann G.

Ann G. — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:49:14 +0000

Re: Love Stories Needed – I wasn’t sure about that one myself. It was very vague, so I emailed them to find out more about it.

By: Tara

Tara — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:41:57 +0000

@ Sarah: Well put. I applied for a role playing game writer position (I found it on here or from a site linked from here) about two or three weeks back. They sounded really interested and asked me to write three samples; I was wary, but since the opportunity was very specific to my interest, I did it. I then received a “no thanks.”

Of course it could have been that my writing simply wasn’t what they were looking for…but I always wonder. As tempting as the AWI thing is, I’m not writing a ‘test’ article for them when I have paid work in the pipeline.

By: Kathy I

Kathy I — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:41:38 +0000

Anybody have any experience with the “Love Stories Needed” and the “Happy Stories Needed” gigs? Sounds suspicious, but I’m curious.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:26:52 +0000

I sent off an email to AWI and received the “write a sample here” reply. I’m very wary of free samples and never respond after that. As writers, we should be able to provide a sample we already have on hand and the business or company should be able to decide from our own sample if they like us or not. There was a post on CraigsList about year ago that showed up all the time asking for an Anniversary Toast. The people behind that were compiling your (our) free samples into a book.

By: Spencer Spellman

Spencer Spellman — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:44:41 +0000

Does anyone know anything about that first company, AWI Inc. was it?

By: Freelance Writers: Do You Write ‘Test’ Articles? « Tara Meacham

Freelance Writers: Do You Write ‘Test’ Articles? « Tara Meacham — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:38:38 +0000

[...] As part of my usual morning routine, I was reading the available job postings over at freelancewritinggigs.com. I immediately applied for the first opportunity available on the list and got an instant reply [...]

By: Tara

Tara — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:26:33 +0000

Good morning writers,
Please note that the first job in the telecommute section requires that you write a sample description of a product for them. This is unpaid. I know that this is sometimes standard practice, but if you already have samples to show them and they want something for free, it’s best to beware.

Thanks for posting these, Jodee–there are a lot today!

Tara

By: Kenna

Kenna — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:24:23 +0000

Thanks for the list!!

@Ann G. that’s a weird email for sure. You can always clarify to make sure that’s what they intended to say or ask if you will still write for them.

By: Ann G.

Ann G. — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:10:17 +0000

Great list! Thanks.

So I had a weird email last night and am not sure what to make of it. I landed a job through this Web site a month or so ago writing condensed versions of books – think Reader’s Digest Condensed. The pay wasn’t as high as I would expect, but it is a field that intrigues me so I went for it.

I got the response to my first submission last night saying it was fantastic and needed no editing-it was exactly what they were looking for and that the check was in the mail for this book. Then they said “At this time, we have a full writing staff and are not hiring, but we will add you to our pool of writers that may be employed or may not.”

They were hiring for writers, yet their “pool” was already full. I suppose they’re looking to build a waitlist, but they could have said that in the ad to start with.