Comments on: Freelance Writing Jobs for Wednesday, October 29, 2008

By: Damaria Senne

Damaria Senne — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:29:29 +0000

I think ad may be a demonstration of the awkward/inappropriate humour they are looking for. Only none of us seem to think it’s funny. The crazy thing is that they may get a response or two to the ad.

By: Roxie

Roxie — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:43:00 +0000

(*wasn’t big on a resumé of my writing/freelance work WHEN I STARTED that is. I could be now, but eh, I’m still not really. I prefer to write a little bit about myself, and then get to the application/cover letter specific to that job.)

By: Roxie

Roxie — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:39:19 +0000

*Oh, and I wasn’t big on a resumé of my writing/freelance work.

I would say “Although I am in the process of building my resumé, I have had experience in….” and go from there. And then you can mention your interest or life experience in a topic. You can even perhaps say something to the effect of “I would like to do more/break into more writing on X, and I hope to do so at (name of publication/magazine/newspaper/company/blog).”

Someone will notice your skill through your attached samples or embedded links to samples, and they’ll take a chance on your talent and work ethic and communication skills (etc. etc.)… and especially if they like your ideas (hint: include ideas! Even a brief mention or sentence pitch, it makes you more valuable). Make sure you believe in yourself, work hard, and go for it, and someone will see your talent (because you did “put all your chips on talent,” of course!).

By: Roxie

Roxie — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:32:44 +0000

@ Sally: For one thing, yes you can send samples that haven’t been published/paid for! That’s how I started. I had next to no published work, but I just started writing, and writing well, to demonstrate my skill. And I started working at a small local newspaper, too. (Even when building, always write quality work because you never know when you’ll need it!) Go to a website like Helium[.com], pick topics you like, and amp up your life experience and interest in the subject when you submit yourself to jobs. That means custom cover/application letters – be vague when it helps, specific when it helps, and make sure you, as Donny Deutsch once noted in quoting a guest on “The Big Idea,” “Put all your chips on talent.”

The author of Six Figure Freelancer (great book, highly recommended) had only TWO published samples when she started submitting herself to work. Just write, good articles/samples, and good application letters.

Good luck!

By: Jaq

Jaq — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:48:34 +0000

Jodee, I’m glad you were able to force yourself to give us some job leads. If I were in your shoes, I’d still be curled up in bed, with my eyes closed. Lol.

But I’m still glad it doesn’t snow on my side.

Thanks for the job leads!

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:30:56 +0000

Anon – depending on the subject matter, I’d say .35 a word is a good price. And I don’t think you’d sound too eager by agreeing – someone has to in a negotiation.

What you might want to do is accept with a qualification for future work or an up front fee. So, I’d take .35 a word if we can raise that to .40 after four articles/ months (assuming it’s an ongoing job.)

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:02:48 +0000

@ Anon–My advice would be to split the difference and make a counter offer. I would assume that the employer would be prepared for this and may agree. If not, you can still accept his rate of 35 cents and avoid looking over-eager while being more confident that the 35 cents was the best he could do.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:32:57 +0000

@Jodee: Thanks so much for the job posts, Jodee!
@Sally: I started with minimal experience also and no writing samples I had been paid for as all my work was in storage.. hiding from me.. somewhere. After two months of posting and very few writing jobs, I just signed a three year contract last night for a video-game company as Level Design and Character Creation and have an intern with a fashion magazine.
The best advice is to keep checking Jodee’s job listings, write up some clippings (unpaid is fine, tho blog links would be better as they are published and can’t be easily stolen) and start a blog.
What do you feel you have expertise in? What do you enjoy writing about? After writing casually on my blog about just anything, I found out that the link to my blog was actually what drew my current employer to consider me further.
As far as ideas for clippings? Pick a topic that you are interested in.. Maybe you or a friend has a baby with colic? Google and research tips on how parents can survive this difficult time in early parenting.
And above all.. Don’t give up. Keep reading other’s blogs, research success stories, and keep writing those cover letters.. No matter how tediose it may seem!
Good luck Sally!

By: anon

anon — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:48:36 +0000

Hi Jodee and everyone,
I just got hired for one of the jobs posted here a couple of months ago and wanted to thank you for all the leads you post on a daily basis. It is appreciated.

Now, I wonder if anyone might be able to help me out with the process of negotiation. The client asked for my per-word rate, and I said 50 cents per word. He countered with a rate of 35 cents per word, which I am willing to accept. My question is: How do I accept without making it look like I am too eager?

By: Alik

Alik — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:21:46 +0000

“How you’re planning on surviving if we don’t pay you for a couple of months”

…that sounds like a couple clients that I have right now… only they don’t warn you at first! Good grief!