Freelance Writing: Another Rant
Jun. 2nd, 2009 09:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prosodicIt really irritates me that I have to weed through so many bogus freelancing jobs just to find one that isn't.
I got another potential gig today, but upon further research, it's another scam.
Things that ticked me off:
- the link that was sent to me with more info about the job said, "Most people on the Internet read at a ninth grade level If you can write at a ninth grade level then you can be a freelance writer." W.T.F? No. It's not that easy. I'm not of the opinion that anyone can be a writer or that everyone is a writer already (some writers make that argument, but I taught College Composition for 2 years, so that's enough to convince me that it's total crap). And methinks we have a missing period in that statement, by the way. (This statement says a lot about the quality of writers they would like to hire, IMHO...meaning, people who will work for next to nothing.)
- this link also said that freelance writing is a stress free job. What? Ever heard of deadlines? Ever heard of writing things according to style guides? Ever heard of multiple drafts? Ever heard of having to wait to hear back about queries/on spec articles that you send in? Stress free...right. Keep on telling yourselves that.
And there were all these "the sky's the limit" promises...the more you write, the more you make...blah blah...no explanation whatsoever of how long the required articles must be for the pay you receive, or that you could be spending 12 hours a day cranking out these articles for a mere $12,000 per year. Come on!
And here's my favorite part...you click on the "register now" button, and it opens another page, which tells you that you can become one of their writers for the great low registration fee of $2.95.
*headdesk*
It bothers me that the ads they post on craigslist seem fairly legitimate. They get mixed in with all the truly legit ads and it's hard to know which ones are for real and which ones are not. And then they end up on the freelancing job forums - the good ones - and people end up wasting their time applying for these, like I did.
And then of course, I get a response (which was actually in my Spam folder and should've stayed there), and it turns out to be this.
Grrrrrrrrrrr...
I'm getting a bit frustrated with the craigslist postings now, and I hate that, because I've always had great luck with them in the past. That's how I got the sidestep gig, and that was the best steady freelance gig I ever had. I miss writing for them. City guides are fun.
I got another potential gig today, but upon further research, it's another scam.
Things that ticked me off:
- the link that was sent to me with more info about the job said, "Most people on the Internet read at a ninth grade level If you can write at a ninth grade level then you can be a freelance writer." W.T.F? No. It's not that easy. I'm not of the opinion that anyone can be a writer or that everyone is a writer already (some writers make that argument, but I taught College Composition for 2 years, so that's enough to convince me that it's total crap). And methinks we have a missing period in that statement, by the way. (This statement says a lot about the quality of writers they would like to hire, IMHO...meaning, people who will work for next to nothing.)
- this link also said that freelance writing is a stress free job. What? Ever heard of deadlines? Ever heard of writing things according to style guides? Ever heard of multiple drafts? Ever heard of having to wait to hear back about queries/on spec articles that you send in? Stress free...right. Keep on telling yourselves that.
And there were all these "the sky's the limit" promises...the more you write, the more you make...blah blah...no explanation whatsoever of how long the required articles must be for the pay you receive, or that you could be spending 12 hours a day cranking out these articles for a mere $12,000 per year. Come on!
And here's my favorite part...you click on the "register now" button, and it opens another page, which tells you that you can become one of their writers for the great low registration fee of $2.95.
*headdesk*
It bothers me that the ads they post on craigslist seem fairly legitimate. They get mixed in with all the truly legit ads and it's hard to know which ones are for real and which ones are not. And then they end up on the freelancing job forums - the good ones - and people end up wasting their time applying for these, like I did.
And then of course, I get a response (which was actually in my Spam folder and should've stayed there), and it turns out to be this.
Grrrrrrrrrrr...
I'm getting a bit frustrated with the craigslist postings now, and I hate that, because I've always had great luck with them in the past. That's how I got the sidestep gig, and that was the best steady freelance gig I ever had. I miss writing for them. City guides are fun.
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no subject
Date: 2009-06-03 06:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-03 02:38 pm (UTC)