Thursday, September 20, 2007

$1 for 500 Words Plus Pay For Copyscape

In hindsight, my reply to the message was far too nice. I am tempted to go back and edit but think I'll use my blog as an outlet instead.

This link:
http://www.wahm.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=454536
is a great example of why there's so much garbage content online. First of all, writers who accept these assignments probably don't have English as their first language. That's the only explanation for accepting $1 per 500 words. Maybe that $1 buys you more in a different country other than Canada the US, UK or Australia. Shrug.

Many writers who are desperate to write will take low paying gigs to get their start. This type of gig is way too low. Before I found out about the lucrative freelance writing market, I tried doing a few things to earn money online. Before I knew anything, I might have seen $10 for 5000 words as a fun past time but clearly, it's not for serious writers. I hope this guy doesn't get any serious newbies who are willing to write for that low just for the glorious title of being called a paid writer.

As for low paying assignments, I've done it, I still do at times but my bottom end is $.01/word and that's for no brainer and high volume assignments. But trust me, for $01/word you still get good flowing, true and quality original articles. Please don't support companies that don't treat writers fairly. You'll earn more money than this writing on AC and Helium and waiting a bit longer for payout.

If you want to find decent jobs, check out Deb Ng at Writersrow.com or the homepage of goldenprose.com

Cheers,
Dana

8 comments:

Michele said...

Another great post! I've added you to my "Favorite Writer-Related Blogs" list on my own blog.

Smiles,
Michele

Dana Prince said...

Thanks so much Michele & thanks for the link!!

Dana

Anonymous said...

Great post, Dana. You're on a roll :) It's invaluable advice for new writers.

Dana Prince said...

Thanks Sharon. The post is no longer there as the poster removed it after some backlash from the forum but remarked that the money offered was excellent writing money in India where he was located...just as I suspected :)

Writing Nag said...

Great post, I'm a beginning writer too trying hard to make a living.

Anonymous said...

Hi Dana. To answer your question: those writers are beginners, probably Indian, they have to real knowledge of the Web and what they do is "scrap" other websites: copy content, re-write it a bit, and that's it.
The language skills are not the real issue.
They are paid crap and deliver crap...

Dana Prince said...

Mihaela, I agree with you.

Last night a writer who works on my team was very frustrated because she tried to find the translation online of a dog breed name from German to English and found five different answers!

Anonymous said...

Next time ask me :)