Drilling for Work - Honestly

by Stephanie Olsen

Freelance writers searching for markets usually wind up at craigslist, which is good. Not enough of them look past the obvious, missing opportunities along the way, which is not so good.

Taking Boston as our example city (http://boston.craigslist.org/), you'll see the place under Jobs where most writers head: "Writing and Editing" (http://boston.craigslist.org/wri/).

Fine beginning, but if you're a writer who can take pictures (as many of us are), don't forget the Art/Media/Design section where you just might find a listing for a photographer. Remember too that not all copywriter jobs are under "Writing and Editing"

so take a quick glimpse at Marketing/Ad/PR. Then there's the Non-Profit Sector heading that often contains work for grant writers while scriptwriters should obviously not miss TV/Film/Video. Tech writer jobs are sometimes posted under Technical Support while the Web/HTML/Info Design Jobs board may well contain a job that only writers and/or editors can do, such as:

The Web Content Editor will be responsible for daily content updates at the Science & Theology News Web site, www.stnews.org. Content updates include:

Locating daily science-and-religion news stories off of wire services and from other Web sites. Rewriting headlines, blurbs and other content for reproduction on the site. Establishing link exchanges and relationships with other science-and-religion sites. Developing Web companion pieces and packages for in-paper articles and series. Finding Web-exclusive columnists. Writing Web-appropriate material on deadline to fill holes in content. Developing increased international content, including different language news links. Locating appropriate multimedia content for the site, including streaming video, audio and photos.

The position also requires staying in contact with the Associate Editor to remain aware of stories running in print.

The ideal candidate will possess the following skills and qualities:

Strong background in the field of science-and-religion or related fields, in order to determine validity of sources, newsworthiness of material and value of the issues discussed in Science & Theology News. Strong Web research skills, including familiarity with search engines and knowledge of appropriate science, religion and science-and-religion news Web sites Familiarity with the basics of Web design and willingness to learn the more technical aspects of design. Familiarity with copyright and publishing clauses for reprinting material on a Web site. Ability to think creatively and use good news judgment

The position also requires a fast learner, able to accept constructive criticism and guidance.

Send resume to Janet Calhoun at jcalhoun@stnews.org. No phone calls please.

Job location is Quincy, Massachusetts
Compensation: 30,000 to 45,000 depending on experience
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
Reposting this message elsewhere is OK.
Date: 2005-03-01, 4:24PM EST

Before going on to your next city (I believe there are somewhere in the neighbourhood of 150 craiglist cities), you'll see "Gigs" where you can view posts under both "Writing" and "Creative," the latter usually being requests for scripts and photos.
Some writers refuse to touch craigslist, saying that they've been scammed or have never received any jobs from it. My own experience runs from landing great, on-going, paying gigs to being scammed, to getting no response at all. I'm more careful about providing work "on spec," and getting all the details upfront, although I still get taken….

I answered a "relationship writer" ad that ran on Feb. 10 for a dating website called Mary.com, with contact Rachael Shober at It All Works, email address Rachael@ItAllWorks.com. The ad stated pay FROM 35 cents/word.

I queried then wrote an assigned article on spec per guidelines (which DID state that the price would be negotiated upon acceptance).

The article was accepted for publication - with an "offer" of $25, as follows:

"We are willing to pay $25 for this initial article, subsequent articles will be paid at the rate of $.35 per word. In order for you to qualify to write other articles for Mary.com, the editors and partners have decided that we are going to pick our writers based on the ratings from our site. As I am sure you noticed, there is a rating option available to everyone who reads the articles. We are going to watch the ratings of your article over a months time, if the article rates a 3.75 or above then we will then have you do additional articles."

"These additional articles will be based on what is needed at the time and the ideas that you submit. I am sure that your article will do very well, it got very high marks from our editors. If you would like you can submit a list of article topics that I will put in your file, so that when the ratings return we can get working together immediately."

"Please let me know if you accept our offer for your article. I look forward to hearing from you."

You can guess my feelings! OK, wrapping up--I responded with:

"The offer of $25 is quite low; however, I'd be willing to cut my anticipated fee of $180 (517 words @ .35/wd) in half, to $90 payable on publication."

"At the end of four weeks from publication, if the ratings are 3.75 or higher, you would pay me an additional $90 for that article, and we would begin working together on future articles as you outlined."

Immediate Response: Declined.

Unstated reason: the intent to pay 35 cents/word was never there.

Rhetorical question: why not just honestly say that pay per word is five cents?

Lots and lots of possibilities if you know *how* to search, and there are some true opportunities out there. On the other hand, I believe it's the nature of this mostly e-business we're in to encounter dishonesty. You and I, as writers, can help each other by asking job posters unequivocal questions and by standing up for ourselves with dignity when cheated: in the first place, we set and maintain high standards; and secondly, we expect others to respect them.

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Stephanie Olsen is publisher of Just Markets, and searches over 200 sites daily. You're welcome to our Market of the Day: that's a new, paying, telecommute job every morning, six days a week. And don't forget to sign up for our *free* bi-weekly newsletter, featuring helpful "how-to" articles for writers plus submission and payment details on hard-to-find writers' markets. Of course, if you want it all "Right Here - Right Now!", there's our paid daily service, JustMarketsDaily.