One of these is problogger.net, a website that I have a huge amount of respect for. However the job board increasing leaves a lot to be desired.

This isn’t an attack on the site or its founder – I’ve learned so much from Darren Rowse and his book, ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income, but increasingly jobs are posted at jobs.problogger.net that feature unhelpful descriptions, require the freelancer to be based in a particular country (something they might not learn until after the application has been made) or paying on a revenue share basis.

Those of you who know me will of course be familiar with my background as a freelancer. I’m fortunate enough to be in this position thanks to Bright Hub, a website which used a revenue share model. The important difference, however, is that they also paid per post.

Revenue share doesn’t pay enough for anyone to earn from, and is used largely by content farms and by small websites who have no money behind them to pay their contributors the going rate. Content farms – sites that publish many reviews and “how-to” guides on a daily basis – are suffering under the current method of indexing content on Google, which means the chances of earning enough cash to survive on from such websites are minimal.

There are plenty of occasions in which the revenue share model can work, but these are limited and in my experience don’t offer a way in which any freelancer could pay the bills.

So why is problogger.net listing these jobs? Shouldn’t there be some editorial oversight into the process of what is listed?

It would be great if there was, but sadly it seems as though this automated freelance gig listing service simply displays what is submitted, without editorial approval. Hopefully this will change, but in the meantime if you’re freelancing, check the price that is being listed as payment.

And if there is no price listed, tread with care…

A comic strip penned by myself from an idea by me and my good friend Brian Terranova, Time Leech is a Doctor Who comic strip, the first part of which originally appeared in the Vworp Vworp! fanzine (I say fanzine, but its production values were obscenely high) back in 2009.

Subsequent installments followed on Kasterborous.com, with the end result pleasing and popular.

However on many occasions I’ve received emails from readers wondering when a print version of the strip will materialise, and with copyright considerations this is a tough thing to go ahead with.

So the obvious way around this is to issue all three parts as a charity anthology. With artwork by Justin Abbot and Rick Lundeen, lettering by Colin Brockhurst and general advice on the first part provided by British comics legend John Freeman, this is a rare chance for Doctor Who fans to own all three parts of a popular independent comic strip adventure for the Tenth Doctor (as played on screen by David Tennant).

Funds raised will be split between AICR and Children in Need, and publication of the volume will cease on the night of the latter in November 2012, so there is a narrow 7 month window in which fans can purchase copies.

We’re hoping for a couple of special copies to also be made available, but we’ll wait and see on that score…

You can find full details of the book at http://www.kasterborous.com/2012/03/charity-time-leech/

The results have been interesting; while I’ve been able to communicate with some other writers (something for another blog, I think) I have also discovered several new online marketplaces for freelancers to find work. These are in addition to Elance, Guru, Freelancer, iFreelance and many others.

Now I generally steer away from this type of website as they tend to offer projects at horrifically low prices, like $5 for three articles or some such nonsense. Over the past few days, however, I’ve noticed that things are a lot worse than this. DoNanza seems to be instrumental in pushing the prices down, with one opportunity reading:

I need 5 writers for my techreviewsandhelp.com site. Each writer will get paid $7.50 a week to write 15 articles. The job will last for 2 months and depending on what it does for my sites ads, it could go on longer. So that means you will make about $65 each

That, dear reader, is 50c an article, or in UK money, 30p. At the end of the project I might expect the grand total of £39 (minus PayPal fees) for what would essentially (based on the fact that low pay equals low quality content and poor word count) take around 5-6 hours.

The problem here (as I see it) is two-fold:

1. Paying such low amounts – and these contracts will be claimed because there are many ESL (English as a Second Language) writers in Asia, South America and Africa – is (as I have said before) dangerous to the community of online writers. Such low payments could drag online writing in to a sinkhole from which it might never recover.
2. Those of us who have the experience to be able to command a higher price are not necessarily going to be interested by these opportunities, but by paying so low the websites in question reduce the likelihood of an ESL writer building their craft, developing their expertise and being able to progress to a better paying website.

With most of the web built on articles it seems that at best we are heading into an era of the two-tier web, where quality sites will retain writers over a longer period of time and utilize larger budgets to stay ahead of the SEO curve and out of the clutches of the smaller, low-paying pretenders.

Ultimately this can only have the effect of killing off the lower tier, or reducing it significantly. What then for online writers?

I’m not even “the” writer in the family – rather, I’ve been demoted to the “Other Writer”.

Why? Well I’m delighted to say that my Aunt Wendy has written a fantastic account of her childhood during World War II, during which time she was evacuated. A Little Girl’s War even features my Dad!

Having read some of the book already I can tell you that it is a smashing piece of work, evocative and engaging. It’s been reviewed in several places, most prominently the Daily Mail, and I rather think (in my humble opinion) that it would make ideal material for a TV or movie adaptation.

Incidentally, Wendy is a particularly favourite relative of mine so being demoted in status doesn’t matter in this case!

If you’re interested in the lives of evacuees or real life accounts of World War II and how it affected British life, then this is a great read that comes highly recommended!

Regular readers or those that have spent time checking older posts will know that I have been busy setting up some other blogs to join Kasterborous in a small network of websites. Cult Britannia is going well, while Quintessential Comedy, Atomic Karma and The Gadget Monkey are trundling along waiting for contributors.

As a way of sharing some tips with one of my collaborators, Tom Spychalski (who has recently turned freelance) I shared a few thoughts on this very blog a few days ago about my experiences writing for a living. Since I started the freelancing back in 2004 (of course I only turned professional in 2010) I felt that there would be adequate material here to share.

Thanks to some Facebook conversations about missing comments fields (now resolved, if you care to scroll down…) I knew that Tom had read the article and taken heed of a few points.

What I wasn’t expecting was for him to share the material. According to one of the posts, it has been shared on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+! I knew social networking was powerful, but this is ridiculous!

The result of this is that without any effort or intention this blog has attracted over 100 page views in the past 7 days – and I’ve only been tracking them for 5 of those! Employing the StatCounter plugin (it requires a sign-up but my WordPress stats are oversubscribed thanks to the other blogs) I’ve been able to see that the articles Don’t Undersell Yourself and Finding Freelance Gigs Online have proved the most popular.

What do I do about this? Most obvious, I suppose, is to continue writing posts in the same vein. After all, if I can help more than just Tom with my experiences then the low hosting cost of this blog has been more than worth it, hasn’t it? And there is no reason why I shouldn’t share these thoughts alongside the other nonsense I ramble on about…

So, a big hello to any new readers looking for more top tips. I will be leaving some soon, but in the meantime stay and have a read of some of the other material on the right.

Incidentally, it occurs to me that I should have a few more images at the top of the blog, or perhaps rotate them from time to time. Suggestions welcome!

Over the years as a freelancer working predominantly online, I’ve come across a bewildering array of low paying websites. Just a few moments ago a gig offering $1.25 for 500 words popped up in my feed.

My jaw no longer hits the desk in shock and disgust; I simply click the next button. However it is clear that as people are paying these prices that there must be writers out there who are happy to work for this sweatshop-esque pittance.

Without sounding pretentious, being a writer is a calling. In many ways it can be vocational, although that largely depends on who you’re writing for. Like musicians and artists, writers write because they have thoughts and opinions and a voice that has to be heard.

No One Is Going to Hear You at $0.0025 per Word.

Even if they can faintly detect your tiny, minute voice, the reader won’t care what you have to say.

Now I’ve been in a position of having to accept low-paid jobs during my career (although none as low as the example above) and there is an entry-level expectation that you won’t be charging 25c per word. However there should also be an expectation that you yourself don’t take less than you can afford for the amount of time it takes to complete the job.

For instance don’t take on a project that cannot be completed in less than a week if the contractor isn’t offering what you would expect per week. In fact, you should be negotiating with them to pay more in case rewrites are required. Similarly, a job that should take a day shouldn’t be paying $10.

Obviously there might be some flexibility on this; it might be a fallow period, for instance, or you might be particularly interested in that type of project. On the whole, however, if the rate isn’t reasonable, don’t take the work.

Understanding Writing Job Ads

Previously I posted a few thoughts and experiences on the best places to find freelance writing jobs. On the list you might have seen Problogger listed, along with mention of Craigslist.

Both of these places are guilty of committing a major crime against freelancers. The open aspect of posting jobs on Craigslist partially excuses the service, but given that Problogger listings cost $30 a time, it is disappointing that more isn’t made of the fact that not all of these jobs will list the price they are willing to pay.

As a rule of thumb, if there is no price, don’t apply.

(Similarly, Problogger lists jobs from companies who won’t pay if you’re not based in the USA, without advising of this in the advert, so keep your eyes peeled.)

My own tactic on this is simple. If I spot an advert with no price listed, I don’t apply; I also don’t share it. I’ve gone beyond complaining, however, as few people seem interested in listening.

Read the Ads Carefully

While we’re on the subject, it is also worth mentioning that you should keep a copy (perhaps print it out) of each job listing you apply for and read it through several times before applying. Make sure you’re completely clear about what is expected of your application – there are many common mistakes:

• You might be required to submit up to five links to work you have had published online; don’t list six.
• Similarly don’t forget to include your resume/CV if requested.
• If you’re required to send a sample of text within the body of the email rather than an attachment, do so.
• Some hiring managers will ask you to do something unusual like alter the subject line slightly, just to make sure you have read the rest of the advert correctly.

Therefore you should spend time monitoring the requirements before replying.

Don’t Apply For Everything

I usually find that I open 8-10 job listings per day. Typically I have these open in tabs in my browser and return to them after the initial reading to see exactly what the job entails.

Often I will close the tab and forget about it; being based in the UK can be a drawback in some cases. Other times, the job isn’t suitable, pays too little, requires people of a specific age or interest, or just isn’t as interesting as I initially thought.

Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions!

It was back in 2004 when I completed my first freelance gig and while brainstorming another project recently I realised that I know more than I’d ever imagined.

While I might not know the secret of life, the universe and everything – or indeed how to call a sperm whale into existence above an alien planet – there is an amazing (and somewhat scary) 8 years of experience to be tapped.

As a result of this, I’ve recently started work on a completely different project, one inspired by this sudden realisation. This will take the form of an eBook that I will then list on Amazon’s Kindle Store; to begin with at least.

Part of this project involved me checking out links saved in my favourite bookmarks. As anyone who knows me will attest, I’m a bit of a hoarder; not as bad as my dad, but I don’t like to throw things out. Mainly, I think, because of this:

NOTTAGE (n.)

Nottage is the collective name for things which you find a use for immediately after you’ve thrown them away.
For instance, your greenhouse has been cluttered up for years with a huge piece of cardboard and great fronds of gardening string. You at last decide to clear all this stuff out, and you burn it. Within twenty-four hours you will urgently need to wrap a large parcel, and suddenly remember that luckily in your greenhouse there is some cardb…

[From The Deeper Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, Pan, 1992. Online version here: http://lib.ru/ADAMS/liff.txt_with-big-pictures.html]

(And yes, there is a distinct Douglas Adams flavour throughout this post; no doubt subconscious as it would be his 60th birthday this year. It isn’t, of course, because he’s dead.)

So, back to the bookmarks. Since I began using the web 15 odd years ago I’ve accumulated quite a collection. I’m sure there are people with more, but I’ve got a lot of old websites that I rarely revisit hanging around.

The result of this is that I’ve found a lot of old links to websites that at one time I considered useful to becoming a writer. Among them are:

www.guru.com – the first place I ever found writing work
www.elance.com
www.freelancer.com
www.ifreelance.com

Now although I have them listed, Guru aside I don’t visit these locations anymore as I don’t feel they are entirely suitable for writers to find work; they tend to focus more on graphic artists and developers. There may also have been some membership element to one or two of these sites that I was uncomfortable with at one point.

Much more reliable – for me – have been the sites that I currently use to sniff out writing gigs:

www.freelancewritinggigs.com
www.bloggingpro.com
jobs.problogger.net
www.online-writing-jobs.com

Admittedly the first link will feature jobs from the other three plus CraigsList, but all in all it is a useful collection of sites.

Work online can be found through other means, but these are probably the first places I would check.

Meanwhile, I’m currently building a slightly larger list for the eBook, as well as checking through the various “call for submissions” pages I have saved, just to confirm that they’re still relevant…

Over the next seven days I will be producing output for MakeUseOf.com, working on two special projects (both of which I hope to be able to reveal next month) and beginning the development of my sister-in-law’s online business, a website which will sell baby clothes and other essentials.

Along with the usual Kasterborous work and podKast the majority of my time will be split between Karen’s site (deciding upon an engine for the back end and settling on a layout) and continuing the development of my own network of blogs.

It’s an exciting time, but a little fraught given the large gap between external contracts!

There is an innate comfort in being able to rely on regular income, something that Bright Hub gave me until December. Sadly, those days are over and I’m out on my own, cast adrift in the wide world of freelance writing.

In many ways it was a useful stepping stone from the old 9-5 lifestyle into this brave new world in which I currently find myself it!

Sadly Bright Hub has stopped providing work for freelancers along the lines that they previously did, although a little part of me still holds out a little bit of hope that we can work together again soon, mainly because I’m a little sentimental like that!

New in 2012, therefore, is a fresh and dynamic approach to finding and winning work. Throughout January I’m virtually fully booked, I’m delighted to say, with my Star Wars guide and another high-paying contract paying the bills. I also soon expect to be working on a large website project. I’ve also spent some time listing a few ideas which might be worth developing further around Easter.

The biggest news this month is again something I can’t discuss, suffice to say it is related to Doctor Who and gives me the opportunity to work further with James McLean, someone whose work I admire and who is also a pretty decent sort of chap. We do the Kasterborous Doctor Who PodKast together, so it will be good to expand on our working relationship.

Speaking of which, a big thank you to Thomas Spychalski who is doing some stirling work in helping me get Cult Britannia to a Kasterborous-like standard of readership at present. Thanks to Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss for creating a great show for us to write about too in Sherlock.

There is other news, but again I can say little about it, other than get all cliche-ridden and observe that the beginning of a new year is a great time to be starting new projects and working in new ways!

One last thing – I might change the images at the top of the page so that we have a random image displaying in each slot…

Today, however, I need to outline the current status of the Atomic Media websites. They’re currently in different states of readiness for the big relaunch (which might be a bit later than originally intended) and clearing this up in my head should help.

So:

• Kasterborous.com – ready and operational
• CultBritannia.co.uk – ready and operational
• QuintessentialComedy.com – needs Kv5-1 theme
• TheGadgetMonkey.co.uk – needs Kv5-1 theme
• AtomicKarma.co.uk – needs content, images, Kv5-1 theme

Once a third site is ready I will then be able to begin cross-promoting, something that will occur on every page of each site at the bottom of posts.

As things stand Kasterborous will not have any additional third-party advertising spaces beyond those currently in use. CultBritannia is trialling a left side bar banner.

Over the next few weeks the above issues need to be resolved in order for the sites to begin attracting views, comments and clicks, not to mention contributions…