I responded to a question on LinkedIn Answers this morning that asked about the various sites like Elance and Simply Hired that churn out low-paying copywriting gigs.
I gave my two cents as a professional freelance copywriter and remembered a post I read a few months ago by Peter Bowerman about this very topic.
He talked about the kinds of jobs that typically get “outsourced” like computer programming and customer service, for example.
But what about quality writing?
Well, quality writing doesn’t get sent overseas necessarily, but certainly the market has been saturated with sub par work by writers who are paid $5 or so per article they write. Obviously if this is going to be any kind of income source for them they’ll have to churn out as many articles as possible in as little time as possible.
It sounds scammish, but it happens. Regularly.
Instead of paraphrasing the whole article, read it here.
Timing is everything. Though I came across some useful information too late for the graphic designer I met in April, I was able to furnish a children’s writer and children’s illustrator with timely and very well-received information: the 2010 Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market.
You’re welcome.
Timing is everything. Though I came across some useful information too late for the graphic designer I met in April, I was able to furnish a children’s writer and children’s illustrator with timely and very well-received information: the 2010 Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market.
You’re welcome.
Dear Man I Met Yesterday Who is Thinking About Becoming a Freelance Graphic Designer,
It occurred to me only after you had walked away that there might be an equivalent to Writer’s Market. I did some quick research this morning and found out that there is indeed an equivalent! It’s called Artist’s & Graphic Designer’s Market. I haven’t looked through this book, so I can’t professionally recommend it, but if it’s anything like Writer’s Market, I recommend it.
If only I had given you my business card we could have been in touch and I could have told you about it! Oh, well. Hopefully other aspiring freelance graphic designers and artists read this post and find the tools they need to get started in this book.
Cheers.
Good evening gentle reader,
For those of you familiar with my blog and those of you who aren’t, I am a freelance copywriter who has until recently highlighted errors in news articles. I call it “Typos in the Nuwz…I Mean News.” Perhaps you’ve seen them around the WP blogroll. No periodical has been safe, The Huffington Post, The BBC, Fox News, MSNBC and even AOL News. I’ve critiqued their typographical errors, clarity and consistency. That’s been fun and the pictures are usually pretty, but I would like to add another facet to my blog: typos in books. In addition to being a copywriter, I am also a trained proofreader and avid reader. Do you see where this is going?
My trained eye picks out errors whether I want to or not and I must must perform the appropriate proofreading markage and make a note to myself at the top of the page. I said it was a gift in my last post. I might have exaggerated a bit and perhaps “curse” is a better word to use.
The first installment will begin…tomorrow! Muahahaha! Now I’ve got you hooked! Which book will it be? The blameless author? Which publisher was careless enough to let these bedeviled blemishes make it to print?!
Find out all that and more tomorrow on A. James Editing!
