Writing jobs

[kmb501]

I was let go from one of my writing jobs after a poor performance review. I'd like to find another one if possible. I can write pretty well usually. Does anyone have any ideas? I can do blog posts and full books, if needed.

[Ready2Save27]

Have you tried popular freelancing platforms? They provide intermittent work that can pay decently.

[kmb501]

Which ones? The free ones I know of --Upwork and Fiverr--aren't much help. Upwork I can't even sign up because they claim they have enough people doing freelance writing. Fiverr--they expect super low rates but high-quality work. I don't think I should write 50,000 words for $40 dollars plus rewrites if the client is not satisfied. That's much lower than what I worked for as a paid freelancer.

If you think I should do it, though. I could give it a try. At least $40 is some money.

[HotTubes]

Lots of communications assistants jobs (9-5 type).   Good writing is rare and marketable.

[kmb501]

Do you have any information about where / how to find these jobs?

[Cranky]

So, what was the deal with the poor performance review.?

I hesitate to make suggestions if you aren’t really up to the work.

[mozar]

You can self publish books for kindle. As long as they are readable you can make decent money.

[Ready2Save27]

Personally I don’t think you should be writing 50,000 words for $40, but that’s how I value my time. Some people do offer their services dirt cheap, but people will pay for quality, especially if you have writing samples. That being said, you’re not going to get paid $50/hr and have months worth of work at the start; it takes time to build up a presence on those platforms.

Those are the big 2 sites I know of, but there are many variations of those sites as well. You could also consider doing something other than writing (tutoring, credit card churning, programming, etc.).

[Kris]

You can self publish books for kindle. As long as they are readable you can make decent money.

This can be done, but the easy money days of that gig — where you could toss up a book, hit publish, and profit — are over.

It takes a lot more work, know-how, and perseverance these days.

[kmb501]

Yeah, my last job I was writing books, but someone else was editing them for the customer. I turned down some assignments I had trouble with and maybe I developed a reputation because of it.

There are a few things I'm not exactly comfortable with:

Writing an outline for the customer--don't I need to know what I'm going to write about first?
Working with customers who speak poor English
Writing way out of my area of expertise--please don't expect me to be able to churn out a book on astrophysics.  I have to have at least a basic understanding of the topic I'm writing about.

The pay was okay. I made about $300-$400 per book, something like one cent per word.  I'm not very happy that I lost that job.

[mozar]

My guess is that those expectations are common in that line of work so maybe writing books for others is not a good fit for you .