The Freelance Writer and the Internet

The Writer’s Market books were once the only resource a freelance writer needed. In any event, they were the only resource that was readily available. And while these books are still a valuable resource, it is no longer the only resource. More and more book blogs and Internet search engines are beginning to fill the role that was once monopolized by The Writer’s Market and the “Help Wanted” newspaper section.

The reason is simple. Book blogs provide the freelance writer with publication opportunities, career advice, industry scoops, job links, writing gig opportunities, book reviews, and the ability to have one’s work critiqued. Online, you can join a book club or join a site independent publishers peruse while scoping out new (and thus less expensive) talent.

But these Internet opportunities come at a price. The freelance job search has become greatly decentralized and, as a result, many freelance writers may not know how to look for a job in the most efficient manner. I would suggest starting with google and some well-known “mainstream” job search engines. Searching for “freelance writing jobs”, “contract opportunities writing” will provide you with plenty of resource material such as Freelance Writing Jobs: Writing for a Living which, in turn, will lead you to 23 Places to find freelance writing jobs and freelance blogging jobs . It was during one such search that I (to use a personal example) found CommonTies. CommonTies is a web site that actively solicits fifty-word responses to its twenty questions and, since the site pays $50 per response, it once helped my husband and I defray the cost of our pug’s operation.

If all you want is to know which sites will pay you for your articles and stories then doing a google search and exploring some of the better known “mainstream” freelance job search engines such as Guru, at eElance, and craigslist will probably suffice. If, however, you would like to look into the subject at more length, you may want to visit the many book blogs online. These blogs will offer you advice on everything from your writing style to whether you should carry a purse. (You shouldn’t.) And since you can’t visit them all, the question becomes: which blogs are worth your time? Which blogs concentrate on your posture (which, while valuable will probably not get you published) and which will genuinely help you refine your work and get it published? Where do you start?

I started with a book. With Catheryn Kilgarriff’s and Rebbecca Gillieron’s The Bookaholics’ Guide to Book Blogs: the new literary force to be exact. (That doesn’t mean you should start where I did; your choices are quite varied-as a simple amazon search for “blog book” will demonstrate. (Amazon itself is, of course, a highly profitable book blog.) The Bookaholics’ Guide to Book Blogs’ recommendations were (for me) merely a starting point. For most blogs have blogrolls (or lists of blogs the blogger likes) and it was through these recommendations that I found freelance writing opportunities available at Triond (for example). Indeed, had it not been for The Bookaholocs’ Guide to Book Blogs which led me to the Urban Muse, you may not be reading this essay.

But perhaps you don’t have time for this much research? Perhaps you are an ordinary person with a regular job and a regular life? For you, I have put together a starter’s list of useful web sites:

Mainstream” Freelance Work

Guru

Elance

craiglist

Freelance Writing Sites

Freelance Writing Jobs

About Freelance Writing

The Golden Pencil

Sites Soliciting (and paying for)Your Written Word

Triond

CommonTies

HubPages

Sites Accepting Freelance Work (non-paid)

Amazon

MetaxuCafe

The Book Reporter

Industry Insider Blogs

The Galley Cat

Miss Snark, the Literary Agent

Publishing Insider

As you can see from the above (greatly abbreviated) list, the Internet can be a wonderful resource for the freelance writer. And while it is not yet the freelancer’s primary resource, its prominence is increasing.

Even the Writer’s Market series recognizes this. On June 2008, Writer’s Digest Books brought out the 2009 Writer’s Market Deluxe: Writer’s Market Online. It is receiving great reviews on amazon.com.