Writing-World - the site for freelance writers

Writing Sites We Like: ProBlogger

A site, not so much for writers in general, but for those who want to make money from blogging in particular, Daren Rowse's Problogger will need no introduction for those of you interested in blogging.

I've been reading Problogger avidly for well over a year now, and never cease to be amazed by the way Darren consistently managed to deliver useful, original content and advice on the subject of pro-blogging. The tone is open and honest - Darren has famously talked about how much money he makes from various sources - and this is just a great resource for anyone who wants to work online  as a blogger.

An absolute must-read.

How to Write the Perfect Press Release Part 6: Formatting your press release

There are, of course, certain conventions to writing a press release, and in a moment we're going to discuss just what they are. First, though, I'm going to let you in on a secret:

It doesn’t really matter.

Or not as much as you might think, anyway. The most important thing is the story. If your story is good enough, it will get published. No journalist or editor in their right mind will turn down a great story just because the press release they received wasn’t laid out properly, and didn't follow the standard format.

Remember, the newspaper, magazine or website you send your press release to is just as interested in printing great stories as you are in giving them one. So don't get too caught up in worries about the way your press release sounds. That said, if you bury your great story under a pile of badly-written, unfocused rubbish, you could find yourself without the coverage you need. So here's how to set out your press release:

>>> The Headline

The temptation here is to try and make your headline something clever and witty – something creative that will make the reader smile and think how clever you are, and to maybe use a pun or two if you can come up with them, just like newspapers do.

That's the wrong way to do it.

The most successful headlines – for press releases at least – are ones which tell the story as succinctly as possible. Ideally, you should try to sum up the entire release, or as much of it as possible, in the headline. So, if your press release tells the story of how your business has won a national award, make your headline something along the lines of "Local business wins national award".

No, it's not going to win you any prizes, or impress the editor with your writing abilities. They're probably not going to offer you a job on the subs desk. But none of that matters. The purpose of a press release headline is not to show off your writing skills, but to inform. If the newspaper wants a witty headline, they'll write one themselves - that's what they're getting paid for, after all.

Remember what we said about those busy journalists, who don't have time to read every last press release that lands on their desk? Cut them some slack here. Help them out by making sure that they know what your press release is about at a glance. Don't make them guess what your story is about.

Of course, if you're able to be informative and clever with your headline, so much the better. Go for it: write a great headline and you save a sub-editor the job. Just make sure it tells the reader what the story is about.

Writing Pet Peeves #4: 'Prolly'

"Prolly". Let's just take a moment to look at it. It's a stupid word, isn't it? Especially when you consider that the perfectly good word it's so often used to replace - "probably" - is in no need of replacing.

There is nothing wrong with the word "probably". It is not old fashioned, obsolete or silly. It has not reached the end of its useful life. The English language and the word "probably" have a long and rewarding relationship still ahead of them. Or they probably do, anyway.

You see, if the people who habitually use "prolly" to mean "probably" get their way, in a few years time I'll have to re-write the sentence above to say "They prolly will."  This will annoy me because I HATE 'PROLLY'. Hate it. It actually makes me cringe every time I see it written down.

I suspect the people who use "prolly" think they're being "cute" when they use it. Maybe it's the way they speak, who knows. Do the majority of people pronounce the word as "prolly" now? Probably. I mean, "prolly".  Shame.

Do you write "prolly" instead of "probably"? And if so: why?

Work from Home Freelance Writing Jobs Roundup

Bloggers needed to write about the advertising industry
Blogger needed to write about new media sales
Blogger needed to write about public relations
Singer/songwriter needs PR person
Female writer wanted for website
Freelance writer wanted
Website and blog content writer needed
Writing agency seeks UK freelance writers
Poetry submissions wanted
Freelance writer needed for car related articles
Pop culture blog needs creative writers
Web content writer required
Looking for an editor
Nonfiction book editor needed
Sell us your article or story

Ask Writing World: How much money can you make from blogging?

Fran asks:

I'm thinking of setting-up my own blogs (on topics unrelated to your own), and I was wondering if you would be able to give me a rough idea of how much money I could expect to make from Adsense each month? I hope you don't think me rude for asking, but I've struggled to find realistic figures on the web; they all seem overinflated

Hi Fran,

To be completely honest with you, the answer to your question is that there is no answer. I could tell you what I make every month from Adsense, but it wouldn't give you any idea what you could hope to make from it because there are just so many variables to take into account. Your earning capacity from a pay-per-click program like Google Adsense, for instance, will depend on factors such as:

1. The niche you choose for your blog

Put simply, some subjects are always going to be more profitable than others. What you earn per click depends on how much the advertiser is willing to pay for that click, and that, in turn, depends on factors such as how competitive the niche is, how many other advertisers are also paying for adsense adverts, what time of year it is, how well the economy is performing and too many other factors to list here.

Our blogs are spread over a few different topic areas, but even within each niche, the cost per click, and what we earn per day/month/year can vary wildly. Traffic is also a big factor when it comes to earning from Adsense, and it's clear that some topics will generate more interest and therefore more traffic than others. If you choose a very specialist subject to blog about, for instance, you may find that your Adsense earnings will be smaller, or will at least plateau more quickly than a more popular topic, which gives you the opportunity to reach a much larger audience.

Freelance Writing Poll: How much do you charge for a 500 word web content article?

   

One of the questions I'm asked most frequently by people new to freelance writing is "How much should I charge?"  Unfortunately, it's yet another one of those questions that are very difficult to answer, because one writer's fortune is another's pittance, and what counts as an "acceptable" rate of pay in one part of the country or world can seem very like slave labour in another.

This is something I grapple with every day when I put togther our freelance writing jobs roundup. I tend to just ignore those jobs which seem to me to offering offensively low rates of pay, but perhaps it's wrong of me to try and judge what is and isn't acceptable to the writers who read the listings. After all, we all have our reasons for charging the rates we do, and my idea of what's "acceptable" may not be the same as everyone esle's.

In order to try and get some sort of idea about what you think constitutes a "reasonable" rate of pay, then, and also in a bid to get a rough idea of what the "going rate" is for certain types of job, we're going to be running a series of polls over the next few weeks, asking you what you'd charge for certain types of freelance writing work.

Clearly this is a very unscientific survey as it doesn't take into circumstances such as where each person lives and what type of living costs they're faced with - not to mention the all-important fact that every writing job is different - but the results could be interesting all the same.

For the first poll, then, the piece of writing in question is a 500 word web content article. For the purposes of the survey, assume that the subject is one that you're familiar with, so research is minimal. You should also assume that the deadline is three weeks from today, and that you're not required to optimize the article for any particular key words.

You'll find the poll itself in the sidebar to the right of this article.  Tell us: What would you charge?

(Note: this poll is anonymous, so no one can see your answer, not even me. Please feel free to elucidate on your answer in the comments if you wish.)

Writing Sites We Like: Copyscape

Having been the victim of plagiarism myself, on more than one occasion, I thought it was only right that I make Copyscape the first in iour new series of Writing Sites we like.

Copyscape exists, in short, to try and beat plagiarists. By entering the URL of a page on your website, it will search for copies of that page (remember to search, not just using the URL of your homepage, but with the addresses of specific pages, too), allowing you to hunt down the people who are ripping you off, and put them to rights.

Well, OK, that last bit - actually getting them to remove the stolen copy - can be a lot more difficult. But finding out who the thieves are is a very good place to start, and you may be surprised when you run that first search.

Visit: www.copyscape.com

Writing World Debate: Should you submit your work to Article Directory Sites?

A couple of weeks ago I came across this post at Laura Spencer's great site, Writing Thoughts, on the duplicate content penalty and, specifically, on whether or not it's a good idea for writers to submit their articles to distribution sites like Ezine Articles, Article Dashboard and the like.

In case you haven't ever used this kind of service, the premise is simple: you write an article and submit it to one of these sites. Webmasters, ezine owners and anyone else in need of content can then come along and reprint your article in their publication, as long as they also print the "About the Author" section you've submitted, which will normally contain links to your own site. Some sites, like Constant Content and Associated Content actually sell the articles on your behalf (although the payment amounts are usually small) - on other sites, you're writing purely for the "exposure" and for the links back to the site you're trying to promote.

I've already commented at the blog, but this is something that's been on my mind lately, and I found myself continuing to think about it long after I'd finished reading (always the mark of a good piece of writing!) so today I wanted to expand a little on this.

Work from Home Freelance Writing Jobs Roundup

How To and Guide writers needed (low paid)
National magazine seeks healthcare reporter for consumer article
Alernative medicine website seeks experienced writers
Writer wanted for horror film
Freelance blogger wanted
Ghostwriter wanted for newsletters etc
Article writer required
Need writer for upcoming magazine

Action Sports Lifestyle + Blog Writer Needed
Freelance writer wanted
Proofreader/editor for technical documents
Public relations and copy writer

The Trouble With Working From Home: the drive-by client

I love working from home, wouldn't change it for the world. The problem with that, though? Well, there are three.

1. It becomes very, very easy to just not bother getting out of bed in the morning

2. What clothes? This here dressing gown does me just fine, thanks very much. (Note to self: buy selection of dressing gowns. Maybe a black one. Black goes with everything.)

3. The house gets messy.

Yes, number three surprised me, too. I'd always assumed that those who worked from home would have perfect palaces of houses, given all that lovely time they have to clean. Yeah, I was clearly on crack when I thought that. People who go out to work have much tidier homes, and that's purely because they're not there enough to make a real mess. We are at home, and, by-God, we do make a mess. For this reason, we do not invite clients into our home.