Writing-World - the site for freelance writers

Blog Trolls: Where do they find the time?

Earlier this week, I woke up this morning to find that someone had tried to post well over 100 comments on The Fashion Police, all complaining about the choice of category I'd filed certain posts in.

There were dozens and dozens of comments, all saying things like "This should be in the 'catwalk fashion' category!" and "This should be in 'fashion news'", interspersed with comments like "I have no idea why you've filed this here!" and "This entire category has too many posts in it!"

Now, in some cases, the commenter had a point. The Fashion Police currently has well over 2000 posts in its archive, and yes, some of those have been miscategorized. Most of them hadn't been, though: they were in the categories I wanted them to be in, it was just that this girl thought she knew better and wanted to correct me.

Why so dismissive of the UK, American PRs?

Several times over the past few weeks I've been contacted by US-based PRs who want to know if I'd be interested in reviewing one of their products for our beauty blog, Hey-Dollface.  The PR will generally begin their pitch by telling me what a huge fan they are of the site ("I read it every day!") and how their knowledge of the site has led them to the conclusion that their product will be of interest to my readers.

Now, this is nothing unusual. Product reviews are Dollface's stock-in-trade: they bring more visitors to the site than any other content we publish, and in most cases the products offered for review are relevant to our readers, so of course my answer to this question is normally going to be "Yes, sure, here's the address!"

But there's the rub. Time and time again recently my positive response to these PR approaches has been met with a dismayed, "Oh. You're in the UK. I didn't know that. We can't send the product to the UK. Sorry."

Then I never hear from them again. So much for all the "love your blog, read it every day, huge fan" stuff.

Deadbeat Employer of the Day: "Writers are unpaid for a trial period..."

Spotted on - where else? - Craigslist:

"Writers are unpaid for a trial period, after which writers receive payment on an article-by-article basis..."

I wonder: why do you never see McDonalds advertising for staff who will be "unpaid for a trial period"? Why don't office workers, cooks, librarians, cleaners and, in fact, members of just about every other profession I can think of, ever have to complete unpaid trials before they're taken on?

Oh yes, that's right: because no one in their right mind would agree to do that. So why are writers expected to work for nothing, in the hope of securing a paid gig at a later date?

Sure, the idea of a trial period isn't a new or unreasonable one, but unpaid? Why? Surely these writers can demonstrate their skills in the usual ways: showing examples of work from their portfolios, CVs, references from past employers, interviews, etc? That's generally enough information for employers in other professions to debase their decision to offer someone a job on, so why this distrust of writers?

I have no idea. But I'm pretty sure none of the staff of our local McDonald's are working "unpaid trials" right now, that's for sure...

Freelance Writing Jobs Roundup

It's been a while since we had one of these, so without further ado, here are some job leads that may or may not be of use to you...

Website business news editor
Press release writer wanted
Freelance Whitepaper writer
Freelance writer, PR and promoter
Write about cars
Pro-musician seeks writer
VersGlobe is hiring writers
Seeking Geeky Types to Write WebApp Reviews

How becoming an expert can help your freelance writing career

Many of the freelance writers who send me speculative applications asking for jobs tell me they can write about "anything".  You'd think this would be a good thing, right? These are clearly talented, well-rounded writers who know how to do their research. Who wouldn't want to employ writers like that?

Well, I wouldn't for starters.

The thing is, you see, I don't want to employ people to write about "everything".* Actually, come to think of it, I don't want to employ writers at all right now, but if I did, I'd want them to write about fashion or beauty, because those are the topics my sites cover. And I'd want my writers to be passionate about those topics. I'd want them to be the kind of people who'd be interested in fashion even if they weren't trying to get a job on a fashion blog. I'd want them to be true enthusiasts - people who knew their subject inside out, and who were genuinely interested in the things they'd be writing about.

The "I can write about anything" brigade just don't have that going for them.

How Not to Get a Freelance Writing Job, Part 2

A couple of days ago, I received the following email:

"I wish to apply as a writer for your company. i am a nigerian and a graduate of the <college name removed. It was typed all in lower case, though.>.By the grace of God almighty i am knowledgeable in my field. this includes such courses as < insert a long list of subjects bearing no relation to anything our blogs cover> please i would want to be involved in articles, term papers and projects partaining to the above areas either to develop and sell or to be paid for writing. thank you."

Now, what did capital letters do to this guy, do you think, to make him ignore them so thoroughly? And what on earth made him think that we'd be looking for freelancers who write almost entirely in lower case?

(I should probably add here that every time I post something like this, I get comments from people who have trawled through my own sites in order to find typos and point them out to me. Yes, I know I make errors too. Show me the writer who has never, ever made a mistake and... well, I probably won't believe you. So, when I post these items, I'm not trying to say that I am perfect, or that no one is ever allowed to make a mistake. The fact is, these things happen. Even the very best writers out there are guilty of making the odd typo. I'm just pointing out that when you're applying for a job as a writer, it's particularly important to make sure that you are, at the very least, writing in standard English.)