Writing For The Net

Writing For The Net.

By Elizabeth Chayne

The Internet means a lot to the freelance writer.

Submissions with the click of a mouse, quicker replies, and most of all, more markets. We’re not just talking e-zines here, either.

There are hundreds of new opportunities to be found online, whether you’re looking for one-time cases or long collaborations.

What astounds me is that

there are now websites dedicated to making us—that is, us freelance writers—money. Sites that are not scams and actually work for the writer instead of making us work for them. Ah, the wonders of the Net.

There is a catch, of course. Most print editors probably won’t think much of your online credentials, and the people who buy your article may never ask you for another. But if the important thing is having some extra cash in your pocket, read on.

All these sites pay with PayPal, which is pretty much the way to get paid in the virtual world nowadays. Don’t worry, though, it’s real cash!

Constant Content (http://www.constant-content.com/) is a little like the eBay for writers.

You can post up articles you’ve written, along with the prices/terms you’d like to get, and hope someone buys it. Or you can check the “Requests” section where publishers, editors, and people who need a writer put up their requests, along with the prices/terms they’re willing to pay. All content submitted to the site is run through editors, who proofread and check that there is no plagiarism.

Another site where you can publish your articles is Associated Content (http://www.associatedcontent.com/).

You are paid a direct fee for your work, which, like Constant Content, has to be run through editors first. This site has an interesting payment feature known as Performance Payment, meaning that you get paid according to the number of views your page gets.

The current payment per thousand page views is $1.50, though the site says this is subject to change. Note that international submitters are only eligible for performance payments due to tax complications.

Writers on About (http://beaguide.about.com/) are required to send in a certain amount of articles and add updates to their blogs within a certain amount of time.

Currently, the minimum requirement is two articles every fourteen days, and one to three blog updates every week. They also pay in page views.

A tough site to break into is Suite101 (http://www.suite101.com/).

They also have minimum posting requirements, and writers of the site have to go through a selection process. The site pays via Google Adsense, which means you get a share of the advertising revenue.

These and many other sites are a great “modern” way to find buyers, or just stick those articles you wrote “for fun” and don’t know what to do with—who said writing was all about the money, anyway?