How To Find and Land Writing Jobs

You can be the best writer in the world, but if you don't find some jobs to showcase your talent then no one will ever know your genius.  Besides, you want to make some money, don't you? Finding writing jobs to apply for is not too difficult, but landing the jobs is another story.

WRITING FOR THE INTERNET

The best place to look for Internet writing jobs is online. Where can you find online writing jobs? You can find writing jobs in the same places you find other jobs: employment classifieds in the newspaper, online job banks, and word of mouth from other writers.  If you plan to write for the Internet, then job banks online are the best place to look.  You should check out some of these resources because they all offer plenty of available jobs for freelance writers:

• http://www.writerwrangler.com/ - Is a writers community with job postings that are sent in the monthly newsletter and broadcasts jobs when available via email. Other perks of this wonderful website include a forum that lists free resources for learning how to write good content and networking. Joining the forum allows you to post jobs yourself free of charge. This is great when you are in a pinch to hit deadlines or just need an editor or research for single projects.
• http://www.online-writing-jobs.com/ - This website constantly features new jobs, and they are all categorized according to the level of pay for the writing.  That means that a beginning writer can easily find non-paying jobs to build up a portfolio while professional writers can hop right to the section featuring high-paying jobs.
• http://aboutfreelancewriting.com/ - This website takes employment listings from job websites and compiles pertinent writing jobs in one spot.  Many different levels of writing jobs are listed on the website, including full-time on-site jobs as well as low-paying telecommuting jobs.  This is a great place to look for writing jobs when you already have some writing credits to your name and you're ready for more serious work.
• http://www.freelancewriting.com/ - Once a week, this website consolidates all the writing jobs from various job sites and lists them all in a format that is easy to navigate.  Using a site like this makes it to where you don't need to sift through jobs at a general employment website because all the writing jobs have already been plucked up and placed on this comprehensive list.

There are plenty of other Internet writing job banks available, so find one that you like and frequent it often.  When you become serious about writing professionally you may find yourself checking websites such as these on a daily basis.  You may also want to check with individual websites and publications which you frequent to see if they are in need of new writers.  One easy way to do this is to type "write for us" into the site's search engine and see if an online job application pops up along with the submission guidelines. 

Don't trust everything you see. 

If something looks too good to be true, then it probably is.  For example, if you stumble upon an ad which sounds too fantastic to be real then you may want to simply pass it up.  One way you can discern this is if the particular ad in question has a much higher pay scale than the other ads listed on the same page.  If the majority of the writing jobs posted on a certain site seem to pay an average of ten dollars an article, but the ad you are looking at lists a pay rate of a hundred dollars an article, this should make you wonder about the validity behind the ad. 

This is certainly not to say that nobody pays a hundred dollars and article, but it should give you pause if the ad seems incongruent with every other ad on the site. 
Take a look at the reply e-mail listed in the ad.  If it is a corporate e-mail from a well-known publication or writing agency, then you can probably trust it.  If, on the other hand, it's a generic Hotmail, Yahoo, or other free (and easy to create) e-mail account then you may wonder why this particular buyer is eager to pay so much better than everyone else on the site. 

Don't let this advice make you paranoid about applying for higher paying jobs, but do stop and think about the details of an ad before sending the employer a bunch of personal information or writing samples.  If the advertiser replies to you that they want a series of test articles from you and do not offer any compensation for your time and effort then it is probably best to drop the issue and not to bother replying.

Don't pay money to find jobs. 

Plenty of people want to be writers, but many of them aren't sure how to go about finding jobs.  There are some job banks which take advantage of this predicament and charge membership fees to view their listings.  No matter how tempting the job bank makes their listings look, you should simply never pay to find a job. 

There is an abundance of free resources for writing jobs, so there is really no reason for you to shell out your hard earned money to get a peek at a job listing.  If you are talented and can meet deadlines, you will make money.  You don't have to pay someone else to find you jobs because you can do this on your own.  Let this be a lesson for you throughout your writing career: don't pay someone else to find ways for you to make money with your writing.  Don't let someone else take advantage of your writing talent by making money off you.

Become Internet savvy. 

If you plan on spending a lot of time searching for writing jobs online and composing pieces for online resources you should really spend some time learning about the ins and outs of the World Wide Web.  You should consider getting your own website.  This can be a place where you can showcase your own work and it gives prospective employers a place to take a look at your work before they decide to hire you.  If you are not familiar with how to create a website then you may want to either hire someone to do it for you or to instead use one of the many online resources which allow you to create impressive websites from pre-designed templates. 

Although your line of work is not necessarily website design, you will still want to make sure that your website looks somewhat impressive, and certainly not sloppy or riddled with spelling errors.  Remember that your website is a reflection on you and your professionalism.  It may be worth it to spend the extra money to get your hands on a quality website which impresses potential employers.  If you have always wanted to learn about designing a website then this is a great opportunity to get started.  Who knows? Maybe you will find that you have a real talent for creating websites, and you can add that to your repertoire.  A website designer who can also compose quality web content will certainly be in high demand!

WRITING FOR PRINT

Any experience you have will help you. 

Writing for print is a little different than writing for the Internet.  On the Internet, most employers are concerned with getting work from writers which is full or keywords in order to send viewers to their site from a search engine.  Brevity is key with Internet writing, because when people log on to the computer they are usually not looking to read long articles while scrolling down the page…after all, staring at a computer screen for long periods of time can be hard on the eyes. 

If you can prove that you know how to write for a print publication - whether your proof is paid or unpaid - you will have a leg-up on the other writers applying who have never written anything for a print publication.  You should realize that in many cases, especially in the beginning, the pay for magazine writing may be no more than a byline and a free copy of the magazine. 

If you are just starting out, however, seeing your name in a magazine might be more than enough to motivate you to keep going with your writing.  Keep a portfolio of the writing you have done which has been published in magazines and other print publications so you will have samples of your writing to show to other publications which you want to write for. 

Search the classifieds and online resources. 

Online writing job banks aren't only for online jobs.  Many print publications recognize the validity behind advertising online for writers, so looking online for print writing jobs is a great way to find your next assignment.  If you want to write for a national magazine, you should check directly with that magazine to find out about submission guidelines. 

For local print publications, you can either wait around until they are looking for a new writer, or you can instead contact them and ask about submissions.  If you plan on writing for a local newspaper or magazine you may find yourself getting away from a freelance position and instead becoming an employee, but this should not stop you from picking up some other freelance writing jobs once in a while if you feel as though you can handle the extra work.  There is certainly something to be said for a regular writing job, though, so if you can get one then hold on to it.   

Take an editor to lunch. 

Not every editor will be up for something like this.  The editor of your town newspaper might be more willing to grant you some time to pick his or her brain than the editor of a national magazine.  At this point in your writing career, when you are first starting out, you can use whatever advice people are willing to give you.  Offer to take an editor or other writer to lunch or just out to coffee, and soak up everything he or she is willing to tell you.  Besides, you never know when you might hit it off with an editor and he or she asks you for some samples of your work and eventually offers you a job…so be sure to take some samples along just in case.

SPECIALIZED WRITING

Playwrights have to start somewhere. 

Maybe as you are reading this you are thinking to yourself, "Sure, I know there is money in writing website content, but that doesn't interest me.  I want to be a playwright!"  That's fine, as long as you know that there is rarely a fortune to be made by composing plays (not that there is a fortune to be made in website content, but at least there can be a steady income from it).  If your heart is set on writing plays, then start doing it. 

First of all, you should have at least a rudimentary knowledge about basic script writing, such as how to place stage directions and how to compose believable dialogue.  If you aren't sure about these things then you should buy a book about playwriting or consider taking a class.  Secondly, you should spend a little bit of time writing each and every day.  You never know when inspiration will hit, so you might as well give your creative juices the chance to work their magic daily.  You may want to consider entering playwriting contests, since winning these types of contests not only pay money but give you valuable exposure and make a great blurb on your résumé. 

You may also want to consider getting chummy with some of the local theaters in your area.  If you can convince the director of a local theater group to do your play as their next production then you instantly gain exposure.  Just be sure to be your own advocate and aggressively market the production by alerting local media and maybe even inviting one or two potential agents to the show.  If you aren't assertive in marketing yourself as a playwright, you may never get noticed by the people who can make you a success.

Poets are a rare breed. 

Good poetry is hard to find, but paying poetry gigs are even harder to find.  There are plenty of poetry publications which will happily publish poetry, but a good number of them do not pay cash for published submissions.  If you are going to write poetry for a living, and not bring in any other source of income, you will need to be talented, tenacious, and signed with an agent or publisher who can find you ways to make a living from your poetry. 

Unless you like the idea of being a starving artist, ruefully composing poetry while living in a shack, you will have to come up with a plan to get your work recognized and bought.  You should be dedicated about visiting open mike nights at coffee shops to share your poetry, and listen to carefully to feedback from the listeners.  Enter poetry contests for money and recognition, and keep composing poetry so that you may someday have enough to publish an entire book.  You might want to consider offering up some of your pieces to bands to see if your poetry can be turned into catchy tunes, unless that sort of thing does not appeal to you.

Copywriting, forum posting, and erotica, oh my! 

When you start out writing for money you will undoubtedly stumble upon several interesting ways to make a buck.  These various options may seem undesirable to you, and it is truly best to steer clear of anything which does not appeal to you or offends your morals.  Even though you are trying desperately to earn some recognition as a writer, you certainly don't want to do things which will make you feel cheap.  For example, creative writers may feel too commercial when composing copywriting jobs for corporate clients.  A job like writing copy for a catalog may just be too stifling for someone who hopes to someday be a novelist. 

Forum posting can be a lot of fun for some writers, while other writers think it is a waste of time (forum posting is where writers create a profile at a forum and initiate conversation while hiding the fact that they are paid to do so).  Don't be surprised if you run across plenty of ads for erotica writers.  This is a booming industry and the pay can be decent, but if this is not the kind of writing you want to do then you should really steer clear of it.  Honestly, it takes a special kind of writer to be able to compose erotica while following the specifications of the buyer.  If this appeals to you then go for it, but if you really don't think you can write that type of stuff without giggling and blushing, then don't bother.  

If you love the thrill of the chase then looking for writing jobs and applying for them can be one of the most thrilling things about being a writer.  If you are truly motivated to become an excellent (and paid) writer then you are going to have to spend quite a bit of time searching for jobs, schmoozing with people who may someday hire you, and honing your craft.  Becoming a successful freelance writer is not nearly as passive as you might think it would be.  You need to get out there and aggressively pursue your next job. 

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