Grindstone Monday 12/03/07

I am aware that technically it is Tuesday but I’m trying to get back into the swing of things so cut me some slack. Here’s this week’s list of writing jobs to help pay for that Ipod I know you’re just dying to get for me

1. Education development company looking for freelancers to write test preparation materials. Payment varies with project. (View Writing Job)

2. An independent book publishers is looking for submissions for their anthology “What Was I Thinking” about that moment when you new your “Beau” was going to end up being an “Ex”. $50 for each selected story. (View Writing Job)

3. Fashion bloggers wanted to blog about luxury products. (View Writing Job)

4. Copywriter needed for cake decorating company. (View Writing Job)

5. Blogger needed for online buying guide for men. Compensation per post, negotiable. (View Writing Job)

6. CallStreet is looking for an associate Editor. $25-35 per hour. (View Writing Job)

7. Writer needed for pr campaign for new social networking company. Pay is $25 per hour. (View Writing Job)

8. Network-Twenty.com is looking for writers to provide content for their site. Pay is $50 for 500 word articles. (View Writing Job)

9. Comedy writer with Flash animation skills sought. Pay is $1000 per week. (View Writing Job)

10. Women on Writing is looking for articles for the ezine. Columns pay $50-75, feature articles pay $150 and feature interviews pay $75. (View Writing Job)

Good luck!

What To Charge For Your Writing

There are many ways you can charge for your time and skills. It all depends on what works best for you and your client. The most common way to charge is either by the word or by the project. However, you can also charge by the page or by the hour. Each option has its own set of benefits and drawbacks.

For instance, charging by the word may seem like the best option until you run into the problem that many writers have of publishers only paying for each published word. So that 1000 word article you slaved over for days gets edited to 750 words and at $0.10 per word that’s a $25 difference. Enough for a week’s worth of lattes. Shameful!

Grindstone Monday 11/12/07

1. Copywriter sought for new business. Pay per page or hour. (View Writing Job)

2. Common Ties is seeking stories about hidden lives. Payment typically between $100-$200. (View Writing Job)

3. Vontu is looking for a contract technical writer. (View Writing Job)

4. Sports writer needed to writer articles on soccer training. Pay is $200 per article. (View Writing Job)

5. Turbo magazine is looking for a freelance tech writer. Must have experience in/with the automotive industry. (View Writing Job)

6. HomeFixInfo.com is looking for a blogger to post home improvement articles. 25 articles per week needed. Provide quote for weekly project. (View Writing Job)

7. Sugar Inc, creator of Popsugar and CasaSugar has several Editorial openings available. Positions are located in California or UK. (View Writing Job)

8. The Washington Monthly is a magazine that covers politics, government, culture and media that accepts pieces from freelance writers. The pay is $.10 per word. (View Writing Job)

9. EnRoute is Air Canada’s inflight magazine. The pay is $1.00 per word (Canadian dollars). (View Writing Job)

10. Gotham Gazette is an online magazine that discuss issues facing New Yorkers. Pay depends on what type of piece it is and where it is published in the magazine. (View Writing Job)

Good Luck!

Writing Prompts: Thirteen Essay Ideas

Up until now, the writing prompts have focussed on fiction writing. This week, however, I’m going to show some love to our nonfiction writers and throw out some ideas for possible articles/blog posts/school essays.

1. Just recently a young girl in India was born with four legs and four arms due to a rare condition where her twin died in the womb and her body tried to absorb the tissue (link to article). Her village views her as the reincarnation of the Hindu goddess she is named after. Discuss how society treats those who are born outside the norm.

2. Discuss how you would overhaul our current system of government. Discuss if it is really necessary to have a governmental entity and what would it take for us to be able to get rid of it completely.

3. What does it mean to be success in our current age? How does that compare what it meant to be a success in previous ages and what success might mean in the future.

4. Is money the really the root of all evil?

5. In the age of information, do you think religion will go the way of the Dodo bird?

6. Wisebread talks about the optical illusion of portion sizes. It is a known fact that plate sizes in the United States have increased about 30% since the 1950’s. Why do you think that is and with the current trend of rampant catastrophic diseases, do you think we revert to the life of moderation we practiced in the past?

7. What is reality?

8. A recent report by a top scientist suggested that the human race will split into two distinct species. (link to article) Do you agree? Why or why not? If so, do you think it will the super/sub human split as the article describes?

9. Do you think the current trend towards eco-living will stick? Do you think it will be enough to stop and/or reverse the damage to the environment?

10. What is the purpose of life? (Life as in all of humanity, not individual life)

11. List the ten most influential movies of our time.

12. Human deviance is a fact of our existence. There will always be people who go against the status quo. Write about how this tendency has both helped and hindered us as a people.

13. Do you think the writing profession is treated as a serious profession in society?

Happy writing!

You’ve Found the Perfect Writng Job, Now What?

Finding a writing job is only half of the equation. Just like in the corporate world, you have to put forth an effort to secure the job as well. While there are many great opportunities available both online and offline, only those that are the most prepared will get the job.

To get the job

1. Research the publication

This is perhaps the most important step in the process, however, you would be surprised (or maybe not depending on your experience) at how many new writers fail to do this.

Researching the publication provides you with several important pieces of information that will help you nab that freelance job successfully. First, it will provide you with the contact information for the publication. This will allow you to personalize your query as well as make sure it gets to the right person.

Secondly, getting to know the publication will help you market to them better by understanding their reader demographics. A writing style that works for thirty-something business professionals will not transfer well to the teen market.

I Be A Writer

I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it!

*Continues screaming and jumping around for five minutes*

What did I do? I published something and will get paid for it. Yay!

Brijit is an online magazine that publishes abstracts (or reviews really) of articles from other magazines. The job entails reading the article and doing a quick write up on what it is about as well as rating whether it it worth taking time out to read. The magazine is marketed towards business professionals who what to stay abreast of what is happening in the world but don’t have time to read magazines, newspapers or watch television.

Well, about a week ago I decided to sign up and submit a few abstracts and today, I got an email saying one of them is being published. Read it here:

Breaking Through the Bias

Okay so it’s not, you know, The New York Times and I can only buy lunch at McDonalds with the pay but those are my words! And I’m getting paid for them! At the beginning of the year my goal was that I would become and official freelance writer by getting paid for my writing. And I did it!

I did it! I did it! I did it!

And I couldn’t have done it without my friend’s filling my head up with crazy ideas like I could actually do it. Thank you Katie and Ms. Karen for giving me the confidence I needed to make this happen. I couldn’t have paid for a better support group. Yay!

Make Billions Selling Advertising

Quite the sensationalist title, huh? But it got your attention didn’t it? Well that’s what the internet advertising model is all about. It is the process of getting the attention of web surfers and inducing them to make a purchase or, at the very least, visit another website.

Making money using the advertising model is easier now than it has ever been before. In the past, the platforms available to those wishing to make money using the advertising model were severely limited to those who had the technical know how, connections and, yes, money in which to pursue the business. The internet, however, has blown away all the barriers to entry and a budding entrepreneur can start making money online in a matter of days.

To be successful with this model, there are a few things you need to consider:

You Are Unwise to Lower Your Pants

I posted about this almost a year ago. Someone went through the Star Wars script and substituted the words pants in select places to come up with some hilarious one liners. Since then the list has grown to 278 lines and the top ten has changed a little bit.

The Old Top 10

1. I find your lack of pants disturbing.
2. You are unwise to lower your pants.
3. The Force is strong in my pants. (Ladies, you saw it here first. The future pick up line of weirdos everywhere.
4. Chewie and me got into a lot of pants more heavily guarded than this.
5. I cannot teach him. The boy has no pants.
6. Your pants, you will not need them.
7. You came in those pants? You’re braver than I thought.
8. Governer Tarkin. I should have expected to find you holding Vader’s pants.
9. I sense the conflict within you. Let go of your pants!
10. In his pants you will find a new definition of pain and suffering.

The New Top 10

1. I find your lack of pants disturbing.
2. You are unwise to lower your pants.
3. Chewie and me got into a lot of pants more heavily guarded than this.
4. Your pants, you will not need them.
5. The Force is strong in my pants.
6. You came in those pants? You’re braver than I thought.
7. I cannot teach him. The boy has no pants.
8. In his pants you will find a new definition of pain and suffering
9. Governer Tarkin. I should have expected to find you holding Vader’s pants.
10. I think you just can’t bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your pants.

This is still funny as heck. To see the whole list visit The Keepers of the Lists.

The Father of One of My Kids

This is a post from my old blog. This joke is as funny now as it was when I first posted it.

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I THINK YOUR THE FATHER OF ONE OF MY KIDS

A guy goes to the supermarket and notices a beautiful blond woman waving at him and saying hello.

He’s rather taken aback, because he can’t place where he knows her from. So he says, “Do you know me?”

To which she replies, “I think you’re the father of one of my kids.”

Now his mind travels back to the only time he has ever been unfaithful to his wife and says, “My God, are you the stripper from my bachelor party that I laid on the pool table with all of my buddies watching, while your partner whipped my butt with wet celery and then stuck a carrot up my butt???”

She looks into his eyes and calmly says, “No, I’m your son’s math teacher.”

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LOL

Grindstone Monday 09/24/07

Apologies all around for missing last week’s round of writing jobs. This week, however, I found some great ones that may bring you one step closer to quitting your day job.

1. AARP: The Magazine accepts articles for the following categories: finance, health, food, travel, consumerism, general interests and profile. Pay is $1.00 per contracted word. (View Writing Job)

2. The Washingtonian Magazine accepts pieces by freelance writers. Articles should pertain to the Washington DC area. Pay is $0.75 per contracted word. Send query letter. (View Writing Job)

3. Christianity Today accepts freelance articles for their teen magazine Ignite Your Faith. Pay is $0.15 to $0.20 per word. (View Writing Job)

4. Radish Magazine focuses on healthy living through natural foods. They pay between $50 and $150 per article upon publication. (View Writing Job)

5. Transitions Abroad is a travel guide. They are looking for practical information about living and traveling abroad. Pay is $2.00 per column inch (about 50-55 words) Minimum payout is $25.00. (View Writing Job)

6. Grit is a magazine about rural life. Pay for featured articles is $0.35 per published word and may vary depending on experience. (View Writing Job)

7. Resume Edge is seeking resume writers. Potential $20-$35 per hour depending on time it takes you to complete a job. (View Writing Job)

8. BBC Research is looking for freelance proofreaders to review their book length market research reports. Email salary requirements. (View Writing Job)

9. MyFirstApartment.com is looking for blog posts about living in your first apartment. Pay is $10 per post. (View Writing Job)

10. Adult site looking for a writer to rewrite product descriptions for adult products. Pay is $1.00-$1.50 per description. (View Writing Job)

Good Luck