How to Avoid Freelance Writing Job Scams

Freelance writing has the potential to be a great career. You get to choose your own hours, you can often pick and choose what work you want to accept and the money's not bad once you get established. However, for beginning writers there are a number of pitfalls to be wary of. There are hundreds of unscrupulous people out there who prey upon the dreams of aspiring freelance writers and, unfortunately, many new writers fall victim to these predators. Here's how you can avoid some of the most common freelance writing job scams.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Word processor on which to write your articles
• Internet access to research clients

1. Don't ever pay anyone money for a freelance gig. Money should come TO the writer, not the other way around. If you have to pay to have your work posted on a website or printed in a book or magazine, that's not freelance writing. That's a scam. Be cautious, as well, of companies that charge a membership fee for them to "send you jobs". Often, what they do instead is send you listings of markets that accept work from freelance writers, information that you can find out for yourself, for free.

2. Look at the company and its history. If it's a start-up company that's advertising for writers on Craigslist or a Yahoo group, or if it's a company you've never heard of, be wary. They may just be spamming websites in hopes of nabbing unsuspecting writers. If you're not sure about the business, check with the local Better Business Bureau.

3. Evaluate the pay, and whether it's worth your time. There are countless ads from scammers that offer to pay writers no cash, but they say that's okay, because you get a byline. Big deal. Bylines are a dime a dozen, because anyone can write anything on the Internet and get one. Not only that, try paying your rent or your car loan off with a byline. Good luck. If there is actual money involved in the transaction, figure out if it's worth it for you to do the work. If someone is asking you to write a 1500 word article, and it's going to take you three hours of research and another two hours of typing, is it really worth the $5 they're offering? Break your work down to a per-hour basis, and figure out what your bottom line is. Don't accept jobs at anything beneath that level.

4. Watch out if you have to reach a certain amount of earnings before you'll get paid. Content production companies are known for using this as a way to avoid paying writers. They will give you $2 per 500-word article but they won't pay you until your earnings hit $200. That means you've got to write a LOT of stuff before you make any money and they're hoping you'll lose interest and go away before they have to actually pay you.

5. Use some common sense. If a job sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Remember that no one is going to give you money for nothing, and many of these predatory companies make their profit by NOT paying you at all. The minute you get a feeling that you're being scammed--or robbed--stop writing. Don't be afraid to ask questions such as, "How are you planning on paying me?" or "What terms are you offering on royalties?" Ultimately, trust your gut and don't allow yourself to become one of the thousands of freelance writers who end up victimized by these companies.

Tips & Warnings

• Use reliable websites to find freelance writing jobs, or go directly to the market itself to see what they're taking from freelance writers.
• Remember that once you write something, the copyright belongs to you unless you have a contract to sell all rights to somebody. If a client refuses to pay, the work still belongs to you and you are legally allowed to sell it to another market.

Resources

• Preditors and Editors
• Whispers and Warnings at Writers Weekly

Who Can Help Sponsored

• Earn your degree from industry experts at University of Phoenix. Take the next step in your career.

[PattiWigington]

on 8/7/2008 Writer's Weekly offers a selection of legitimate, paying markets each week. It's a good resource for jobs as well as for learning who to avoid out there. You can see their market listings at http://www.writersweekly.com/markets_and_jobs.php for this week.

patti

[PriaD]

on 8/3/2008 Thanks a ton for all this information. I am a content writer by profession but i have just started my career in this line. Besides, i dont even have the required qualification to shine in this area. So I was thinking of doing some freelancing along with my job to gain some experience in this field. Your article really saved me from falling prey to such scams. Pls let me know if you know some organisations that can really offer me work.