Writers wanted

[pgardapee]

If they took one dollar from every article I wrote, they would make a fortune off of me and other writers, more then $10 a month. I would rather pay the $10 and take the rest of my money for me. If I would write 30 articles a month, your method would cost me $30. Their way cost me only $10, which I pay to have my articles read by an editor and give me feedback as well as place my membe number on the article so I get credit, since I have a hard time remembering to do this all the time. I'll pay $10 to have my protection. Edited by: pgardapee

[napjomom]

Does anyone remember what is on the Home page of this site? Posted by our hostess, Cheryl?


Find a Work-at-Home Job
Watch out for scams -- never pay for a job!
I have to go lay down now. I'm still in shock at this person calling debng "unprofessional." Can't imagine why we would listen to her over this EmmaB person. Maybe it is because debng is probably responsible for launching more freelance writing careers than anyone else I know of. Not to mention that she is also a seasoned published writer with credits - and status - up the wazoo.

I think I feel faint...[img]smileys/smiley11.gif[/img]

[Inkwell]

Napjomom, I likes ya.....

[debng]

See, I don't even think they should be taking a dollar out of each article either. Why is the writer, the person doing all the work, the one who gets punished? If A&C has such high expenses it should be reflected in the invoice to the client. You don't have to agree with me on the low pay thing, but there is no way a writer should be expected to pay the client's administrative costs. That's wrong on so many levels.

[Laurel]

There's alot of debate about the fee's some companies charge. I agree that the fees could be charged to the client but for whatever reason they aren't. There is a difference b/w contracting & being an actual employee & unfortunately it's not too uncommon for companies to require a fee to have access to their clients or work.
It really is all how you look at it. Some people look at the benefit of being able to work from home, having the flexibility with their work and having a steady client base as worth paying any type of fees to a middle person.

I pay a $40/mo fee to contract customer service at this very moment. It's basically paying the middle man when these huge companies do not want the hassle of hiring/monitoring etc. off site employees.There are other companies out there that do the same thing the one I work thru does - but do not charge anyfee. However their clients debateably(?)pay less. I have to agree that I don't see any true difference in paying alot of the freelancebidding sites except that often w/the bidding sites your work/clients etc. vary more.

Freelancing/independent contracting is a horse of a different color & these admin fees are one of the downsides. I would prefer I work for a company that not only not charge any fees, but also that could provide steady income & employment - but hey - you just gotta weigh your options & pros/cons.At this point in the game work from home stuff is fairly new and the people doing it often get the short end of the stick in many ways, not just concerning fees.

Essentially you aren't paying to work, you are paying to have access to work. I agree there is work out there that you do not have to pay to have access to etc. however playing devil's advocate, I will say they have their own con's as well.

[Laurel]

Oh yeh - one of my pet peeves w/applying or finding writing gigs is when they request you write & if it's accepted you get paid. That's a bug of mine w/magazines or the people hiring request you write on a specific topic or something & submit. Usually you never hear back & where does your work go? There's alot of this stuff that appears to be unfair & I guess each person just has their own lists of things they will or will not do.

[kroberts]

Too me, the $10 a month is probably much better to pay that the % paid to bidding sites. It also sounds like there is plentiful work. My issue is the low pay.

I average $25 for 650 words or more depending on who I write for so I would hate to work for so little. However, you have to start somewhere I suppose. I started with AC and made very little, without a monthly fee. Thankfully I was able to quickly move up to better gigs.

I think everyone has the information they need to make their own choice.

It is a shame that everyone has to get so upset. I understand why everyone is upset, but it really won't change things. They are not going to change how they do business. Especially when there are writers who are happy to be working for them.

[gottaluv4]

Originally Posted by pgardapee

"Oh believe me, I am not bitter! LMAO *at the assumption* I just realize that the time it took me to research International airlines and airports (because for a month that was all that was available) it wasn't worth it to me when it was 2000 words for $17!"

Gottaluv4, I loved writing the airport articles. I could easily do 2 a day if I wanted to and make $25 for each one. I had a system and a layout worked out for doing these and it made my work go faster. As for research, I found all my information for my layout on one site. It would take me two hours to do a 2000 word airport , which meant for me, I was done that day, because it was just extra income for a day I did not schedule work for.

Since I did this for the month, whenever I did not have anything to do, I made some good money for spending on me and not bills. I paid the $10 and one month made over a couple hundred dollars and I got to go out and shop for computer things I wanted and clothes and a night out with friends.

For $10, I made extra money. If you work on bidding sites, you pay more than that for them to sit and watch the board. I wish I had that job.

RAC takes 12.5% per job. Guru takes 5 to 6%. Eleance, well everyone knows the problems going on with that site now. So $10 a month is not bad considering.

Just my two cents.

I understand what you're saying and maybe youare getting a higher offer because you've been there for quite some time but the pay scale that I received was $13 for 800-1000 words... I can understand if there were more topics to choose from but day after day the airport topics were the only ones to choose if you wanted work.

Now the way Emma's thread reads, the $23 is a different contract, I was giving my opinion on what work was available at the time I applied and was accepted. (November)... So possibly they have changed things... I figured that since they boasted a wide range of topics, I could get past the lower pay because there would be plenty of work but that wasn't the case (IN MY EXPERIENCE... can't seem to stress that enough).

But even so, I don't like paying for work if I can help it and in defense of RAC which is the only bidding site I've ever received work at, it's free to sign up. I don't pay to apply for any of the work there or list my CV or Resume- only if my bid is accepted and while it's true that they take a percentage, it's a percentage based on what the client accepts (which is my bid) so if I calculate what I want to make from the project, I can bid accordingly (and adjust my bid before submitting if need be).

With A&C... You pay $10 just to see their job board. It's not like they assign you anything. I went the entire month and not only did I notever write anything (just couldn't bring myself to - after being paid better by other clients) but I was never told or asked to take any articles. So.... they had my money, what did they care if I wrote anything? (Just my final thoughts).

And just in case anyone wonders, I am taking my payment information from the email I received when I queried them.Edited by: gottaluv4

[mommytotwo]

Okay, I am really trying tostay out of this debate. I don't kid myself that I am the best writer in the world, because I am nowhere near as good as most of you on this board, but I wouldn't pay a monthy fee for something that won't guarantee me a nice fat paycheck at the end of the month. There is no guarantee you will get any work with this company, but yet you still pay $10 a month. That just doesn't seem right to me at all. If I were guaranteed work and made good money off it it, perhaps I would see things differently- but the fact is- this company wants you to pay them just to see their jobs and then there is no guarantee you will even get work. No way would I pay.

That said, to call Deb out and say she is unprofessional is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Deb has always been a great support to this board, even PM'ing me when I was writing for an editor who I found very unprofessional. She was and is a great person to have on this board, and never unprofessional.

[kaywinslow]

I worked for A&C a while back. I chose to leave before they started charging a fee. My work was never declined, and I was never asked to rewrite a piece. I'm not a bitter writer who was asked not to return.

I left because I felt like John and Emma weren't professional. Their communications with their writers contained a lot of emotion and a lot of grammatical errors. I assumed that their communications with clients were similar, and didn't think they'd find the kind of quality clients that would allow them to offer high-quality assignments to their writers.