A beginning

[vaneramos]

It's a little embarrassing that my quota for this week is to earn $20 a day writing web content. Generally I earn $0.015 per word, so the average 500 word story is worth $7.50. That requires research, writing and proofreading. When I started, a job like that would take several hours. Consider that in the past I have never earned more than $25 in a week this way.

Tuesday I slept in, didn't get started until 11:00, had to take a break to run errands, and finally reached my quota by 7:30. It was a long, mentally exhausting day and a long way from paying the bills, but a big step forward.

Yesterday I started at 10:30 and reached my quota by 3:30. I had the rest of the day to dig in the garden, weave, make dinner, play Candamir with Danny, then work on interactive fiction for several hours before bed.

This morning I was out of bed before 7:30. I felt a moment of annoyance about the hard work ahead, then thought, "Wait a minute! I can choose how to spend the day, and this is my choice." I'm happy to be working in my own office. Through the open window 10 metres away, a cardinal is singing in the top of the honey locust. This is the most beautiful March weather in memory and I'm not stuck following anyone else's agenda. I can see the routine becomimg comfortable and invigorating, not so tiring. With a daily block of content writing in place, I can begin to dream about other freelance writing projects. Next week I will set new goals and a more rigorous schedule.

Comments

[snousle.livejournal.com]

It's no embarrassment, but I do find it very odd that your employer pays such an absurdly low rate. At the very least it should not involve thought or research. The whole thing sounds exploitative. I can't find a single reference to payments of less than 0.04/word and some types of writing exceed a dollar. Who are you doing this for?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I would expect to earn that much for advertorial writing commissioned directly from the advertiser. All the middle work here is conducted by the broker, in this case The Content Authority (TCA). While the pay is at the low end of the scale, many freelance writers consider it a good place to start.

Work is always available, so you can also come back to it when other avenues dry up. You can pick and choose what assignments you take. You don't have to say no to anything you don't want to do. Networking and selling myself are not my fortes, so it defers some of the hardest work while I gain experience and confidence. I can also try my hand at writing about things I would normally not consider. Many of them turn out to be more interesting than expected.

TCA offers the opportunity to advance to a higher tier which pays 3 cents per word, but I'm not there yet skill-wise. We can also set up direct orders, in which case I could charge whatever rate I choose, but I'm not there yet confidence-wise. So it isn't the greatest, but it's within my comfort zone for the moment.