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Hi all.
I was just wondering if anyone else contributes to EduBook.com. I joined a few weeks ago, and it's going pretty good. I told them what I'm interested in writing about, and they send me a batch of four titles. I write up the articles (about 500 words) and submit them, then they send me another batch. There's no limit to how many batches you can do.
Usually I get payment ($20 per batch) and the new batch within a day of submitting. Not the best money, but the articles are over topics I enjoy and I can write them pretty quickly.
Here's my page (http://www.edubook.com/author/michelle/) there...just thought if anyone was looking for another market, this one might be helpful!
tranquility
06-28-2009, 06:58 AM
Hi Enna,
I've just started writing for Edubook ... just sent in my second batch. I love the fact that I was able to tell them what I like and that's what they let me write on. Makes the writing a lot easier!
Have a great weekend.
Debbie
How many articles constitute a batch?
tranquility- awesome, glad you like it!
DTNg- 4 articles a batch, each around 500 words. :)
SouthernFriedJulie
06-29-2009, 01:14 AM
tranquility- awesome, glad you like it!
DTNg- 4 articles a batch, each around 500 words. :)
That's pathetic. Really, you'd be much better off with Demand Studios and I can't stand them.
* Just want to make sure you know that I think /they/ are pathetic, not you! I'm sure you're far too talented to be in the content trap. :-(
It's all good, Julie! :)
The payment sucks, I agree. But I've looked and looked, and starting from nothing as a freelance writer just seems to mean getting paid in peanuts. (The old, moldy kind, not the honey roasted Planters.) I'm just going to keep working and building clips, and hopefully soon I'll get better paying stuff!
herdon
06-29-2009, 09:20 AM
I agree with Julie, getting paid $5 an article is horrible no matter how much you like the subject. Hold out for something better. Keep trolling the freelance jobs sites, become an Examiner, etc. All of those are better options.
Well, I just started contributing for Suite101, and I'm planning on applying to be a Feature Writer soon- my #1 choice is open (World Music). So hopefully that'll be much better!
Ms Hollands
06-29-2009, 08:25 PM
Hmm, I wrote four articles for Edubook to see if I'd get many more hits on my blog. I've had maybe one or two from thousands of hits to my articles. If there's no side benefit, there's no point for that amount of money.
At the same time, the company seems very professional and fast at paying and sending out new articles to cover. Definitely a positive client experience.
dwrite
06-29-2009, 11:36 PM
I'd not heard of EduBook. Unfortunately, though, it seems that these pay rates -- $5 a story -- seem to be more and more common these days.
It's all a bit depressing. I've been trying to supplement the income I've lost from print magazine publishers in the last year or so -- so many have gone out of business or shut off their freelance budgets -- with some content writing, but it's really a tough go. There are so many days when I don't want to write about gold Maple Leaf coins or good campfire food.
You know, when I first read about EduBook here, my first thought was, "That isn't too bad." That shows how bad things have gotten in the online world. I mean, we consider Demand Studios to be high-paying because they pay $15 a story!
Just my thoughts,
Dan
My Content Writing Blog (http://contentwritingfordollars.blogspot.com)
My Mortgage Blog (http://www.mortgage-roadmap.com)
caseyquinn
06-30-2009, 01:37 AM
It all comes down to an individual thing. As a writer if you are happy with 15 dollars an hour or 20 if you are a fast writer, then Edubooks is a great place - they are content articles that take about 1 hour to write 4 of them. I did a few and got 20 bucks for an hour of writing. I didnt have other articles to write at the time and 20 bucks is 20 bucks.
Some people look down at the pay but everyone is different. Everyone is at differnt point in their careers and some people would wipe their butt with 20 dollars others will use it to pay the water bill.
In any case, they are a reliable low paying company that will consistently deliver you work and pay you on time -
speel00
06-30-2009, 01:47 AM
Okay, I joined-but how do I apply to be writer with them?
Sorry if I'm not posting this in the right area!
TIA!
SouthernFriedJulie
06-30-2009, 04:48 AM
It all comes down to an individual thing. As a writer if you are happy with 15 dollars an hour or 20 if you are a fast writer, then Edubooks is a great place - they are content articles that take about 1 hour to write 4 of them. I did a few and got 20 bucks for an hour of writing. I didnt have other articles to write at the time and 20 bucks is 20 bucks.
Some people look down at the pay but everyone is different. Everyone is at differnt point in their careers and some people would wipe their butt with 20 dollars others will use it to pay the water bill.
In any case, they are a reliable low paying company that will consistently deliver you work and pay you on time -
This isn't about the writer. It's about the mills making it seem 'ok' to work for chump change.
That being said, I have things at AC,eHow, Examiner, and more. I dump stuff there when I have extra time or something a client didn't pay up for. Nothing wrong with content or low pay, if you don't base your entire career on it.
And this myth about different stages of a career? Bogus. Right out of the gates I sold to a print mag, local, but still print and 800 words netted me $100. Not too bad for a brand new writer, huh?
There's jobs out there. There are publications that welcome new writers. I am sick to death of hearing how we who get angry over the low paying gigs look down on others, because that is not true. I don't 'wipe my butt on $20 bills'. That's insulting as hell, because there are others out there with my view that are the same...we've gotten caught in the low pay trap and do our darndest to try to encourage other writers to never get caught in it.
Ever.
Because of falling for that line of thinking, writers find themselves churning out tons of articles. Doesn't matter if they like the content or not, all that time writing batches and batches of articles takes time away from when they actually COULD be advancing their career. Building clips, making contacts, looking for new jobs, writing kick ass queries, and landing acceptances in some great mags or reputable sites.
It all comes down to how much you value yourself as a writer. How much faith you have in those creative fingers and mind you were gifted with. This is what I beg every person I run into now that finds themselves leaning towards the quick pay-
Write at least one great, polished article a month that is meant for submission to a 'real' publication. Then write an amazing query. Put your heart into it, then send it to 1 pub. If you can, increase that to 3 by the 3rd month. That's it.
If magazines aren't your style, apply to at least 1 real blog job a week...by real, I mean private client. These can pay really well.
I'm not saying to quit the low payers, I'm saying to work on gaining better jobs, better clips, and go until you can name your price. When you can...ask for up front deposits from private clients, that fills in the 'empty' spaces.
Honest, I'm not downing anyone, I want to bring you UP.
caseyquinn
06-30-2009, 08:13 PM
//That being said, I have things at AC,eHow, Examiner, and more. I dump stuff there when I have extra time or something a client didn't pay up for. Nothing wrong with content or low pay, if you don't base your entire career on it.//
The OP just was mentioning about the venue for extra cash - not saying everyone should base their writing careers around it - as a venue, they are good to make extra cash on the side IMO better then AC or examiner as AC pays less then edubook for roughly the same word count (requires 400 min) and examiner is really struggling with views from my experience.
Open doors close very often in freelance writing and at times many writers including myself have to find a new venue quickly to pay bills. They are not ideal, but money at times is just money that is needed and while not the best paying gig i ever had, it still pays the bills while i look for other stuff to do.
SouthernFriedJulie
06-30-2009, 08:40 PM
Casey, I know this. Really, I do.
My entire problem with this isn't the writers, it's the places that pay so low. A quick buck is great, but not constantly. You end up caught in the cycle of writing more and more articles just to pay the bills.
I know it because I've lived it and am trying to get out of it right now. It just gets my goat when people say they're not far enough in their career to get more, because this is a myth.
Instead of bitching about it, I'll just compile a list of sites that pay more, then share. I don't want to compound the problem by saying you can do better then not helping to prove it or help anyone get there.
O.K.?
caseyquinn
06-30-2009, 08:43 PM
Sounds great :)
I'd not heard of EduBook. Unfortunately, though, it seems that these pay rates -- $5 a story -- seem to be more and more common these days.
It's all a bit depressing. I've been trying to supplement the income I've lost from print magazine publishers in the last year or so -- so many have gone out of business or shut off their freelance budgets -- with some content writing, but it's really a tough go. There are so many days when I don't want to write about gold Maple Leaf coins or good campfire food.
You know, when I first read about EduBook here, my first thought was, "That isn't too bad." That shows how bad things have gotten in the online world. I mean, we consider Demand Studios to be high-paying because they pay $15 a story!
Just my thoughts,
Dan
My Content Writing Blog (http://contentwritingfordollars.blogspot.com)
My Mortgage Blog (http://www.mortgage-roadmap.com)
Actually, I think the trend is going up. I see jobs every day paying more than $5, even more than $10 or $20.
I think a lot of writers fall into the low paying or residual content trap because it's so easy and convenient. There's really no rejection because they don't have a strict hiring policy, payment comes quickly via paypal and they're published almost immediately. Compare that to taking time to find decent payers, sending a kick ass cover letter and resume, waiting to see if one is hired and waiting for publication and payment, the quick and easy method is the more attractive method.
Freelancers should work for the rates they feel best suits them and their situation - I'm not going to knock anyone doing what he has to do. However, there ARE higher paying jobs available. They may not be as easy to find or as easy to get but they're out there. I see them every day.
herdon
06-30-2009, 09:13 PM
The OP just was mentioning about the venue for extra cash - not saying everyone should base their writing careers around it - as a venue, they are good to make extra cash on the side IMO better then AC or examiner as AC pays less then edubook for roughly the same word count (requires 400 min) and examiner is really struggling with views from my experience.
Examiner isn't struggling with views. Some Examiners are struggling with them. Where the Examiner falls down is have virtually no real training and no one at HQ that knows how to build a web content portal.
That said, if you know the basic rules of SEO and have a topic that lends itself to evergreen topic, you can easily make more than $5 an article.
One of the things that people don't understand about the Examiner is that it is a long term gig, not a short term gig. It's much like About.com -- the real money is made after you've been there for a few years and those articles you wrote in your first months are still paying you money. There are people at About.com making 50k+ a year for a job they can do in 4 hours or less a day if they wish.
As for people that think About.com is a much higher paying job than the Examiner, I've been at About.com for two years and Examiner.com for about 10 months. I took on a second topic at Examiner.com about 3 weeks ago and this month my Examiner.com pay will be higher than my About.com pay.
You can make money at it. You just need to know the basics of SEO so that people can actually find your stuff. Same as any revenue-sharing content company.
There's no way I'd write for $5 or $10 an article because it simply has no long-term potential. In five years, I'd be making the same chump change, where I could be making serious cash with an Examiner, About or Suite 101.
Think on this: If I didn't write a single article for the Examiner in July I'd still make several hundred dollars.
herdon
06-30-2009, 09:19 PM
By the way, let me add that I have nothing against writing for a site that pays an upfront fee rather than based on page view rate -- though I'd avoid EduBook simply because the fee is so dirt-cheap and people writing there could probably be writing for some place that pays better.
But I do think people should realize that places like Examiner, About, etc. can pay pretty good money. Writing for the web is a skill and you need to study how to write for the web beyond just putting words together, but it can be a pretty good gig financially.
Of course, not every pay-by-pageview place is good. I think AssociatedContent is down at the low end of the barrel and blog places like Today.com should be avoided as well. But it isn't difficult to get started with one of the better places.
Angie
07-01-2009, 04:03 AM
Instead of bitching about it, I'll just compile a list of sites that pay more, then share. I don't want to compound the problem by saying you can do better then not helping to prove it or help anyone get there.
O.K.?
I'd be really interested to see that list too. It's frustrating to look around and see so many places that think $5 is a good fee for 500 words. Bleh. Plus, I just got laid off from my full-time farm job (thank you SO much, "swine" flu) and have been reduced to churning out articles for DS because there are NO jobs around my area and $15 a pop is better than nothing.
Bleh.
That turned into more of a rant than I intended. Sorry. I will say that, desperate as my situation is at the moment, I will not work for $5 for 500 words and I am trying to come up with query ideas for regular magazine submissions.
SouthernFriedJulie
07-01-2009, 05:12 AM
I'd be really interested to see that list too. It's frustrating to look around and see so many places that think $5 is a good fee for 500 words. Bleh. Plus, I just got laid off from my full-time farm job (thank you SO much, "swine" flu) and have been reduced to churning out articles for DS because there are NO jobs around my area and $15 a pop is better than nothing.
Bleh.
That turned into more of a rant than I intended. Sorry. I will say that, desperate as my situation is at the moment, I will not work for $5 for 500 words and I am trying to come up with query ideas for regular magazine submissions.
Rant away :-), I did.
I have a few things to finish tonight, then I think I'll delve into my emails and begin putting together a list. Catmuse had suggested I put together a guide to some paying market info I've got. Might just do that soon and make a lil ol' ebook.
herdon
07-01-2009, 05:15 AM
You can check FreeLanceWritingGigs on a regular basis:
http://freelancewritinggigs.com/webandprint/
I liked it a little better back before it expanded, and the formatting is whacked out if you use Chrome, but its still one of my daily stops to check for new gigs.
And if you do find some regular work from it, be sure to leave them a few bucks as a tip. Would hate to see the place disappear.
Angie
07-01-2009, 06:00 AM
Rant away :-), I did.
I have a few things to finish tonight, then I think I'll delve into my emails and begin putting together a list. Catmuse had suggested I put together a guide to some paying market info I've got. Might just do that soon and make a lil ol' ebook.
I definitely think you should write an ebook. Could make a few bucks off your info then. ;)
This is all great advice, guys, thanks.
Julie- I'd love to see that list. I'm pretty new to this- I started freelancing from total scratch in April- and I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses. My website now has over thirty published clips- not bad! I haven't written for Edubook since this thread started because honestly, the low pay has always bothered me. Plus, I wrote some really good articles for them that now I wish I could put up on Suite101 instead. $5 just isn't worth it.
Herdon- it's really interesting that you're going to make more this month from Examiner than from About. I've been studying SEO tips and techniques like mad, I hope it starts to pay off!
Angie- sorry about the swine flu costing you your job! :( I hope things start to look up for you soon.
Hang in there Enna, you'll work your way up. If you have written good articles for them, why not start sending out queries--or are you already? It would be nice to see you get paid more for all your work...
Maggie_H
10-19-2009, 05:09 AM
I wrote two articles for Edubook and even though they were topics I was interested in, they still took time. 500 words is a lot and $5 is not. I was already writing for DS when I applied at Edubook thinking it would be easy to knock out a few articles a week on fun topics, but it was actually not so easy. When the pay came -- $10 that became $9 and change after going through paypal -- I realized I was better off at DS even if I couldn't suggest the topic.
If you enjoy writing short pieces for websites, I suggest applying to work for Demand Studios. They pay $15 an article that is between 350-400 words. That's 100 words less and $10 more than Edubook. Just my opinion, of course.
laharrison
11-11-2009, 11:05 PM
I'm based in the UK, so most of the content sites won't let me join, but I think this is actually a good thing.
I wasted a lot of time doing low paid content writing. I've given up on most of the gigs now - I echo what other posters have said - they trap you - you end up spending more and more time on the low paid stuff, and just don't have the time to pursue better things.
I still have two fairly low paid jobs, but they are reliable payers, don't take long, and are very flexible. They're also better pay than one cent per word.
I wish I hadn't wasted my time on the low paying sites. Most of the writing I did for them was rushed, and reflects poorly on me. Even the good pieces aren't really suitable for a portfolio, because most people know the sites they're on, and know those sites don't have a good reputation.
There are good writing jobs out there - even on the freelance sites. It's disheartening to look for them, but it's worth investing the extra time, rather than taking the first jobs that you come across.
Just my cent or two :)
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