Finding Creative Writing Jobs

When you’ve decided it’s time to begin selling your creative writings, it’s often a thrilling moment… until you realise that finding writing jobs can be tough. In fact, it’s enough to make an author want to throw in the proverbial towel!

But before you give up, try a few of these methods of getting your writing seen (with or without payment).

Job Boards

The Internet has been a boon to creative freelancers; consequently, there are hundreds of job boards available throughout cyberspace. Spend an hour or two familiarising yourself with one of the many devoted to writers or journalists and see which seems to offer the most promise for your type and style of writing.

However, do exercise prudence. Many new writers, eager to sell their stories, poems, concepts, or plays, fall victim to writing scams whereby unscrupulous “editors” or “publishers” steal their works, infringing upon copyrights. If you can check out a prospective client or even get a small, upfront fee (as a sign of trust) before sending him or her a number of unpublished works, do so.

Web Content

What does every website need? Obviously, it’s content. And though some website managers or owners simply slap anything and everything onto their web pages, the savvy ones are starting to pay writers to fill their sites with intriguing, fun, educational, and/or humorous text.

One of the best ways to enter the relatively recent world of web content is to start building your expertise as a web content provider. If you have a personal website, make it shine with fresh, stylish text that’s search engine optimised (SEO), if possible. If your friends and family need help with their sites, offer to write something that really “pops” or sells their products and/or services. Hence, you’ll build your acumen and reputation as a knowledgeable content writer.

From there, you can start asking for referrals to develop web content for people around the globe; additionally, you may be able to advertise your budding website content business somewhere on the Internet.

Bidding Sites

Along the same lines, there are now a number of sites where writers can bid against each other in order to win the right to work on actual projects. In a nutshell, the client provides the gig specifications and requests that authors from around the planet bid for the opportunity to complete the job.

Unfortunately, in many cases, the low bidder (and not necessarily the best writer) will be chosen. Still, that’s not a reason to avoid bidding; it’s just a reason to exercise caution. (And never bid below what you think you’re realistically worth; you’ll be setting a bad precedent for future employment.)

Local Publications

Just because our society is technologically driven doesn’t mean that we’ve gone paperless. Without a doubt, there are still thousands of printed magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and other publications bought and sold each day. And more are always being introduced to the public.

Though many of them devote large amounts of their printed words to news pieces, it doesn’t mean you cannot hope to attract their attention with a query for a creative story. Alternatively, you may unearth opportunities to write advertising or catalogue copy for a regional business or a corporation.

Remember – there are tons of jobs out there just waiting for you to find them. Use your natural creativity and you’ll no doubt begin to discover exactly what you need.