Writers Unbound

Work Opportunities

DEMAND STUDIOS
I write for Demand Studios, and overall it’s a good gig. They have several websites but you start out writing for eHow.com. You can write for eHow.com simply by being a registered member there, and you have the potential to earn money off page views. However, if you apply at Demand Studios, you get paid cash for every how-to article you produce. If you pick how-to articles
within your knowledge base, they can be simple and quick to write. You can include graphics or not. You can include resources at the bottom, which I’ve used to send people back to related articles at my website.You want to be careful not to overdo the self-marketing there, but if you have high-quality, related content, it’s a good opportunity.

The drawbacks? It takes a week or two to process an article from “Under Review” to “Published,” which keeps your queu full (you have a limit of 10 articles in progress at a time) so you can’t claim other articles to write until yours are far enough along in the processing line. There are lots of categories, but not always lots of articles to choose from. When there is a fresh infusion of available titles, they go pretty fast, and I can’t find a pattern or schedule for when those new articles are going to appear. So I just check out the available articles every other morning or so.

It isn’t a perfect system, and it’s a little pesky sometimes, but overall it’s an easy way to get articles on a major site with your name on them and get a quick cash infusion. Go apply!

More Work Opportunities

• Part-Time English-Language Editors - freelance, telecommute, part-time; you edit essays. $16 per 250 words. (Source: Atlanta Craigslist)
• I don’t like to post non-paying jobs, unless the byline is worthwhile, but this one sounds fun: a Music Writer for an online magazine, no pay, but “with great perks like free albums/music, free shows, and the chance to interview popular musicians,” or so they say. Freelance, telecommute, part-time; no pay. (Source: Los Angeles Craigslist)

Workshops - free online courses.

These courses are from the Open University, a UK based organization offering “high quality university education to all.”
Writing offerings include Approaching Prose Fiction, Approaching Poetry, Approaching Plays, Writing What You Know, What Is Poetry?, Start Writing Fiction, and Forms and Uses of Language.
Why take online courses? Oooh, I don’t know, maybe to keep yourself sharp, to learn new things, to have an imposed deadline, to push yourself to new challenges, to LEARN (duh), to stretch yourself, to become an expert in new areas, to generate writing ideas, to set yourself on a schedule, to produce material, to understand your craft, to grow.

Go get a job. Make it a good day.