Hello, Fellow Writers!

[Debbi]

Hi, everyone at CC

First, I want to say that I love the concept of CC. Being able to write about anything you are interested in and offer that article for sale is very liberating. I have been writing assigned web content for the past few weeks on topics of little interest to me and at extremely low rates. When I discovered CC, I was greatly encouraged that perhaps free lance writing could pay off.

Something about me:

I have been writing since I was four years old, mostly fiction and poetry and, of course, school assignments. Unable to kick the habit, I gravitated toward activities that involved writing, mostly continuing my education as long as possible. I earned a Master's degree in Psychology and completed my PhD program except for my dissertation, then ran out of money and good sense. I got caught up in the lure of the Internet and started a web site for children called Kids' Korner Network (www.kidskorner.net) in 1997. I worked for an ISP and an NPO for a while until my vision became too poor to maintain a full-time job. I moved from California to New Mexico in 2005, expecting to find plenty of web design work and then boom! the economy crashed and there were no clients to be found. So I did what I do best--I went back to school with the help of the Commission for the Blind. Now my schooling is once again at an end and I am searching for ways to stay financially afloat doing something I love to do.

I've been here a week, submitted four articles and sold none so far. I read through some of the forums and especially appreciate all the encouraging comments from veteran CCers to us newbies. Any wisdom you’d like to pass along will be avidly gobbled up!

Debbi

[HayleyWriter]

Hi Debbi,

Welcome to CC! I find that the freedom to write what you want and to set your own prices makes the CC concept really work for freelance writers. My advice to all newcomers is to write on a number of different topics and build up a portfolio of articles. The sales do come. Some articles sell within the first week, but many others will sell between two and several months later. A few articles may not find a market, but most articles do. CC has suggested that the average sales is about 70 per cent in another forum post, and I know personally that the more you write, the more you sell. Building up a portfolio on different topics gives you the best chance of selling your articles, and prevents you from becoming bored by always writing on the same thing. Respond to the public requests that interest you, but write articles you want to write too. Many customers just browse through the available articles on the topic of interest, rather than make a public request.

It took me six weeks to make my first sale, but since then I haven't looked back and I now make enough on CC to make my part-time "hobby" an extremely lucrative one. Keep writing and hang in there. We'll celebrate your first sale WHEN you get it!

Kind regards,

Hayley

[Debbi]

Hayley,

Thank you for those encouraging words So far I've just been submitting public requests, but I'm ready to start writing my own articles.

I can't believe how prolific some of the writers on here are. Some have hundreds, even thousands of articles submitted! Maybe I just write more slowly than others, but I can't imagine having that many completed.

I was wondering how all of you came up with your topic ideas?

And does anyone ever buy articles geared toward children?

Thanks again,

Debbi

[Celeste Stewart]

Many of us have been here for several years, so keep that in mind. It's not like thousands of articles pour out of our laptops overnight

Keep a notebook handy and jot down ideas as they come to you. Soon, you'll have more topics and ideas than you'll have time to write! Customers come here wanting all types of articles including those geared toward children. Recently there were requests for children's book reviews and family video game reviews. Other ideas:
Childhood immunizations
Back to school
Camping with kids
Choosing a nanny
What to do when your kid is the school bully
Help! My child is being bullied
Kid-friendly cooking

[Debbi]

Hi, Celeste!

You are one of those prolific writers I was talking about. I really admire your focus, even if it did take years to build up your repertoire.

I had a couple of other questions:

1. Have you found that articles of a particular word count sell better than others? Sometimes something I write seems to only take 300 words and other time I'm off and running with 700 or more.

2. Do you try to write on a particular reading level? Though I often write for children at a second or third grade level, my default is more like 12th grade or higher. What do you suggest?

I went through my bookshelf and came up with about six topic ideas to start with. I'm almost finished with the first article already! So much fun to write about what I'm interested in.

Debbi

[HayleyWriter]

Hi Debbi,

I generally write at a fairly simple reading level - we were always told as journalists to write to the lowest common demoninator. Write in plain English, rather than academic level English. Most of the customers here are buying for websites and prefer a simple, easy to read style. It does depend a bit on the intended audience. An in-depth discussion on on a technical subject, such as solar energy, could get away with a higher level of readability since the audience is more likely to be educated to at least Year 12 level. In general though, applying the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid) works well here.

I find that the longer articles of between 700 words and 1000 words sell well too, although some customers still want to pay the same rates as for a 300 word article. I find that a mix of lengths of articles in the portfolio works well. Some topics need more detail than others, so a longer article is warranted and will generally find a buyer. I generally write the article and then look at the word length it ended up as and price accordingly. I will sometimes edit a longer article back down to 500 or 600 words, as this length seems to sell really well.

It is fun writing about topics that interest you! I'm glad to see you are getting enthusiastic about that side of writing for CC! Many new people focus only on the public requests, but there is a lot of competition for those. It is sometimes better to write unique articles on completely original topics, so you have an article waiting for the customer who wants it, without the competition from other authors.

Good luck,

Hayley

[Celeste Stewart]

My average word count for non-private request articles is 562 words with my shortest ones in the 200 word range and the longest just over 2000. Most are in the 400-1000 word range.

I don't aim for a particular reading level, I just write with my audience in mind. My writing tends to be fairly straightforward. I like to think it's easy to read.