Subject- verb agreement

[EmmaC]

Thanks for the encouragement Abba. I've just had an e-mail saying that my 6th article has been accepted, so I feel I am slowly learning the ropes here. I'm heartened that you are doing well on this site. I think I have to try to get a feel for the type of articles that sell, and the length they should be. (I find writing "short" difficult!)

[Lysis]

It takes some time and patience.

Took me a long long time. Even got put on notice to shape up or ship out when I first started. I struggled hard with this site at first. Glad I made it through, because I really like writing for this place. Just pick any topic and write. You don't get to do that anywhere else.

[EmmaC]

Hi Abbamay

Are you still following this thread? would it be possible for me to ask you for some CC advice?

Em

[Abbamay]

Go ahead Emma! I'm not the expert - that's for sure. But I'll answer anything I can and I'm sure other helpful people will too.
How are you doing? It's pouring with rain here and storms are on the way...

Abba

[EmmaC]

Thanks abba! It is chilly here, but no storms. I'm off to Melbourne today, so the weather there should be better. So, here is my question -- and please say if you don't feel comfortable answering it. I have had articles up on cc for a few weeks now, but have had no sales yet. I'm just wondering if I'm doing anything wrong (maybe pricing too high? Or writing obscure articles?) or whether I just have to be a bit more patient. My writer name is EmmaC on cc, if you wanted to look at me profile. I'm pricing around $36 for a 500 - 600 word article, and around $43 for 800 -1000 words. Maybe I have to drop this to get my first couple of sales. Would love to get your advice!

[Abbamay]

Hi Emma,

I'll take a look at your articles (subjects and pricing) but will probably have to reply about those things a bit later in the day as I'm going out soon.

The main thing to remember is that you need to build up a big catalogue of articles, particularly in areas that sell well or have few articles submitted already, and then you just keep on writing and don't worry about when they'll sell. Plenty of articles sell weeks or months down the track - that is quite normal. One of mine sold after a whole year and I'd forgotten about it completely.

Standing requests give you an idea of what is needed, and if CC writes to ask everyone to help fill an order, then submit something to that to get a sale. If any public requests look like your type of thing, give them a go. You can't guarantee that your article will be chosen, but sometimes it will be. Other times it will go in the general pool and there is a good chance that someone else will buy it later. Doing a public request can lead to private work too, and that is how I've been making a lot of my money.

Don't be put off if you think it's a topic you know nothing about. If you can research it, you can write about it (unless it's technically really difficult and then takes too long to be worth it). I am writing on topics that are new to me, but I've really enjoyed the challenge and have had no problems.

I'll write again later, but in the meantime you might get a few more responses from others. Talk soon!

Abba

[EmmaC]

Thanks so much Abba. I think I'll have a go at writing for standard requests. And perhaps also looking at recently sold articles and writing articles on the same topics. That might help. I'm not panicking or anything, I had just hoped I would have a first sale within a few weeks, and it hasn't happened!

[Abbamay]

Hi again Emma,

I had a look at some of your articles. I definitely don't think you're pricing too high generally. Some of my articles that are more research-based or technical are worth more than others that I wrote which don't require so much research or scientific detail. So for my difficult ones I would price $50 fullrights for a 500 word article. Occasionally I've been paid more. Sometimes if I think it's been in the catalogue for a while or if I know it's pretty simple, I'll price it lower. If you can write an article off the top of your head without much research it might be obvious and therefore you wouldn't want to charge too much for it.

There is a current standing request for energy articles. This buyer has bought a huge amount of articles for many months. There was a bit of a recent drought, but he bought more again last month. I recommend writing articles and submitting them to that request. Don't worry if they don't sell because the buyer appears to wait until he's ready then buy up a big lot all at once.

Also, remember that buyers may be looking for Christmas articles now or soon, so if you can do anything related to that you might be lucky.

Does anyone else have advice about hot-selling topics for EmmaC?

Good luck! Let us know how you go.

Abba May

[EmmaC]

Thank you so much Abba! I really value your advice. I don't feel so confident writing energy-related articles, but as you said in your first response, I should not be put off by not knowing an enormous amount about a subject before I write on it. After all, that's what research, libraries and Google are for! I'll get onto that and just keep batting on. Christmas ideas are a great idea; I'll have a think about that...perhaps some articles about preparing a house for the northern winter. (Although, it is still pretty chilly here in Melbourne!!) Thanks SO much for your time. Em

[Isabelnewth]

It took me a long, long time to sell an article, months and months. But I have been getting a steady small but useful income from this site recently and I am sure I could do much better if I wrote more! Other people seem to start selling instantly, so you will probably not have to wait nearly so long. I think it's good advice to do energy articles. I think the buyer AM is referring to is focussed on the UK though, so it may be good to research a UK angle. Just wanted to say that it's nearly certain you will start selling things in the end if you persist!

[EmmaC]

Thanks so much for that advice Isabel. I will definitely start researching some energy-related articles. I'm from Australia, so UK English isn't such a stretch for me!

[EFowler]

Hi Emma, I think that submitting energy articles is a great idea - and the same buyer I think also buys in bulk credit card, insurance and broadband articles, all with a UK slant. I sold a credit card article to that buyer as part of a big batch that he bought, and also an energy one more recently, and I've been writing more energy ones for the standing order. It's fairly easy for me as I'm in the UK and my 'day job' is kind of related - so I've got a lot of knowledge on the topic, and up-to-date knowledge at that - but the problem is I don't find it as interesting to write about because it relates to my 9-5, ha ha!

[EmmaC]

Thanks EFowler, sounds like you have a great background for writing those kind of articles. I tend to switch off when anyone starts talking about solar panels (mainly my father!!) so I'll have to do a bit of reading