Constant Content

Hello, everyone. I'm fairly new to CC and although I've only submitted a few articles, I've had what I consider to be fairly good success. But ... that said, I have a few questions (and please feel free to let me know if they're idiotic).

What do you find that most buyers are looking for in terms of article length on average? I write long. I'm trying to curb it, but even keeping myself at 800 words is pretty hard.

Dense articles -- specifically informative legal topics. Do they fare well here? Or should I avoid?

And finally, I know that I'm probably asking you to give away trade secrets, but just what are buyers looking for in terms of subject matter and style? I consider myself to be a pretty flexible writer but don't want to spin my wheels if certain subjects stagnate. Is it better to ask what types of articles don't do well? :)

Any big honey do's and don'ts on CC that I should be aware of? (I'm still reading through the forum.)

I'm sure I can think of more questions, but I'll stop now. Oh, I'm Lisa, BTW. I write on other sites as well, but am looking forward to spending more time at CC. I think it will be well worth my creative energy.

Nice to meet all of you, BTW. :)

L.M.

Lisa,

Welcome to Constant Content. Ed started a thread here, http://www.constant-content.com/forum/v ... =4&t=14398, and there are more if you look around the forums.

As far as article length is concerned, there is no real "counter" for it. I've sole quite a few 1000+ word articles, as well as more than a few at 350 to 500 words. It has more to do with the content and price than anything else. Several writers here will tell you that the people looking for longer articles will usually pay more for them.

Legal topics is an interesting question. I've sold articles on the constitutional legality of laws passed within the last thirty years, but my views usually stray toward the political. Start by picking legal issues which are most relevant today. You could even write about how repealing the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 has had a dramatic effect on the market of today. If it (the laws you write about) is specific to state, you could well find a niche not much explored here yet. I like reading about old laws which were never taken off the books such as the law in Missouri which made it legal to shoot Mormons.

We've seen a lot of articles sell on a variety of topics in the last several months - even articles which you wouldn't think popular given the market. Just write whatever you want, but be sure to read the submission guidelines several times. I didn't and wound up getting my first three articles rejected (two of them being in first person which is a no-no).

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Above all, don't take it personally if you do get several articles rejected. Ed, our editor here, is strict but very fair. He has hundreds of articles to screen a week, and we writers are responsible for finding our own mistakes. If you show improvement when you resubmit, you won't have any problems here. I wound up making over $500.00 my first full month here because I stuck with it. Not everyone has those results, but any amount made is more than we would have had. CC is the best site I've come across for selling my writing.

Hi Lisa,

Welcome to CC! One of the best places to sell your work, and oddly enough, the authors aren't afraid to share trade secrets.

I'd say don't be afraid to try some dense legal articles, they might do well. Or use your legal knowledge to tackle topics that usually sell well - real estate, computers... somewhere in the blog archives there was a list of consistent selling topics. We go through seasons of hot-selling topics here, which you can sort of learn by keeping an eye on the recently sold list. You might try a public request, if you have interest in the topic. Others will be writing about the same topic, but yours could be picked. And if not, it will probably sell eventually. The requests for credit scores, for example, is a topic that will have longevity and high interest from other clients.

I tend to write long, as well. I've sold longer articles (1,000-1300), but one client that occasionally purchases my articles can't publish anything longer than 450 words. Just vary your article lengths.

Somebody else might be able to offer what doesn't sell well. Not long ago someone requested articles for homeschooling, but I never saw any sales. I would write more, but that doesn't seem to do well. Any authors who know different, I'd like to hear.

Happy writing!
Emma

I find success by writing on as many topics as I can.

business, education, writing, home-based business, society, economics, history, beauty, self-help, New Age, consumer tips, movies, web development, technology, elearning, small business owners, health, fitness, real estate, home improvement, etc.

If you keep a variety in your stockpile (of which I presently have over 400 articles), then you will sell random articles when you least expect it. For example, a couple of weeks ago I sold an obscure article written last August about the rise of the economies of China and India.

Thanks, Barry, Emma & Audra. Excellent advice to keep in mind, especially varying the topics and topic lengths. I'm going to try and write some shorter articles today and see what happens with those.

My biggest problem is pricing my own work. I've never had to do that before! In the real-life freelance world, typically I'm offered $X for a X-word article, so I know what's on the table. Gets a little bit difficult when I'm assessing my own work and putting a price tag on it. I want to be fair, but at the same time I don't want to undersell myself. It's just a very hard road to navigate thus far--perhaps the hardest of all.

I plan to do this very slowly, one article per day until I feel more comfortable with the process. I don't know how many articles people typically write for CC, but I don't want to contribute to a logjam.

Oh, and Barry -- wow, $500 the first month alone? That's really great! :)

Lisa,

Pricing your work differs from person to person. Some price based on word count, and others based on how much time they put into the article itself. I usually go on an hourly basis myself. I try to get fifty to sixty an hour, so if an article takes me ten or fifteen minutes to write, I'll price it lower. Just keep in mind that CC's cut of whatever price you set is 35%. If you want to get, let's say five cents per word, then you'll need to price a 500 word article at around 33.75 to meet that. (I think my math is alright this morning.)

In my case I will lower the price on certain topics that I know forward and backward. Not that long ago I wrote around fifty device driver articles. Normally I would have charged more, but the customer wanted those articles without any information on how to fix, download, or determine if the drivers were faulty. The hardest part about those articles was coming up with 300 to 350 words without those previous directions. Granted, I could write five or six of those an hour if my children weren't tormenting each other and/or myself. Pricing them so that I made at least ten dollars per article was no hardship for me. Others might have priced higher.

You do have the option of checking the "Best Offer" box when submitting your articles. If you think your article might be priced too high, you can allow the customers to make you an offer. Just remember not to accept every offer. If you have a 350 word article priced at fifteen dollars for usage rights, don't accept an offer for six. CC will take 35% of whichever you sell at. So at fifteen dollars you'll get around 9.75 and around 4.90 if you sell for six.

Always price higher for unique and full rights.

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Unique rights means that only they can use it, but can't alter, edit or change the byline if you add one. Full means that they can do whatever they want to with the article. We writers do have a little vanity, and we like to be credited for our work. If we aren't going to be credited, we should get more for the article. At least that's my opinion.

I'm getting off subject here. When I have a 350 word article priced at fifteen dollars for usage rights, I'll usually put twenty for unique and twenty-five for full rights. If I had to do more research for the article, I'll price each higher. Just don't sell yourself short. If that 350 word article took you three hours to write, including research, then it's only fair that you ask more for it.