If I may say . . . I'm in agreement with J.A. here. One reason I have always felt CC feels more professional is that everyone is on a level playing field. There is zero self-promotion allowed. On other sites, when writers promote themselves, the effort appears tacky as they try to elbow each other out with years experience, number of customers, and university degrees (which all mean nothing if they can't really write - and there are many of them out there!).
I'll be honest in that I don't even like the photo/profile section. I would much prefer a "Writer's Portfolio" section. The writing should speak for the writer's abilities - a blurb or photo is irrelevent. I also think that less experienced/professional writers have the ability to pull down the quality of the site by uploading MySpace-y photos and giving away waaay to much information about themselves.
Edited to Add: Certainly not trying to slam the hard work done on the development side of the site. And I think that the writers who are discussing this feature are absolutely right to like that they get to include their photo and a blurb. I am, admittedly,a purist where these things are concerned. One reason I like freelancing is that it has the ability to be meritocratic in a world where nothing else seems to be.
My initial thought about the photo was "Wow, I'm not sure I would want to include my photo." But then I thought . . . "There are other people who won't want to either, and they will be tempted to upload photos of their cats or babies."
Ed
new author profile
Moderators: Celeste Stewart, Ed, Constant
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Celeste Stewart
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J. A. Young
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I think when putting together anything like this, one has to ask the question: what is the objective? And if that's not clear, then there's a greater chance that it won't work...
I'm not even sure that customers are going to be particularly interested in a writer's profile anyway. Does a customer really care what interests/projects/specialisms an author has? If they can get what they want, at the price they want, then isn't that enough? I can't help thinking that we the authors are going to be checking out the authors' profiles more times than any customer is!
At the end of the day, what speaks best and loudest, and what a customer is most interested in, is our work.
Jane
I'm not even sure that customers are going to be particularly interested in a writer's profile anyway. Does a customer really care what interests/projects/specialisms an author has? If they can get what they want, at the price they want, then isn't that enough? I can't help thinking that we the authors are going to be checking out the authors' profiles more times than any customer is!
At the end of the day, what speaks best and loudest, and what a customer is most interested in, is our work.
Jane
I agree writers' work speaks the loudest. One thing the profile does - it provides evidence that there's a "real" person behind the writing. There are pros and cons to this, for sure.
I can say that I have imperceptible shifts in my objectivity when I'm editing and someone's work comes up in Copyscape with their photo attached. I try to treat everyone the same, but I can feel the part of my brain that has evolved (or not evolved, as the case may be) to gather information about someone by looking at them doing so. It's a strange feeling, and not one that I necessarily like. From an editor's perspective, I'd much rather not know what anyone looks like. Your work is your work regardless of your age, gender, hair color, the message on your t-shirt, the horns growing out of your head, or the halo you're wearing.
Ed
I can say that I have imperceptible shifts in my objectivity when I'm editing and someone's work comes up in Copyscape with their photo attached. I try to treat everyone the same, but I can feel the part of my brain that has evolved (or not evolved, as the case may be) to gather information about someone by looking at them doing so. It's a strange feeling, and not one that I necessarily like. From an editor's perspective, I'd much rather not know what anyone looks like. Your work is your work regardless of your age, gender, hair color, the message on your t-shirt, the horns growing out of your head, or the halo you're wearing.
Ed
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Elizabeth Ann West
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Okay, okay... I'll shove the customer feedback idea under my desk and may it never see the light of day again! 
I was just giving an idea, since one thing I guess I don't feel terribly kosher about is how cold this site is. Cold meaning it is difficult to get a relationship with buyers going. I agree, the writing should speak for itself, but there are ALOT of great writers here. I constantly fear that I'm not putting my prices low enough, but I think that is probably just a new person fear.
I admit that my perspective is from a noob point of view. But, give me some time, I sorta just fell into this profession, and I am still a little sticker shocked that I can make money by writing. All those years of people fussing at me for my emails being too long, or too scholarly... HA!
As far as the profile goes, I like to think of it more for the writers than the buyers. I can agree with JD and Ed about preserving a meritocracy, and I do like that it isn't cutthroat here. Going along with that, it's nice to get to see a little bit more of each other, and put a face with a name. Goes back to that warmth thing I was talking about.
I was just giving an idea, since one thing I guess I don't feel terribly kosher about is how cold this site is. Cold meaning it is difficult to get a relationship with buyers going. I agree, the writing should speak for itself, but there are ALOT of great writers here. I constantly fear that I'm not putting my prices low enough, but I think that is probably just a new person fear.
I admit that my perspective is from a noob point of view. But, give me some time, I sorta just fell into this profession, and I am still a little sticker shocked that I can make money by writing. All those years of people fussing at me for my emails being too long, or too scholarly... HA!
As far as the profile goes, I like to think of it more for the writers than the buyers. I can agree with JD and Ed about preserving a meritocracy, and I do like that it isn't cutthroat here. Going along with that, it's nice to get to see a little bit more of each other, and put a face with a name. Goes back to that warmth thing I was talking about.
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Celeste Stewart
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Elizabeth, don't feel bad for throwing an idea on the table! That's what the world needs whether the idea is embraced or not.
Honestly, I will have to look at my dictionary to understand the word "meritocracy" though I think I just figured it out as I typed it. Duh! But anyhow, I do like that at any given time, any given request, all of us have an equal shot at wowing the customer with our finished product. That's what appealed to me from day one and continues to keep me motivated.
Honestly, I will have to look at my dictionary to understand the word "meritocracy" though I think I just figured it out as I typed it. Duh! But anyhow, I do like that at any given time, any given request, all of us have an equal shot at wowing the customer with our finished product. That's what appealed to me from day one and continues to keep me motivated.