How Many Articles Per Week?

[UKWriter101]

Just a quick question as a newbie here: How many articles should I submit per week?

I am hoping to eventually make a full time income from Constant Content. Taking advantage of the very useful statistics posted on these forums, I am assuming that to eventually make a fairly reliable $1500 a month or so, I would need to submit about 25 articles per week. That is well within my capacity and, in fact, considerably less than I have been used to. However, I'm a little worried whether or not that would overwhelm the system. I get the impression that the editorial team is quite small. I'd be grateful for any guidelines on the subject. Thanks in advance!

Charles

[jadedragon]

You will not overwhelm the system. If you submitted 25 articles a week you would do well here.

[Lysis]

December is a little slow (it was slow last year too), although I'm sure some people are still doing well this month. December is slow for my area of expertise, but then January booms. I am trying to do at least one a day for CC, and that is a lot for me. As long as you aren't new. I would not suggest slamming the system at first, because I think most people make a mistake somewhere with the guidelines, and it's frustrating to get a bunch rejected at once. Just my humble opinion.

[Peejay]

You might also want to consider that if your figures are based on needing to sell 25 articles per week, your submissions may have to be significantly higher than this as there's no guarantee every article will sell.
If you're writing for requests, your submission rate may be lower, provided your quality and pricing matches the request in most cases. This still doesn't mean that every submission to a request will be purchased.
Just thought I'd highlight the potential difference in submission rate versus sales rate.
All the best with your plan - let us know how it's going from time to time. I'd be very interested.

[UKWriter101]

Thanks for the tips folks. The 25 articles per week takes into account a statistic I read suggests that, on average, every article accepted represents $20 to the author.

[CodyJoeBibby]

Thanks for the tips folks. The 25 articles per week takes into account a statistic I read suggests that, on average, every article accepted represents $20 to the author.

Here is my suggestion. Write an article for a request. Whether or not you sell your article, do a search on ConstantContent as soon as the buyer's offer expires for articles matching that request. You will find multiple articles rejected by the client which are remarkably similar to your article. You may even think the authors have somehow copied your article, until you recall that they are using Google and Wikipedia, just like you.

Writing 25 articles per week is more likely to land you with a large store of unsold articles than generate any real money, in my opinion.

[Celeste Stewart]

Perhaps the writers that don't rely on Google and Wikipedia are the ones that are more effective at selling articles. . .

[CodyJoeBibby]

Perhaps the writers that don't rely on Google and Wikipedia are the ones that are more effective at selling articles. . .

People who write in response to requests on unfamiliar subjects don't have much other choice. Obviously one can just write about whatever one wants and hope that the articles sell at some point, but I would assume that's a long term strategy which people who need quick cash simply can't afford to pursue.

[UKWriter101]

Thanks for the tips. I just sold 2 more articles yesterday, so I'm highly encouraged. 25 articles per week may be a little challenging since they must, of course, be completely unique from each other without too much crossover material. The articles I write are on subjects that I am very familiar with and require minimal research. I sold a 1800 word computer building article recently and since I know the subject extremely well, I spent very little time researching it except to confirm a couple of factual statements to be absolutely sure. For the subjects I am most familiar with, I am also most familiar with some reliable research resources. I think if you start relying too much on Google and Wikipedia, you end up falling into the trap of writing on subjects that you are not really familiar enough with to write a top quality article. Having said that, I do use Wikipedia very occasionally to confirm a quick fact, so long as the information is cited from a reliable source.

25 articles per week is roughly what I would need to be submitting frequently to make the consistent income that I am aiming for. I am worried that it might be hard to think of enough things to write about though! Of course, it is essential to avoid getting too excited and submitting huge amounts of schlock! Right now I am working my way up to that 25 articles per week. When 1 article sells, I write 5 more - that's the guideline I'm using now.

[Celeste Stewart]

People who write in response to requests on unfamiliar subjects don't have much other choice. Obviously one can just write about whatever one wants and hope that the articles sell at some point, but I would assume that's a long term strategy which people who need quick cash simply can't afford to pursue.

If you use Google, go directly to the source and skip sites like Wikipedia. Use Google's Advanced Search and set the filter to display .gov, .edu, and .org sites only and you'll have all kinds of studies, fact sheets, special reports etc from highly credible sources. That will set your article apart from the writers who rely on Wikipedia (a site that anyone can edit). Other ways to ensure that your article isn't nearly identical to all the others include: approaching the topic from a unique angle, getting quotes from real people (Help a Report Out - HARO is an excellent place to get sources though if you're writing for a public request, it may take too long), and being creative.

Edited to add: Think of it this way, if you want to write an article for a public request, assume that at least five to ten other writers will be doing the same. Assume that most of them will use the same basic sources of information that you find at first and that their articles will be fairly predictable based on the the sources you find. Now, how can you make sure that your article doesn't look similar to all the other articles? There are lots of ways. Narrow your focus, find a unique angle, dig deeper, start off with a question, use vivid examples, engage the reader, interview an expert/patient/participant, explore and explain statistics, and so on.

[jadedragon]

This is why Celeste can earn a full time income writing online (mostly here) and this qualifies her to write the actual book on Web Writing. Well said

[CodyJoeBibby]

People who write in response to requests on unfamiliar subjects don't have much other choice. Obviously one can just write about whatever one wants and hope that the articles sell at some point, but I would assume that's a long term strategy which people who need quick cash simply can't afford to pursue.

If you use Google, go directly to the source and skip sites like Wikipedia. Use Google's Advanced Search and set the filter to display .gov, .edu, and .org sites only and you'll have all kinds of studies, fact sheets, special reports etc from highly credible sources. That will set your article apart from the writers who rely on Wikipedia (a site that anyone can edit). Other ways to ensure that your article isn't nearly identical to all the others include: approaching the topic from a unique angle, getting quotes from real people (Help a Report Out - HARO is an excellent place to get sources though if you're writing for a public request, it may take too long), and being creative.

Edited to add: Think of it this way, if you want to write an article for a public request, assume that at least five to ten other writers will be doing the same. Assume that most of them will use the same basic sources of information that you find at first and that their articles will be fairly predictable based on the the sources you find. Now, how can you make sure that your article doesn't look similar to all the other articles? There are lots of ways. Narrow your focus, find a unique angle, dig deeper, start off with a question, use vivid examples, engage the reader, interview an expert/patient/participant, explore and explain statistics, and so on.

I like it. Brilliant suggestions from someone who obviously knows what they're doing. Thanks a lot.

[Celeste Stewart]

Glad to help