#wordmongering

I'll ask the question you're not asking: why do you, and by extension, should I, be bothering with freelance writing, if it takes the form of dreadful, soul-crushing wordmongering. Don't your words have value? Aren't you worth more than this?

Well, of course I am. The thing is, I really, really, really love writing. More than anything in the world, I want to work as a writer. I would write technical manuals if I had to (actually, that would pay better, I should look into that.)

A lot of people do the freelance writing thing because they want to work from home, want to be able to call themselves 'a writer', or just have a lot to say on a specific, marketable topic. Not me. I just want to write, and I find increasingly that doing jobs that don't involve writing make me desperately unhappy.

So yeah, I get tired of churning out reviews of milling machines and fungus cream, or ghostwriting tedious articles on social media or business, but I'd rather my words be out there, and seen, and sold, than to go to a job and get a regular paycheck, even though it would pay better and be less work.

As always, in your wordmongering endeavors, there are options. If you are seriously hurting for cash and have a truly prolific writing ability, you may want to look into PPI (pay-per-impression) or PPC (pay-per-click) sites, like Suite101, examiner.com, Ezine Articles or Hubpages.

As I'm sure you can tell, this business model is going to fuck you in the ass if you're not really good at what you do. You get paid a pittance - something like a $.01/1000 impressions or something like that, and the parent site gets to take the better part of it. Still, certain sites come with a framework and tools to make your articles look more professional and have an existing readership, so this may work for you, especially if you have a niche, like butt fungus or dog medication.

The other side of the wordmongering coin, in contrast to content mill, are websites that put you directly in contact with the client. These are places like Freelancer.com, Odesk, and Elance. You bid on a job, if the client likes what they see, you work for them and get paid. Sounds simple, right?

Well...in theory, it should be, but in practice it rarely is. You have to compete with Bangladeshi PhDs or stay-at-home moms who want the work more than the pay and are thrilled to undercut you on every bid. You have to work hard to make yourself visible, apply to tons of jobs, and even then there is a very high chance you may end up not getting paid at all. You might also end up doing something you find unsavory, like writing term papers or copying content, if the job isn't clearly defined.

Not to mention, most jobs that are posted pay less than a penny a word, if that, and often require tremendous amounts of work. The clients also frequently think that you are their bitch-slave, and can be asked to work around the clock and be available to chat at every possible moment. There are the occasional gems, but the pros who frequent these sites will snap them up as soon as they appear, so you either have to have a very strong portfolio or be willing to shell out real money to improve your visibility (something all of these sites offer).

Here's the fundamental core of the wordmongering lifestyle: the content mill. These are glorious, exploitative places where you can churn out SEO optimized crap and be paid a pittance for it. If you've ever wanted to feverishly write for hours about dog sweaters or different types of mangoes, this is the work for you.

There are a lot of content farms out there, with varying payment options and reliability. The foremost, perhaps, is DemandMedia, which churns out those terribly unhelpful eHow articles, among other things, and pays its writers fairly well - $15 - $30 an article, but don't expect to get paid frequently or even consistently unless you're very lucky or very good. Their content generation plan is very specific - there are not always articles available and their editors are more anal than my professors ever were. I was hired and told that my articles weren't up to their quality standards, twice. Still, if you can find a niche and don't mind bending over backwards to meet bizarre editing demands, you can make a good bit of cash working for Demand.

Textbroker, as you might be able to tell, was part of the inspiration for this blog. There's no bones about this one - textbroker pays by the word, and bases your pay rate on the quality of your grammar and writing. Very meritocratic. It's unglamorous, and you need to write a lot about very boring stuff, but the transparency is nice and there is almost always something to write about.

The star system determines which jobs you have access to, and how much you get paid. Most writers start at 3 Stars and earn a pitiful $.01 a word, 4 Star writers earn a still pitiful (but comparable with other content mills) $.015 a word, and 5 Star writers earn an enviable $.05 a word, which is insulting to a career writer, but almost luxurious for a freelancer.

Constant Content has a slightly different business model, in that it allows you to place articles you've written on their website for potential buyers to review and purchase. If you're a prolific writer in your very specific area of interest, this might just be what you need - you put your article on the website, and if someone likes it, you get paid.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee of payment, and since you've probably turned to wordmongering to pay the bills, it can be a bit stressful to try to make rent with Constant Content. Still, if you have a little breathing room and want to write about something you like for a change, this is a very good option.

Scripted is the creme-de-la-creme of content mills. They have a shinier logo, a more communicative editorial staff, a better payment model and a lot more transparency. Unfortunately, they still don't pay all that well, but it's the best you're likely to find at somewhere between $25 and $40 for a 500 word article. There are also very few articles available to bid on, and you have to apply to each distinct specialty with a writing sample to have access to jobs in that area. The barrier to entry is fairly high and the payoff is a little low, but Scripted makes you feel a little less terrible about yourself at the end of the day.

I used to believe that writing was an art. I would sit at my desk and wait for my muse to inspire me, listening to relaxing music and leaving my brain free and open for any beautiful ideas that might happen by.

Then real life happened. I struggled for months to find work writing, and when I did, it was dirty and unglamorous. I wrote insipid articles scattered with keywords like landmines on subjects so dull that I don't actually remember writing them. For my trouble, I received a pittance of a paycheck when I received one at all. I was chained to a desk, pumping out word after word like some sort of diabolical banality device.

Needless to say, I no longer feel these same way about writing.

If I have to be chained to a desk, so does my muse. We work side by side, slaves on the galley of hustle, groaning with effort as we churn away. Writing as art is an unaffordable luxury - for me, words are cheap, and I am their wordmonger.

Like so many misguided youth, I believed it when my parents told me I could be whatever I wanted. Years of rejection and failure have only hardened my resolve in a sort of bitter way. 

Lacking the resources, drive and talent to secure a job as a reporter or even an intern blogger, I have turned to content mills to put food on my table, or at least coffee in my pot. Too stubborn to leave aside the idea that I am a writer, I now peddle words for pennies, a desk for my cart.