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1. The two interviews I did were in relation to the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. First was with this year’s winner (and fellow Suite101 writer) Garrison Spik. The second was with the founder of the contest, Professor Scott Rice. Both interviews were informative and really interesting. I cannot wait for my next interview!
2. Decided to drop down to a free account on Elance. It still maintains my profile and client feedback, but since I haven’t been using them much, there is no fee associated with this membership level.
3. Decided to go back to school and finish my BA in English. Have applied and will let you guys know the outcome as it happens.
4. I just got an Editor’s Choice Award on Suite for my article on Back-to-School Books for Adults.
Any questions?
As a side note, I apologize for lack of posts. Been serving Grand Jury Duty (had to previously postpone it) and I am so enthralled with the workings of the legal system. Seriously considering attending law school in future.
Look at this job post:
“I need someone to proofread 100 pages of text. This is very fast work. 100 pages of text lowest bid win. 1) please write down your credintials (ed. client’s misspelling) and tell me why i should choose you 2) i want it to be flawless I dont want any errors .. if i find error I will want my money back 3) Please post the lowest bid if you want the project“
Let’s see how many things we can find wrong/demeaning in this one…
1. This guy wants someone to proofread 100 pages quickly. (so far, so good)
2. This guy wants provider to list their credentials (ok, no prob with that)
3. Guy goes on to say that he expects a flawless document returned (ok, I’m still hanging on)
4. This guy THEN goes on to say that he is choosing the provider based solely on whoever bids lowest and if he spots any errors provider won’t get paid!!! WTF?
5. This guy has a lot of nerve. First of all if his document is 100 pages of text (average page of text is 250 words) this works out to a total of 25,000 words. The lowest bid allowed on Elance is $50, so people are bidding $50 to flawlessly proofread this guy’s 100 pages, 25k word document for $50, assuming they don’t miss something, in which case they can kiss that $50 goodbye.
People like this not only insult writers but it is genuinely laughable to think this guy is going to get high-caliber work with such a low regard for the provider.
For the record, he goes by the name of businessgame2000 on Elance in case you want to make a note to avoid this guy in the future.
I haven’t been impressed with the job postings on Elance this month. They seem to be consisting of more and more “bulk” jobs (ex. 50 articles) and not anything that interests me. I’ve applied for some editing/proofreading jobs this month because I could use the extra money but unfortunately none of those have panned out.
There is one more job I am considering, though I don’t know enough about the whole blogging for money industry to determine if it is worth it. Essentially the subject is something I am familiar with and would not have any problems formulating topics to blog about. However the pay is $5/post. While the employer doesn’t specify word count (leaves it to the writer’s own judgement), I am cautious that I will end up writing and re-writing a 300 word blog post over and over again for the sum of $5 (less Elance fees). Also, Elance has a minimum bid of $50, so I’d have to bid on 10 blog entries (at $5/each) just to bid the job to begin with.
What do you think? Have any of you been paid to blog for someone else? Is $5 per post a good rate?
more cat pictures
Yeah, it’s finally Spring. Now we can all experience a much needed bout of Spring Fever!
What are your goals for the month?
Mine are as follows (and I’m trying to keep them in order of priorities):
1. Get book project where it needs to be for the next project milestone which is on April 27. This deadlines includes the first 20k words of the book, as well as an updated outline if necessary.
2. Have at least 10 solid case study participants who have sent back the questions, or have gotten in touch with me about when I can expect their answers.
3. Hit the 50 article mark at Suite101 (current article count is at 47).
4. Work on EASY projects on ELANCE. Re: articles where I am already familiar w/ the topic, or simple proofreading jobs.
5. An author contacted me asking if I would like to review his new book. Sure, why not? I just made it clear to him that I can’t promise instant gratification due to my hectic schedule.
6. An ezine contacted me about writing for them. It seems more like they want me to pitch them a story idea. It seems kind of out of my area of expertise, but if I have some free time, I will brainstorm ideas.
If any of you are providers at Elance, I wonder if you’ve ever considered this: Since the implementation of connects, do you wonder if projects that are posted at the end of the month have a fewer rate of applicants, thus they get awarded to someone who is potentially going to get a higher rate of pay? For instance, I normally use up all of my connects by the 25th of the month and my new connects don’t go into effect until around the 3rd or 4th of the next month. I would think that most providers (unless they are very good at rationing their connects AND at hoping there are worth-while jobs to bid on) are in the same boat. This means that buyers who post projects at the end of the month are not benefiting from all of the potential applicants that they could have, had they listed their project earlier in the month. On the same token, I am sure there are providers who have considered this who save their connects for projects at the end of the month to bid on, since their is less competition and more likelihood of getting awarded more projects and earning more money.
And then of course there are those providers who actually BUY more connects, but that is a whole different ballgame!
No surprise, up until yesterday Elance has been less than helpful regarding my two issues: 1) the provider who insists on plagiarizing my profile and 2) the proofreading of a thesis project that was delisted although I vehemently disagree with the logic.
Outcomes:
After posting a semi-nasty (though completely honest)comment on the Water Cooler re: my issues, Elance finally responded to me. They are looking into the plagiarizing issue and as far as the rules regarding academic projects, here is there response:
Below is an excerpt from our TOS about academic projects.
Post any project, submit any bid or proposal that violates, or has the potential to violate, the integrity of academic and professional applications, tests and work; for example by passing off the skills, ideas or words of another as one’s own; using another’s production or content without crediting the source; presenting as new and original, ideas or products derived from an existing source; presenting fabricated facts, persons or sources as real.
This is absolutely crazy. I understand that there are often buyers looking for someone to write their papers for them. Clearly, that is a violation of policy. No disagreement there. However, a student whose first language may not necessarily be English, who is looking for a professional to PROOFREAD their thesis for the purpose of catching any errors is not looking to violate any rules or endanger the integrity of the work. Not to mention the fact that I have it in writing as to what the buyer specifically wants and does not want.
Bottom line is that I am being penalized financially for something that does not violate any rules and that I have proof of. I am so frustrated with the hypocrisy of ELance’s system.
see more crazy cat pics
Just some quick updates before I call it a night….
1. As far as the thesis editing project that I thought was on the horizon, it’s a no-go. Elance pulled the plug on it, citing that it violated their rules regarding academic papers. This is complete bull&*%# since I have proof via the PMB that the client was strictly looking for someone to proofread their paper only and to make no change to content whatsoever. And of course now that the project has been delisted, I have lost my final connect for the month. Not happy with Elance, and getting more unhappy with them by the day.
2. The client who contacted me regarding a research project I had bid on way back in December was ready to award the project to me. I almost took it because the pay would have been mighty helpful right around now, however it’s just not possible with the workload that I have. She not only needed a heavy amount of research, but she also wanted it written up and it would have to be one of those all-consuming projects.
3. Getting the book project finished before we leave for our vacation is my highest and only priority. It would be unfair to both clients (book client and research client) since I would not be able to give 100% to both of them.I can’t work that way. So…at least until after we get back in the beginning of June, I will be solely working on the book with only minor articles and proofreading projects in between. No heavy research.
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Hope the Easter Bunny treated everyone well!
photo courtesy of Jupiter Images
I’ve been using the services of Elance since last October. Since then, I’ve learned a lot about how to bid, what kind of bids buyers tend to go for, what projects are right for me and which projects to just ignore altogether. I thought it would be useful if each week I pick apart an aspect of Elance and share something I learned and offer some tips for using it successfully. The concept of using this info to create an ebook has also been an idea I’ve been considering as well.
Does anyone think this is a good idea? Do you have any particular Elance topics you’d like me to address? Let me know and I’ll start brainstorming some info for the purpose of making us better bidders on these sites and hopefully increasing the amount of projects we get awarded.
Here is just one reason why I hate Elance, I bid on the following project yesterday only to wake up with a message in my email that my bid has been declined by client. Check out the project:
I need someone to proofread my thesis in philosophy My study is called: Master in multicultural and international education and my subject is the cultural aspect of educating children with intellectual impairments in Botswana. The thesis will be approxamately 110 pages long. I need to know what you would charge and how long it would take you. I couls send a sample page to give you an idea of my level of English.
The client also specified that his/her budget was between $500-750.
So far so good. Keep in mind that I only bid on this project because of the budget. I went ahead and bid $575 which I figured was reasonable since it fell in the realm that the client was looking to pay. I also assumed based on client’s project description that their English was going to need a fair amount of improvement so I factored that in as well.
Well, my bid was declined:
Your bid has been declined for the project : proof reading master thesis
Buyer Reason: Bid is too high
So my question is what did the buyer expect? You post a project with a specific budget and expect people to bid under the advertised rate? Just for fun (and because it won’t cost me any additional connects) I’m going to bid again at $500 and see what happens. If I’m declined again I’ll send a message to the client.
UPDATE: I revised my bid and oddly client now seems interested, even having sent me a message clarifying the scope of the proofreading he/she is looking for. The plot thickens…
photo courtesy of Jupiter Images
Sometimes I wonder about the quality and type of work clients place on freelance sites like Elance. Case in point, check out this gem that was posted today:
Am extremely busy at the moment but wish to arrange some dates in my free time, am seeking someone who is fluent in English to use my online dating account to make connections and set up dates with local women in my area.
Hmm….I have no idea 1) why someone would pay someone else to do their online “dating” for them and 2) what this has to do with writing?
Food for thought.
photo courtesy of Jupiter Images
