Great Writing Gig Or A Scam? 10 Red Flags! By Melissa Rudy
Here’s how to spot 10 of the most common red flags telling you that great gig you’re thinking about is really a scam…
writing scams
FLEEING UNFAIRFIELD: An Allegory Exposing Unfair Pay for Writing Services Fleeing Unfairfield By Christine Laws
How can we fix the glaring inconsistency of expecting writers to work for free while everybody else receives payment? Well, editors can either pay the writers or writers can move on to publications that do pay. Sometimes, editors do not seem to understand the unfairness of this policy or, at other times, writers sell themselves short. I wrote the following allegory to expose the issue, and to encourage fairness for the work that writers do…
When Writers Contribute to a Scammer’s Success By Angela Hoy, WritersWeekly.com
I received an email this week from a writer I’ll call “Susan.”
She needed my advice about a “client” who owed her a few hundred dollars. He hired her last year to write an ebook for him. What mistakes did this writer make to contribute to the scammer’s success?
Five Reasons Writers Get Ripped Off Online By Jude Chukwuemeka
It sometimes looks as if writers are the most vulnerable set of talented workers in this world. If only employers knew what writers go through to complete their projects!
BEWARE OF SCAMMERS POSTING FAKE JOBS ONLINE! By Kathy Rembisz Levine
As freelancers, we all appreciate how valuable our time is. The less time we spend chasing work, the more time we can actually spend writing.
Like most freelancers, I peruse the Internet in search of projects on a regular basis. Over the years I’ve secured a variety of assignments for a number of different publications through this means…
Author Admits Manipulating Amazon’s Ranking/Review System
It never ceases to amaze me how excited or infuriated authors get about their Amazon ranking…
The Malicious Reaction of a Resentful Copyright Infringer By Ruth Barringham
I recently had a bizarre run-in with a copyright-infringing web site owner who went crazy when I found that they’d illegally published one of my articles. But their extreme response taught me a valuable lesson that I now want to share with you. It’s a lesson about making sure you keep your private information private – always.
Why Writers Should Avoid Third-Party Article Brokers
There’s an entire industry of people online now who making a living out of subcontracting writing work out to other writers – often for far less than they’re being paid by their client. I have nothing against hiring ghostwriters, nor against ghostwriting. However, I do have a problem with someone taking a “job” for $500, and paying another writer $5 to do it.
Writer Receives $500 for Unauthorized Use of Her Work By Angela Hoy
We were recently notified by a travel writer that some of her work had been posted to a website without her permission. The site’s owner immediately responded to the writer and apologized, then she surprised us all by writing this:
“I would hope this wouldn’t be necessary but understand if you want to proceed and will respond through my attorney. I am actually shocked by your attitude. My material and articles have been published without my agreement all over the internet. I take that as a compliment and am willing to share my thoughts and experiences. I am actually very saddened by your email.”
That All-Too-Common “Life Threatening Illness” Excuse from a Deadbeat Publisher or Editor!
I sent a magazine a story a couple years ago now, and after repeated follow-ups (I’m a pretty patient person still working toward my first print fiction clip), I got word this summer that they had accepted my story for publication in their next issue. The e-mail said that their publisher had been in a life-threatening accident and was recovering, but they thought the next issue would be out soon. That was in July. I sent them an e-mail again in November to request an update as to when that issue would be coming out, but I haven’t received a response yet. In the past, I always got a response within a couple days. I can’t find any info about them when I do a web search, but they are listed in the 2006 Novel and Short Story Writer’s Market.