My best paying job - $2k a month for email content, SEO landing page content, and backend customer support, is gone. I saw it coming - they started asking for more content, saying “just use AI, then punch it up.”

Today, I was told that unfortunately, I am no longer needed.

I‘m not completely screwed, thank god. My husband has a well paying job, I have a couple smaller gigs, and we have a decent savings, but two grand a month is no small amount, especially in a HCOL city.

I‘m updating my resume and logged back into Upwork just to see what the hell is out there, and it doesn’t look GREAT. I did notice there are some ‘scriptwriting’ gigs out there that are willing to pay a decent amount for compelling English language script for UGC.

Has anyone ever found success pivoting in that direction? I actually have a small following on Medium for humor writing and have written a few spec scripts for fun, so I’m just wondering if I can parlay those skills into some sort of paycheck.

I’m sure there are 200 posts like this a day as so many writers find their livelihoods gone… and I know I should have been preparing for this moment instead of just skating by with my fingers in me ears going LA LA LA. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that.

Just hoping for some advice or reccs.

Thanks.

I’m not sure how many people who’ve moved on still hang around this sub, but figured it was worth asking! What made you quit, what are you doing now, and are you happier with it?

I started working with a new client who's trying to launch a website and paid community. I ignored some major red flags off the bat because I wanted to ditch another client, and I also have strong subject matter expertise in the new client's niche.

They sent me briefs for my first two assignments, and both were AI-generated kitchen-sink dumps that took way too much time for this pay range. So I'd already decided I probably wouldn't work with this client again, at least until they've figured some stuff out.

I turned in both drafts over a month ago. The editor kept telling me she'd get to my articles soon, that she was behind, etc., which is totally fine. Finally she emailed me last week and said one of the articles looked great and I could go ahead and invoice.

I went back into the doc to see the word count for invoicing purposes. HOLY SHIT.

I've been a professional writer and editor for 20 years. These were the worst edits I've ever seen in my career.

There were huge factual inaccuracies inserted that weren't part of the original draft. I've worked hard to develop expertise in my niche, and these are bad. Let's say, hypothetically, that the editor for a taxes website used tax credits and deductions interchangeably. (It's not a tax-focused site, but that's the level of bad we're talking about.)

The editing/rewriting is just terrible too. She removed a huge section that provided most of the context for the article and replaced it with a bunch of generic keyword-stuffing nonsense. There are a bunch of grammatical errors.

The edited version is also now super robotic-sounding and hard to follow. The client's style guide stressed the importance of readability and said to aim for a reading level of 7th or 8th grade. My original draft was right around 9th or 10th grade level (challenging, given the technical nature of the topic), but the edited version is 16th grade level, according to Gunning Fog.

I'm going to email her about the factual errors and say those need to be corrected before it publishes. But should I also push back on the writing and structural changes, too? Or should I focus on getting the factual stuff cleaned up and move on?

She seems like a very nice person (she is also a contractor, not the client), and I don't want to say anything unkind. But I've also spent an insane amount of work on these drafts. What I don't want to do is agree to more work because these assignments absolutely killed my September.

Hey folks.

I've been in this sector for around 4 years now. Started my career writing SEO articles and marketing BOFU content.

Then I niched down to technology and joined a tech publication as a contributor. Working there for 3 years now.

I make decent money and am happy with how things are the way they are. However, all those layoffs and cuts are scaring me. Some of my colleagues were terminated without prior notice. I could be the next person in line.

I don't consider myself to be an elite or prolific writer. But I'm desperate to become one. I want to learn how to write well and demand better fees.

I want to become a sought-after writer in my niche. Or if it means I need to change my niche, I'm ready for that as well. I understand that it takes more than just writing skills for this. For example, outreach, communication, authority building, and providing value all play a role here.

I want to work with high-paying clients and companies, land 3/4-figure writing tasks, and turn it into a business rather than a grind.

Whatever it takes, I want to achieve that.

How can I go from an average writer to an A-lister? Courses, training, resources, advice- anything is welcome.

Decided in July I'd have a go at some freelance writing. I was working as a Postie and finding it really unfulfilling. Had never written professionally before, no qualifications or anything to speak of. Pitched a few articles to different publications and sold my first one a couple of weeks ago. Draft has just been approved this morning. Feels great!

So, I’ve been doing some freelance marketing for a business that I was recommended for by a family member. The owner was, from the start, providing very poor communication. They would have meetings with me to discuss the work I’d do and then ghost when I sent a contract and would take ages to respond to emails. To the point where I didn’t even think we would even start work. But they finally signed a contract and sent a 50% deposit.

I provided content week by week, and they even created a google doc where they could provide edits for the copy I wrote. But only ended up making two edits on the week 1 work and then nothing on the rest. After week 2 I didn’t receive any feedback at all. None of my work was going out on their socials (they said they’d give me access but never did), and the website copy never went up. I ended up sending the rest of the months copy and basically said if I didn’t receive any amendments within a week I’d consider the work finished and send a final invoice. They owner then replied saying they’d had some family bereavements that month including close family and that they wouldn’t be responding that week. I thought, okay that’s terrible of course I’ll give them space.

Our contract stated that I would receive the final payment one month after the start of the contract after all the work had been provided. I’d completed my end of it and received no amendments or feedback on any of it. I didn’t want to sound like a d*ck asking them for the money when they’re going through stuff so I gave it well over a month. I sent a follow up email this week with the final invoice saying I just wanted to get the work finished with as I’ve provided everything agreed upon. It’s been about 2 months now since I should’ve been paid but I’ve received no reply to that email and I’m not sure how to go forward from here.

Hey everyone. I'm a content writer with 6 plus years of experience. I mostly do freelancing. I don't have a personal brand or never worked with good brands. My previous clients were from WhatsApp and telegram groups. And I'm tired of negotiating rates and running behind them for payments.

Right now I'm planning to start personal branding on Instagram and linkedin and also start cold outreach.

But I'm kind of confused. I don't know why. Ofcourse I'm scared and also have financial pressure. I also don't have a fixed niche.

Right now I want to know what would be the best approach to make a decent income like 4 to 5 lakhs before 2027 and how should I approach this personal branding thing.

Would highly appreciate genuine answers. Thanks

They own a few sites I really like (like Collider), and I see job reqs pretty frequently. This is probably due to reasons we've all read about.

Has anyone ever had a good experience with them? I've never read/heard any good stories, just wondering.

Cheers!

To everyone looking to hire freelancers:

If you decide not to hire someone, please just tell them.

They are real people looking for work for real reasons, who put real time and effort into applying and going through whatever is required in the application process.

Getting rejected is disappointing, but being ghosted after waiting for an update or any response is thoughtless and inconsiderate.

Respect and communication are the foundation of a good work-related relationship, and I feel that most of you people hiring don't seem to understand this.

A simple rejection message will not take too much time or any hard effort.

The least you can do is give someone a straight answer so they know where they stand and can move on instead of being left to wonder.

Please have some respect and decency.

Been working as a freelance contributor for a news site since Feb. Mostly pretty good, is paying, I just pitch articles every 1-2 weeks, via messages to my editor through Slack. Most get good feedback and go up on the site.

Recently though they have been slower in getting back to me, and have heard nothing back this past week.

Have sent a couple of follow up messages but obviously don't want to spam.

Not sure what really is the best thing to do?

Should I contact their HR if they simply haven't got back to me into next week?

Other contributors have been pitching through a team chat, in which she's responded, but Id already DM'd 2 pitches. And previously had sent all my other pitches that way, so wasn't sure whether to repeat the same pitches ij there or not.

Not sure of the best way to handle this. Any advice or similar situations appreciated.

I am curious how many of you use Reddit as a tool for finding new clients. There are several subreddits dedicated to writing jobs, but I have no idea what to believe about them.

Do you use Reddit for client acquisition? How do you go about it?

Here, I'm not interested only in replying to those threats that seek writers, but also on other ways of finding the right person.

Maybe you seek niche subreddits where you find people interested in your services as a writer. I don't know; I'm just asking.

What's your secret for finding clients on Reddit?

PS: Are the Reddit jobboards for writers worth the time?

... and it was sweet! This gives me hope that

a) cold pitching actually works and

b) freelance writing isn't dead.

My piece is titled Romania Beyond Dracula: 7 Places That Show the Country’s Real Character, and it will soon be uploaded on goworldtravel.com.

The goal of writing this entry is to encourage other freelance writers who feel lost.

Best!

Hi, I have started my career as a B2B SaaS content writer and currently I am working for an advertising agency as a content writer and I'm thinking to start freelancing, but I've been struggling to get freelance project for the last three months and it's really hard to get started with this.

Because every other person I'm talking to are asking about the work record that I have, that is portfolio, and I don't have any yet because this is going to be the first work that I am going to deliver as a freelance content writer. I want to start my side income, that's why I have started freelancing.

Can anyone suggest me what all things can I do?

For the past two months or so, I've been cold emailing companies, publications, and retailers. Only two publications accepted my proposal, making it one accepted pitch per month. It is outrageous; it is uncomprehensible.

Since I've been cold emailing without much luck, I am thinking about trying to fish clients on Upwork. Unlike cold email—at least that's what I assume!—on UpWork, I should be able to find people who are interested in collaborating with freelance writers and copywriters.

However, some other Reddit users have been telling me that Upwork is dead for the writing market. What are your thoughts? What are your experiences?

Right now I'm actively juggling a part-time editorial client (anywhere from 10-20 hours per week), a monthly editorial client, a semi-regular marketing copywriting client, and two or three occasional copywriting clients (marketing).

My problem? I feel like I'm working all day on a hamster wheel and making almost nothing. Plus I feel chained to my desk from about 9 a.m.-4 p.m. every day, which I don't love. I try not to take calls or do interviews after 5 p.m., but that happens, as does scheduling interviews after hours. I find that I'm getting most of my actual writing done on Sundays.

The reason for this?

I'm expected to actively move my work through the project management pipeline. That means I might get an unexpected request in Wrike to make edits, to do a design review, etc. I must sign into and track three email accounts and two project management systems. Teams messages pop up. Wrike messages pop up. Trainings get scheduled.

I admit I'm not great at logging time with all of the task switching. Has anyone been in this situation and how did you manage your time and billing?

1. What's the opportunity like here? Do they still hire freelance writers in these GenAI times?
   
   1. If any of you succeed in this field, how do you do it?

Thanks!

I saw an older, similar thread on here mentioning Writer's Residence - but I don't want to be tied to a subscription for this

• See also: the likes of Wix, SquareSpace etc - I'm just tired of the subscription model in general and I'd prefer to avoid it

• I also want my portfolio website to be as SEO friendly as possible so future clients can find me

• How to do this with the best balance of speed, quality and cost?

I already have (non portfolio) domain names registered with Name Cheap - so I was going to start there in terms of the domain

Thanks

EDIT:

For now, I went with a free tier Clippings site

It was all very easy to set up, add my bylined articles etc

The free tier lets you add up to 10 of your bylined articles - which, for me and for now, is enough

I was consulting SaaS companies until last year when I got pregnant. Had a beautiful pregnancy journey of 9 months only to give birth to a still born. During the pregnancy I was consciously not working and avoiding any sort of stress. To keep myself sane and mentally occupied I feel I should look for work again.

I want to take it slow considering I'm still grieving my loss. What do you guys think is still relevant for me to look out?

Note: I've been a Marketer for 8+ years and my last full role was a product marketing manager at a SaaS start-up which sunset in 2023.

Would be great if I could get any help here.

After I completed a recent gig, the invoicing company took a little over 2 percent out of my check as a processing fee. I read this in the agreement but went ahead with it anyway. Now I wish I had negotiated for the 2 percent to be built into my pay. Is this normal? Shouldn't my client have paid this?

I’ve seen several people share their experience over the last several months/couple of years. So I thought I’d share mine.

A long while back I passed the trial and was given good feedback. I was going to start but then got offered a different role elsewhere. It fell through in the end. So I came back and I skipped through all the application process and provided my start date.

The introduction call was informative. I was told about their processes, more on what they look for in articles (completely different style to what I’m used to) and everything else. I was told repeatedly to take my time to ensure I gain familiarity with their processes in oversight, which was six articles.

Their work processes seemed fine, but their structural and editorial approach with articles really is crazy. Everything needing to be backed up by a ‘citation link,’ conflicted messaging about what needs to be a reader-facing link or citation. Not to even mention very small details that are inconsequential if included or not. Very picky to say the least.

I lasted no longer than a month. I respond to feedback well enough, but this kind of content isn’t rewarding true craft. I completed a piece taking into consideration all the feedback and made a lot of changes, only for me to receive an email and notification from the Trello board saying they’re removing me. No explanation. I only had one article completed in the end.

Be careful out there. Even if you desperately need work, exercise with caution.

Any freelance magazine writers out there? Just curious about the procedures nowadays. I've been writing freelance for magazines and other pubs for years (decades actually) and have never been asked to send the piece to the interviewee for edits ahead of time. Is this common now? Basically I have a deadline, finished the article by the deadline, was asked whether I sent it to the interviewee for edits (I hadn't) and now I've missed my deadline and my editor is mad. But, doesn't the editor do edits? Please share your experiences, thanks!

I have a new client who’s launching a website. I just completed the first assignment, and it was insane. The client seems nice enough, but I don’t think they have much content experience.

The assignment required me to source a very specific personal story. To anonymize things, let’s just say they wanted me to find a woman under 40 who insisted on a prenup, how they talked to their partner about it, how it impacted the relationship, etc. Basically a story that’s very specific that’s also sensitive that a lot of people would be hesitant to share. I also had to find an expert to interview, but that part was easy enough.

It took me a ton of time to find the source, and I don’t honestly think it added much to the piece.

They are insisting on a personal story for every single article. This probably took 6-8 hours. I charged a flat rate for the article, but it certainly wasn’t high enough to justify this time suck. I’m afraid that the next two will be even harder to source, as the topics are even narrower.

How should I price moving forward? Would it be reasonable to insist on billing for sourcing separately on an hourly basis, plus the flat fee for the article?

Ideally, I’d want the client to provide me with someone who’s already agreed to share their story, but I don’t think that will happen.

I’ve thought of walking away from the client altogether, but I don’t want to lose the work.

A friend who also got snagged up by that Revelry fake posting was so excited this week to get a referral from a writer friend who no longer did content work and was happy to pass it along. This friend, like a lot of us, has been through the wringer lately, desperately looking for work for months now.

She caught this one right off the bat, and sent me her posts about it with permission to share it here.

The Bait

Let's call my friend X. X got a message via Facebook from her friend, also a writer (let's call her W). W was happy to pass the details along to X since she knew X had been struggling and since W didn't do this kind of work anymore. Crucially, W said she didn't know S at all, and had just been approached by her via email.

The scammer (S) sent the initial email to X:

Hello ,
I trust you are doing well.  I'm a local counselor and event planner. I got your contact details from your colleague and I would like to enlist your writing expertise to create two short and concise articles on two significant topics. These articles will be used in a career talk session aimed at sensitizing young adults about critical issues affecting today's youth. This is the maiden edition that I am putting together so I want to make sure everything is in order. I'd be happy to send you the guidelines, budget, delivery date and other details in my next email. I prefer email correspondence for easy understanding because of my partial deafness.

Warm regards.

The First Red Flags

X says she was immediately suspicious, primarily because she's been on high alert since the Revelry scam (same, sister) and because she'd heard of some of these tells which she spotted in the email from S:

• Weird job title - "counselor and event planner"?
• Overly formal language
• Vague job description
• Contradictory description -- is it a talk or is it a magazine ("maiden edition")?
• Immediate offer to throw "guidelines, budget, delivery date and other details" at X
• No discussion about evaluation, no questions asked of X (like "have you ever done anything like this before?" - X says she gave W her clips page from her website only to pass on to S, but none of those clips are remotely like this topic or oddly nonspecific format, so why isn't S asking for more proof X can do this job? Why are we proceeding straight to assuming she's got the job on the very first communication of any kind??)
• And the unmistakable tell: S claims to be "partially deaf" so she only wants to discuss this via email (i.e., no live video or phone call so X can't tell S isn't at all who she - or "she" - claims to be).

The Hook

X says she knows now she shouldn't have, but she did reply to this with a very generic "I'm open to hearing more about this job" email. Just an hour or so later, she gets another email.

I won't overwhelm you with the whole thing but here are salient excerpts:

Below is the outline for the articles, which will guide you on the topics I would like you to cover:

ARTICLE 1: Social Media and Mental Health (1,400 words)

1. Social Media: Background and Introduction.
   
2. The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health:
   i. The Positive Impact
   ii. The Negative Impact
   
3. Managing the Effects of Social Media on Mental Health
   
4. Conclusion.

(The second "outline" was equally broad and vague - like, these are books, not quick talks or articles, we still don't know which.)

And finally:

I need 2 concise and thorough articles of 1,400 words each, totaling 2,800 words. ... The budget for this project is $1.75 per word, totaling $4,900 for 2,800 words

Like, what? 😂

X says she will now sit on her hands to refrain from sending an excoriating email in reply.

Be careful out there, y'all. They are out in droves.