| NickPas |
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Oct 27, 11, 10:09PM
| #1 |
Joined: Oct 27, 11
Threads: 1
Posts: 2
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I wrote papers here and there for people during college. Now that I'm done with school, I've been thinking about getting back in to ghostwriting for a while. I've been researching the industry, and from the outset, it appears that almost everybody writes for companies. Does anyone have any experience writing independently? Is it simply too hard to find clients without working for a site?
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| EW_writer |
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Oct 27, 11, 10:48PM
| #2 |
Joined: Jul 2, 07
Threads: 27
Posts: 2,239
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No. Most of my clients at the moment are all direct clients. I still hold membership in a number of sites, but I rarely take any orders from them. Once you've built a strong reputation as an excellent writer, orders will come to you.
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| WritersBeware |
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Oct 27, 11, 11:24PM
| #3 |
Joined: Apr 19, 07
Threads: 152
Posts: 8,678
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EW_writer: Once you've built a strong reputation as an excellent writer, orders will come to you.
Once you've built a strong reputation as a liar and fraudster . . . .
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| EW_writer |
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Oct 27, 11, 11:55PM
| #4 |
Joined: Jul 2, 07
Threads: 27
Posts: 2,239
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WritersBeware: Once you've built a strong reputation as a liar and fraudster . . . .
... you end up becoming WB, a creature that's all bark! bark! and no bite! bite!
ROFLMAO!
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| NickPas |
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Oct 28, 11, 03:11AM
| #5 |
Joined: Oct 27, 11
Threads: 1
Posts: 2
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I've been reading posts and articles about people who claim to write 20+ pages a day of quality work. I won't deny the plausibility of such admissions. It's just that if someone asked me to write a paper on anything biology/neuroscience related, my fields of specialty, I would be able to produce a 10-15 pg. paper for them within 24 hours. It would be hard, but compensation of 15-20 bucks a page would be more than commensurate with my effort. I can't do two term papers in a day. But I can do one really well.
I guess my question is, how did you independent writers begin? And how quickly did you get better?
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| FreelanceWriter |
Writer |
Edited by: FreelanceWriter Oct 28, 11, 04:48AM
| #6 |
Joined: Oct 8, 08
Threads: 3
Posts: 656
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When I started doing this, the idea of having more than 1 paper due in a day or a longer paper due in less than a day was something that made me nervous. I remember the first time my account showed 3 whole papers on it. Back then, each paper took several drafts and I printed it out to proof, ideally after not seeing the draft for a few hours or overnight. Now, I sit down and just write it out, spell check, read it over once, and it's better than the product of all those drafts and revisions. Then I'll do that several more times most days.
Now, it is totally routine for me to have 5 or 6 short papers (2-6 pages each) due within the next 12 hours, another 3-4 scheduled for the next afternoon, and more than a paper a day already listed on my calendar for the next week. I may grab 4-6 papers during the day due in the next 24-36 and the whole time I'm writing, I'm also watching the boards for new papers and taking them for the next 24-48 hours and answering emails about papers in negotiation with new potential clients. Many times, I'm already working on one due in 5-6 hours when a new rush order comes in due even sooner that I take, complete in 1-2 hours, and then finish the one I was halfway through in time for the original deadline. I wouldn't say that I do 20+ pages a day regularly, but it's not rare either. I would not say I do it "easily" although I have just sat down and banged out 10-12 page papers in a sitting on stuff I can just free write. A single 20-25 pages is about my maximum in a day, but if it's 3-4 smaller papers totaling the same # of pages, that's usually easier and I do that much more often.
People who see it on my end think it's amazing but that's how I look at someone who can take apart and put a car engine back together in a day and I'm sure good mechanics rip apart and fix several cars a day pretty regularly. I'd feel like I accomplished something impressive if I changed one oil pan in a day and did it right. That's really the only way to make a decent fulltime living doing this. If you're hoping to finish 1-2 papers a day and not mutli-task, not change topics on a dime, and not work like that about 25+ days every month, this is a way to make some spending money but you're going to need a fulltime job to just supplement with your writing.
As far as private work goes, I usually have about a dozen or two dozen people who need me pretty regularly in a few-month period...some people get their degrees and you don't hear from them again for a while but new people are always just starting to give me work. Most of time, if I do 1 paper for someone I end up doing a half a dozen, or dozens. I've had some people use me regularly for as long as 3-4 years. People refer you to their friends too and we get a lot of those also. From 2008-2010, I had one group of 4 nurses who were all friends from 1 referral and each of them were giving me 4-5 papers per week at times.
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| MeoKhan |
Writer |
Oct 28, 11, 05:15AM
| #7 |
Joined: Jan 9, 11
Threads: 4
Posts: 1,118
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It's a very good description indeed. You have explained everything with great simplicity and precision.
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| Donnewc11 |
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Oct 30, 11, 10:04PM
| #8 |
Joined: Oct 28, 11
Posts: 15
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Writing papers for nurses ? I dread to think the implications for their patients if they handed in the work as their own
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| pheelyks |
Writer |
Edited by: pheelyks Oct 30, 11, 10:42PM
| #9 |
Joined: Jan 20, 09
Threads: 8
Posts: 3,836
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Donnewc11: Writing papers for nurses ? I dread to think the implications for their patients if they handed in the work as their own
Yeah, because knowing how to draw blood, choose and administer medications, and provide other elements of nursing care is directly related to writing ability....
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| Donnewc11 |
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Oct 30, 11, 11:19PM
| #10 |
Joined: Oct 28, 11
Posts: 15
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All those things are indeed practical but then there is theoretical element of course which is linked to writing.
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| pheelyks |
Writer |
Oct 31, 11, 01:18AM
| #11 |
Joined: Jan 20, 09
Threads: 8
Posts: 3,836
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First, the theoretical part still isn't linked to writing ability--reading and research, yes; writing, not really. Second, a lot of nursing theory (like a lot of theory in a lot of disciplines) is little more the hooey that keeps the grant money flowing.
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| Donnewc11 |
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Nov 1, 11, 12:42AM
| #12 |
Joined: Oct 28, 11
Posts: 15
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Maybe but I am certain there is coursework which counts towards your degree classification meaning that it is critical to the study of nursing
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| pheelyks |
Writer |
Nov 1, 11, 12:53AM
| #13 |
Joined: Jan 20, 09
Threads: 8
Posts: 3,836
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Donnewc11: there is coursework which counts towards your degree classification meaning that it is critical to the study of nursing
I had to take a course in statistics to earn an English degree. More to the point, I had to take a class about nineteenth century novels in order to earn my degree with an emphasis on Renaissance drama. Not everything they make you take in college is actually necessary.
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| Heremeout |
Writer |
Nov 1, 11, 03:15AM
| #14 |
Joined: Sep 29, 11
Threads: 10
Posts: 249
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pheelyks: is directly related to writing ability....
You are lying, freaky fool!
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| Donnewc11 |
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Nov 1, 11, 09:54AM
| #15 |
Joined: Oct 28, 11
Posts: 15
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Never through it was true!
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| pheelyks |
Writer |
Nov 1, 11, 10:15AM
| #16 |
Joined: Jan 20, 09
Threads: 8
Posts: 3,836
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Heremeout: pheelyks: is directly related to writing ability.... You are lying, freaky fool!
Did you jut randomly quote me to call me a liar? Is that all you have left?
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| th63 |
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May 7, 12, 11:11PM
| #17 |
Joined: Jan 19, 10
Threads: 1
Posts: 98
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It does get a lot easier to write more papers after doing this for a few years, since many of them are so similar, but it starts to get boring after a while.
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| d652482 |
Writer |
Yesterday, 08:14AM
| #18 |
Joined: Mar 21, 12
Posts: 16
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pheelyks: First, the theoretical part still isn't linked to writing ability--reading and research, yes; writing, not really. Second, a lot of nursing theory (like a lot of theory in a lot of disciplines) is little more the hooey that keeps the grant money flowing.
Lol, you said it on that one. Nursing papers have given me so much amusement. So much about 'leadership' and the role of nurses as leaders in the community and such.
Apparently they do more than assist doctors now. I think. It's not really clear what they do from the theoretical papers and academic journals, which seem to operate on the assumption that doctors don't exist. Although since the 'advanced practice' nurses apparently get doctoral degrees now, I really have to wonder why these people don't just go to medical school.
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| jennyproofread |
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Yesterday, 11:03AM
| #19 |
Joined: May 16, 12
Posts: 10
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great post
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| pheelyks |
Writer |
Yesterday, 11:48AM
| #20 |
Joined: Jan 20, 09
Threads: 8
Posts: 3,836
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d652482: Apparently they do more than assist doctors now.
You have no understanding of what nursing is at all, apparently.
d652482: It's not really clear what they do from the theoretical papers and academic journals, which seem to operate on the assumption that doctors don't exist.
You have also apparently not read many theoretical papers and journal articles about nursing.
d652482: Although since the 'advanced practice' nurses apparently get doctoral degrees now, I really have to wonder why these people don't just go to medical school.
Again, you clearly know nothing about nursing.
jennyproofread: great post
No it wasn't, but yours was worse.
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| th63 |
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Yesterday, 12:21PM
| #21 |
Joined: Jan 19, 10
Threads: 1
Posts: 98
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NickPas: I wrote papers here and there for people during college. Now that I'm done with school, I've been thinking about getting back in to ghostwriting for a while. I've been researching the industry, and from the outset, it appears that almost everybody writes for companies. Does anyone have any experience writing independently? Is it simply too hard to find clients without working for a site?
I think it would always bee better to write independently if possible rather than for any of the companies that are being discussed on here. They are not all outright frauds or scams, but many of them are, and even the better ones have certain defects. An independent writer gets to keep 100%, instead of letting one of these companies take 50-60%, which always left me with the feeling of being ripped off. Others make the writers bid on orders instead of simply selecting them, so one never knows from one day to the next how many orders you might get--if any. Some sites pay very well, especially in the UK, but if their prices are too high they don't have many orders. ManuscriptServices in the UK was like that, since their rates of pay were always quite high, but it's hard to get more that 2-3 orders a month because there just aren't that many. On the plus side, they always pay on time and the exact amount that you earn instead of scamming the writers, playing all kinds of fun and games with "fines" and all that.
I have had a great deal of experience with various companies over the years, and there are some that I would tell you to avoid completely as outright frauds, such as Academic Knowledge and essaywriters.net[DND*] under its various names. I have also been a member of Researchwritingcenter, but the pay was so low that I never even bothered to take an order, not to mention the problems various writers have had getting paid. On the whole, I just avoid the companies paying $3-8 per page because the writers end up doing a lot of work for very little money.
So overall, it would be better to work independently, but then you would have to take on the entire hassle of dealing with customers directly, trying to collect payments from them, including those who are just trying to scam you to get a free paper. It goes on all the time. After doing this type of work for years, I would say that the best thing about it is to freedom to set your own hours, and not to having to show up in an office every day wearing a suit and tie, but it also has its share of drawbacks.
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| pheelyks |
Writer |
Yesterday, 12:30PM
| #22 |
Joined: Jan 20, 09
Threads: 8
Posts: 3,836
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Thanks for coming along and answering NickPas' question at such length, th63. I'm sure the amount of advice you presented will be incredibly useful to him now, even though he hasn't been to the forum in seven months and was already answered by someone more trustworthy and knowledgable than you. Chances are he's been sitting next to his computer wasting away, waiting for you to come along and provide very little advice, but to carefully detail your own experience and identity as a writer in this industry. I can't think of any other reason you would post in this thread with such self-promotional material other than a real intent to help this guy make a living now that he's been stuck for more than half a year.
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| th63 |
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Yesterday, 12:36PM
| #23 |
Joined: Jan 19, 10
Threads: 1
Posts: 98
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pheelyks: Thanks for coming along and answering NickPas' question at such length, th63. I'm sure the amount of advice you presented will be incredibly useful to him now, even though he hasn't been to the forum in seven months and was already answered by someone more trustworthy and knowledgable than you. Chances are he's been sitting next to his computer wasting away, waiting for you to come along and provide very little advice, but to carefully detail your own experience and identity as a writer in this industry. I can't think of any other reason you would post in this thread with such self-promotional material other than a real intent to help this guy make a living now that he's been stuck for more than half a year.
What are you talking about, Pheelyks? You just posted something on here about nursing theory, which I'm sure NickPas found very helpful. LOL.
By the way, do you live on this website? You're always here, even during the busy season.
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| pheelyks |
Writer |
Yesterday, 01:16PM
| #24 |
Joined: Jan 20, 09
Threads: 8
Posts: 3,836
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My post about nursing theory cam as the direct result of someone else's post--it was an ongoing discussion that took place with relatively close temporal proximity. Your post, not so much.
th63: By the way, do you live on this website?
Gee....no.
Untrue and absurd.
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| th63 |
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Edited by: th63 Yesterday, 01:50PM
| #25 |
Joined: Jan 19, 10
Threads: 1
Posts: 98
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pheelyks: Untrue and absurd.
3,823 posts and counting, at least under the name "Pheelyks", versus about 90 for me.
I'm not the one promoting myself since I have never taken a single order as a result of posting anything on this site. In fact, I am burned out on writing essays and will probably be slacking off on it quite a bit. After 5-6 years of doing this, it gets very old.
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| pheelyks |
Writer |
Yesterday, 02:16PM
| #26 |
Joined: Jan 20, 09
Threads: 8
Posts: 3,836
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th63: 3,823 posts and counting
Over a period of 1217 days, and I've been regularly active.th63: versus about 90 for me.
Most of which have come in the last few weeks.
You're not really good at math, are you?
th63: I'm not the one promoting myself
Then agan: what is the point of dragging up posts that are months old? You are not helping anyone.
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