Easy Come, Easy Go: Writing Job Woes

Six hundred-plus words written, possibly for naught.  Even in the world of freelance writing gigs that sometimes is a hard blow.  I was so certain that this one job that I got through a freelance writing site was going to deliver a steady few bucks each week. I don't mean that in a cocky way, just that I was offered a trial spot, was given a prompt and told to write something short. So, I wrote a 600 word article, sent it off, and....a week later I still hadn't heard anything back.

So I did a bit of poking around, and by poking around I mean I went to the website that had said they were going to hire me, but wanted to test my skills first.  There on the site I find an article with a theme similar to the prompt I was given that went up two days after they said that they were likely to hire me.  Now, opportunities come and go in this business.  Sometimes sure things are not so sure, some times you land something semi-steady.  Sometimes you see stuff dry up.  There are feast times and famine times.  I guess I would call this "food snatched off the plate times" if I had to put a name to it.  Funny thing is it would not bother me as much if I had been told by the client that they went another direction--like, incredibly short copy.

I wrote 600 words and spent a few hours on my article.  The article they went with on the site was roughly 150 and is something I could punch out in roughly 30 minutes. 

That kinda stings.  

Funny enough I put in that many hours, sometimes more, when I do an article for another freelance site where I am not even trying to do a contract.  You basically follow a writing prompt, put the work out there, and hope the client likes it.  Sometimes you wait weeks (or months depending on your place in the que) to here back on whether they've bought the post, seen the post, or rejected the post.  Maybe it is a pressure thing.  There is no pressure when I write those blog posts.  They may take it, they may not.  My feelings are not hurt either way.  However, I guess it hurts a little when you actually contact the person and talk to them rather than do all business anonymously.  

On to other projects I suppose.

The Junk Journals go well.  I think I've reached the end of what I can actually pare down in my home (for the time being) and now I have to take these numerous notes, essays, and observances and see if they work as well as I hope for self-help book to post on Amazon.  Maybe it will go well, maybe it will not see the light of day as sometimes happens with creative projects.  Either way, things are what they are.  I have my hopes for other projects, but I don't always want to talk about those things in a public way.  You have to keep some stuff to yourself until it is ready.  Right?

Anywho.  I'm working on another writing tips/advice article for tomorrow, so I hope to "see" you again tomorrow.  Talk to you then!