John Rooney - Writing for The Internet

As a freelance writer I'm constantly on the lookout for new markets and new ways to showcase my work. Self publishing, free web-site-hosting and blogs have made the latter relatively easy in recent years. But when I heard about several web-sites promising not only instant publication, but also financial reward I just had to find out more.

At one time it was widely believed that the quality of writing the world-wide-web had to offer was substandard. Well times have changed, the inter-net is now home to some of the finest quality writing around, with many writers choosing to write full time for the web and there are an elite few who manage to earn a substantial living from their craft. But most see it as a way to earn some extra money whilst keeping their attention elsewhere.So if you're an aspiring writer struggling to get into print then the net, in particular content sites, could be just what you're looking for.

A number of these sites have appeared in recent years and judging by the volume of writers they have attracted, they're becoming increasing popular as a method of getting noticed. Content sites provide editors and publishers (of mainly web-sites), with up to date informative articles on a variety of subjects and most articles must contain key words. For instance if you were writing an article for your local garage you might use the key words, tyres, petrol or servicing. Editors can view your work and if they are interested make you an offer. Some sites even provide editors with a facility whereby they can ask for an article on a specific theme. Editors seeking such a piece will include the desired word count, what key words to use and how much they are willing to pay for your efforts in the request. The majority of these sites are American based and require the use of English - American spelling. Also, payments are made in US dollars and you'll be required to set up a Pay-Pal account.I've investigated quite a few of the sites, but I'm going to concentrate on what appear to be the three most popular, Suite 101, Helium and Constant Content.

At Suite 101 you have to submit samples of your work to be assessed. Then, if accepted you're expected to submit ten articles over a three month period and you gain the title, Contributing Writer. After that it's possible to become a Feature Writer, focussing on one particular subject. This could be anything from history to sports or even writing and publishing. Also worth noting is the site's tutoring system, where you can benefit from some useful advice from one of their team of writers, most of whom contribute regularly to the site.

At Helium you're free to publish material as soon as you've signed up, though you shouldn't let this lead you to sloppy-ness. Your work will be critiqued by fellow members of the site, all of them writers - typos and miss-spellings are judged harshly. The site awards stars, how many you get depends on the quality of your work and the amount of articles you have submitted. This is also intended as an incentive to produce high quality work; the more stars you receive, the more you can potentially earn. As well as the site's members forum, where you can ask all sorts of questions, there's also a mentoring system. Once you've registered you can if you wish and before publishing on the site, send your work to a well established member via Email, who will offer advise on how to polish and perfect your piece.

The incoming revenue of these site depends largely on advertisements placed alongside your article, with your earnings depending on how much advertisers are willing to pay and how often your article is viewed. You can of course influence this by including links in Emails to family, friends and work colleagues etc.

However, possibly the best way to obtain maximum exposure is to create a blog with links to your pages. Since the arrival of Entre Card (a widget linking blogs together in a syndication network), I've seen hits on my blog more than double and in turn hits on articles have increased substantially. Entre Card is free and it's easy to attach the widget to your blog, though you must first go through an approval process to ensure that your blog is updated often with new material.

If all that seems like too much hard work, Constant Content allows authors to set their own price for their work. This site only accepts work of the highest standard and your submitted article will undergo thorough scrutiny, before being placed on it's pages. However, if your work is rejected you will usually receive a full explanation as to why and you can always rework your article and try again. If you're still unsure about the reasons for a rejection you can ask for advise on the writers forum.

Your earnings on Constant Content depend solely on how many articles you sell (not how many people view them), with you retaining 60% of the sale. Writing for content sites wont make you an overnight millionaire. But for anyone trying to get their work published, wanting to break into the freelance market or even for those seeking advise on their writing whilst earning a modest fee for their efforts, they're definitely worth examination. There's no limit on how many you can write for at any one time, just so long as you don't submit the same article to opposing sites at the same time. Why not give them a go, what have you got to lose?