I honestly doubt if she will get work or a job as a writer for a big publisher without having any commercial experience, even if it is freelance work. She has to have a portfolio to demonstarte her abilty as a proven wirter.
Not unlikely at all. She can put together her own samples to show her quality, or like I mentioned earlier, she can do samples for a non-profit organization or something for portfolio pieces while keeping a level of professionalism. It's more unlikely that she'll get writing jobs with a big publisher if she first ends up branding herself as yet another cheap content writer.... moving from one market to the other isn't easy, never happens for most, and is completely unnecessary when even smaller online publications are more than willing to pay adequate rates of well over $.10 / word, without as much experience needed as with some of the largest publications.
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Having a "portfolio" of a bunch of crappy keyword articles to show won't get her experience with the big publishers, either. As Jenn said, a portfolio of quality samples can go along way -- starting out as a crummy content writer working for pennies isn't likely to get her very far in the writing world.
I think its wrong to ridicule content wirters because some of them are top notch. They choose to work in this industry because thre is a constant supply of work, and its not always easy to get work in the print industry, even if they are higly proven writers.
Many "content writers" earn top dollar if their content is truly "top notch". This thread was about encouraging someone else in a way to make money through writing... "encouraging" anyone to accept less than they're worth is what's really wrong imo. No one ever said anything about the print industry being the only way to go for high paying gigs. Web publications pay just as much in many cases (including in the $1 + per word markets). Read the article in Challenge blog if you want more information - you're making an extremely common mistake in assuming the print industry is where the money is, and that any "good" (or as you put it "top notch") writer should be happy for crap rates.
I don't recall ridicule being a part of this conversation. I believe I can safely speak for Jenn, Rebecca and myself when I say that we never intended to ridicule content writers for their work. What we are trying to do is merely let them know there are better paying alternatives out there, and if they actually are skilled writers they can make decent money doing what they do -- that they don't have to settle for rates far below the industry standard, even for web writing.
Denise and Jenn can't ridicule content writers. They are friends with me, and I do a bit of content writing! (Well paid, of course) LOL Rebecca