Hey everyone. I am wanting to make a few dollars here and there, and also improve my article writing skills. And I have a few questions: 1. How long should a typical article be? 300 Words, 500 Words, etc. 2. How much should I charge per word. (With proper spelling, capitalization and grammar) 3. What should I write about? In other words, what sells. I have no problem researching. Thanks!
Both. It varies. It's whatever the editor and or the webmaster wants. At the very least, four cents a word (around $20 an article). Once you get very good at it, at the very least, fifty cents a word (around $250 an article). But, in most cases, you will have to approach magazines, both off and online if you want to be paid that much. But many settle for half that amount. If you can't see yourself doing even $20 in the beginning, apply for Demand Media for now. They pay $15. It takes, roughly, an hour to pound out an article. In most cases that's roughly $12.50 an hour after taxes. Just about everything sells. Even, "How to Remove Pet Stains From Your Carpet." Your job is to find the high-paying gigs, and then write what they want you to write.
Thanks for the quality response, Perry Rose. I had no idea that articles sold for that much. I thought 1 cent per word was about all people would pay. I will begin writing articles and see where it gets me. I am still learning to write articles quickly and effectively. Thanks again! (I am always up to more responses, the more feedback the better.)
Here's one of the best blogs on writing I have discovered... http://www.makealivingwriting.com/ Read her archive. Although this next one is for "work-at home moms," and they write for only a few cents a word, you can still find a few good ideas there. That is, if that is where you want to start at. http://www.wahm.com/forum/wahms-who-write-46/
If you sell your articles on DP, the average range is around $.01 per word. If you really have a talent for writing, and perfect (and by perfect, I mean perfect) English, then you can start charging the amounts that Perry Rose described.
It's not what they pay. It's what you're willing to accept. If you don't value your work, nobody else will.
Just a comment on Demand Media - I work over there on the former EHow platform from time to time. The problem is the 15 dollar assignments are based off pre-selected titles, titles which are obviously scraped from search engine queries. Most of the time, the titles are garbage, and you cannot work with them. If you do find a good one, the editors are practically clueless and send them back for meaningless revisions. I have never had an article rejected, but many people (I have heard) never get beyond the initial editor review. They do offer a revenue share option if you create your own titles, but the payout is a mystery. I intend to offer article writing services here shortly, I just need to get everything together!
You are right. What you described is what others have also described. Also, many times there are not enough titles to go around for all the ones who want to write about them. But, many still make money with them. How much depends on how many hours they put in and the availabilty of titles. The only people I tell about this outfit to are college students looking for extra money, the handicap who can't work outside the home, stay-at-hom moms, those who like to write for fun but they can get paid for it....