Dec 29 2008
Petri Dish of Writers- Exhibit 1
So, here is the ad I posted on DPF (I’m not very patient, so these images are small and I just gave up. You might need to hold down your control key and move your mouse to make them larger):
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Response from today’s author:
Notice how Author1 did not follow directions and include links to samples? I know it’s nitpicky, but how many editors do you think would disregard our emails if we made the same mistake? I think a lot. So, I ask him for sample links and finally get them. I look at some of his posts around DPF, then look at his samples and I decide that he is an okay writer. He has glimmers of really-goodness, but he is not very direct, uses some words incorrectly and has some grammatical errors. For .03 per word, I think he is worth it. So, I give him a topic (which is: creating the perfect email to score any freelance writing gig), pay his paypal $6 for 200 words, and an hour later I get this:f
It’s almost exactly as I expected from looking at Author1’s samples. It is solidly written, if a little basic and slightly clumsy. There are a few things I would change or edit- but it would take, maybe 10 minutes to do so. It is also almost 2x as many words as I asked for. In all, totally worth the $6 I paid for it.
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Lessons learned so far? It’s really annoying when writers don’t follow directions. I got the feeling Author1 really wanted work, but that he may be a little desperate and less than completely professional. His writing was fine, worth the price and really not expensive. I think the thing that I most get from this- and tell me if you see it too- is that it does not seem as though he is treating this like a business. More like he is a mill, a factory of words always ready to move on to the next gig. I’m going to take a look back at some of my older work and think about whether or not I came accross like that at one time or another. Chances are I’ll be spending the next hour cringing at my own faux pas…s.
