*UPDATE* My personal experiences with freelance writing sites

UPDATE: I wanted to update this post with some new information about Textbroker and Scripted. First let me start with Textbroker. I've been writing for them for a week and a half now. There pay-level is a little lower than I thought when I initially wrote this post. However, compared to MyAMS, it's WAY higher.

There are 5 levels of writers at Textbroker. 1 to 5 stars. Based on my sample, I was rated 4 stars when I began. They are strict about comma usage, and I found out that my grammar isn't the best. The star ratings determine how much per word you're paid. 3 stars earn 1 cent per word, 4 stars earn 1.5 and 5 stars, I assume, earn 2 cents. However, there are teams that earn more. I applied to and got accepted for a team that manages a single clients work. This team only writes about drug and alcohol addiction. For a 475 - 525 word article I make $11.03. It comes out to 2.76 cent per word which isn't too bad
for a writer of my limited skill-set.

I have to say that I am really enjoying Textbroker. They don't do UAWs, which is a relief, and they have plenty work.The editors are helpful and relaxed. They are sticklers about comma and grammar, but that's completely understandable. For anyone just starting out as a freelance writer, I highly recommend Textbroker.

I was accepted at Scripted. However, once your registration is approved you still have to submit samples for any category that you want to write about. For example, I submitted a sample for the Entertainment category. They gave me about 5 topics to choose from, and then reviewed my work. I wasn't accepted. My sample was pretty bad, to be honest. I kind of rushed through it and the flow was off. I plan on submitting to other categories down the road because I've heard they pay really well. Once I do get accepted, I'll update this post with what I've learned.

MyAMS/LondonBrokers.net

I’ve written for this site for a long time. This was the first job board type website that actually paid me. Not much, to be honest, but it was a motivator to find more writing jobs. I don’t write for them anymore and some of their practices are a bit questionable, affiliate payouts for one, but if you’re just getting started, and you’re from a native English speaking country, this is a good place to begin.

Examiner

What can I say about Examiner. I guess it can be a good site for passive, residual income as long as you post regularly. From my experience the best posts are newsworthy. That means writing about a topic that has been made public within the last 48 hours. A few years ago when Diablo 3 was coming out, I wrote 2 articles about the error codes gamers were experiencing. Those two articles, because they were promoted by Examiner, made me $200+ in two days. Since then I make a couple dollars a day. But, to be fair, writing for Examiner is not my focus so I only post 2 or 3 articles a week. The above link is an affiliate link. Any writers who sign-up through my link get $25. I get $50. 

Freelancer

This site is a bid-for-job site and it isn’t focused on writers. However, there are many content creation jobs available. I got some of my first good-paying jobs through this site. You have to set a limit on how much time you spend on this site, however. I found myself bidding for hours on jobs and then never hear a word back. Also, some buyers are scammers or expect the world while paying pennies. Be careful when you do win a bid. Setup a schedule for payment. For example, do a third of the work and get a third of the total payout. This will keep you safe from doing tons of work and never getting paid.

I mostly get jobs from individuals now. This took a long time to establish but is well worth the effort. The more jobs you do for sites like the above, the more people you’ll meet. Typically, once you trust each other, you can move off the sites and get away from their fees.

Scripted

This is a new site to me. Registration required me to take a 20 minute grammar test and upload a signed W-9. I’ve found this typical for legitimate sites. As with most the other freelance writing sites, they only want native English speaking authors, particularly from the US. However, from what I can see they pay really well with jobs ranging from $20 - $100 for 500 words.

Textbroker

This is another new site to me. I am currently awaiting approval. Registration requires a 250 word written sample and sending a picture of your ID to verify that you live in the US. From what I can see, my account is still locked, they have literally thousands of jobs under dozens of topics. The pay is supposed to be decent with 400 word articles netting the writer $20-$30. That’s not bad at all for a job board site, considering a well researched 400 word article takes about an hour to two hours to write, that’s $15 to $20 per hour.

BloggingPro

This site is a job board. The difference is there is no testing or nationality verification. You register and then have immediate access to the board. Here you can find jobs and apply. It’s basically like applying for a job through Craigslist. You send the buyer a resume/portfolio, examples of published work and, sometimes, a writing sample on a topic of their choosing. This is one of those sites that I’d work into my daily routine. Log-in, apply to a few, interesting jobs and then move on to other endeavors.

As I learn more of these new sites, I’ll update this post with any pertinent information. If you have any questions, leave a comment below and I’ll answer what I can.