I am not sure what you seek. A tool that is not email or documents? My typewriter and file cabinet once did the trick, but I don’t want to go back. I rely heavily on OpenOffice and my email provider.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

T

I think it only fair to point out to anyone unfamiliar with Textbroker’s rating system that an author is only demoted after receiving 5 consecutive lower ratings. However, you can get a reviewer who suddenly decides something that has been acceptable in the past no longer is. I had that experience lately. I suspect if this editor had looked for a certain issue in every one of my articles, I might have been demoted.

The problem is that Textbroker tries to maintain a particular standard with their ranking, which includes the AP Stylebook, but many customers have other preferences. However, you cannot assume that just because someone likes your work, that means they are okay with the quality issues. Sometimes Textbroker points out problems that your customer would not recognize. You as a writer should provide professional grammar and spelling whether your customer can recognize it or not, so Textbroker correctly insists that you provide the quality.

Other times though, a customer specifically does not want AP Stylebook or professional sounding text, or is looking for a format, like a sales page, that may not require complete sentences or follow thematic structure. Authors are then forced to choose between writing to meet a particular customer’s desires and encourage future assignments or writing to Textbroker standards and the ability to write for other customers at a particular level.

Wherever you are at Textbroker, I think you should be cultivating the customers. Show the customers who like your work that you are worth your direct order price so you don’t have to spend a lot of time writing public orders.

As for the bit at the end, I agree that writers who have learned to acquire customers on their own should do so. I think it would be difficult for a new content company to compete with powerhouses like Textbroker and keep a full stable of writers employed.

Cheers!

After writing over 1,000 articles at a 4 level and being asked by many of my clients why I’m not at a 5, I received a 2 for this creative article. The same day, I received a 3 for a 700 word article that had one incorrect letter. This demoted me to a 3, where I have never been. I started at a 4.

Is TB is gnawing off it’s own hands?

Why don’t we writers band together and develop own own business and give TB (and other content mills) a run for their money? We know how to write, we know how to interact better with clients than these go-betweens, and we could keep all the money, thus charge less.

Hmmmm…. what a concept. Watch Craigslist for something along these lines I’ve heard about from the drums beating in the jungle.

Can you recommend a tool that will help me to manage all my writing projects, communicate with my clients (not by emails and word/pdf files)?

Thanks,
GK

I didn’t touch on the ethics of some of the assignments, but you’re right, we are at times asked to plagiarize. At other times, I question whether writers have the right experience to be writing some of the specialized writing requested in the general pool. I agree that many times the selection of available assignments stinks. On the other hand, no matter who your client is, at times you have to learn how to write what is requested, not just what you enjoy.

It sounds like you have not connected with the right client yet.