Basically, if the company cannot create a well worded English blurb for their website, then it would be impossible to trust that they would hire quality writers for their company.

I mean, if they cannot proof-read their own copy, how can the client be sure that the Quality Assurance Department of the company can properly review and assess the quality of work the writer is turning over to them for submission to the client?

It is kind of like the company not being able to see the dirt on their own faces while looking at a mirror.

If they accept bad web copy that, from what I hear, they actually pay for sometimes, then I guess they would hire a writer off the street without really checking for the writer's competence in the field.

Sure they ask the writers to take grammar tests, but since the test is given online, it kind of makes me wonder. I mean, the applicant can easily check for the required proper grammar online so that certainly defeats the purpose of the test.

So yes, I would have to agree that the quality of a website's copy could very well signal the quality of the essays that the company will be providing.

Getting back on point, while I am no longer an active academic writer, I believe that the reason this website exists is simple. While the site does not claim to be the police of the academic writing industry, they do offer valuable services. The first is that of a space where those who got conned by independent writers or writing companies can come to vent their anger and warn others who might be looking for "help" with their writing assignments. The fact that there are other writers and companies here that pay to advertise their services or whatever is just one of the many benefits of membership at this forum.

As a company or writer who pays advertise writing services, there is a sense of "legality" in the manner that business is done between the company / writer and the client. Everything is "on the level" because the client can actually choose which company or writer he wants to contact for the work to be done based upon the postings that the company representative or writer makes. All the other negatives that "accidentally" come out in the form of students addressing the companies or writers that scammed them or other reasons are bonuses that serve to protect to the would be victims.

The purpose of this site is therefore two-fold. The first is to protect the students from scams and the second, is to help them contact competent ENL writers who will not scam them.

Based on my experience and the experience of my colleagues who are also using Facebook for this purpose, we found that by directing the student to leave FB in order to go to our individual websites directly often encourages them to click on the "Order" button. Once they are at the website, they can see samples of previously completed work, consider the service prices, and contact the writer via Skype or FB messenger for further inquiries directly.

I found that while they discuss their concerns with me and I make them feel at ease with my service offerings and we negotiate the final deal, they end up clicking on the order button by the end of the conversation. You need to get them out of FB and talking with you in order to close the deal. FB does allow for external links to other sites so you need to write some blogs or sales pitches that you can insert a direct link to your website to in FB. Only when they are out of FB will they consider buying your services. FB is good for pushing your advertising but the final push, comes when they visit the website that emanated from their interest in your FB page.

@Major from my experience, I have come to understand that the scam companies do not just penalize the participants in their referral program, they also participate in the reselling of the papers themselves. Taking a page out of Academon and similar services, they ask the writers of the original paper to revise the content, based on their specific instructions for changing the slant and references in the paper, so that they can resell the paper themselves. This is a situation that I found myself in a few times as a writer at AR. This is, in addition to the fact that the student referring the paper can already make revision request throughout the semester so that the paper can be resold numerous times as part of the affiliate deal. It is a nightmare scenario for most honest company associated academic writers to this very day. It seems that the students don't tend to complain much about the penalties among other things because they figure that it is free money anyway so they don't lose anything if they don't get the referral fee. They just stop referring students to the service eventually.

That may not be the case. There are numerous sources of copyright free pictures online that these scammers could access for use in their business. Most of the scam companies use these copyright free photos because they not only look nice, but it helps to deliver a polished look to their scam site. Naitobi from Kenya suddenly looks like Eric from New York and the make over, from skin to hair color, never cost him a dime. That's why they use those generic pictures on their sites. It allows them the opportunity to further promote their "scam" image with a tinge of reality in the eyes of the student.

Remember the saying that first impressions last? The scammer targets the potential user using a specific photo to create a mental image that instantly puts the person at ease. Before the student realizes what happened, he had already been scammed. In my opinion, the more "western" the look in the picture, the more I would be suspicious of the company promoting the services.

The affiliate programs are mostly run by scam companies that plan on paying the lowest possible rates to affiliates. It would be in your best interest to not hook up with a writing company if you wish to actually earn from the hard work that you previously did. The affiliate program only works well for the students who are already clients for the writing companies because they get rewards in the form of cashback, discounts, or payment for every paper successfully resold. That is not the kind of earning that an honest and hard working independent writer would be happy with. Since Google has shied away from cooperating with the writing companies, it doesn't look like you will have much of a chance to make money off advertising and clicks. Try to network with other writers instead and see how both your interests can be served by an affiliate agreement that is specific or tailor made to both your needs. In order to have a lucrative affiliation, you should have master level negotiation skills though. Best of luck finding an affiliate program that will work well for you.

So, like a reader caught up in a good book, I am wondering how this scenario played out for the OP. It's like a soap opera that does not end. It seems the conversation was cancelled mid-stream. Does anybody here know if Lavinia ever got the payment out of her shrewd client or not? Did Lavinia actually turn down the payment eventually? She seems like a nice person in the sense that she could have very easily destroyed the future of this student by reporting her to the professor, while clearing the group-mates of any blame. Unfortunately, it seems that she got caught up in real life and forgot to keep us posted about the eventual outcome of the events that unfolded. It is a story without an ending.

Yes, I know this thread is so old it could pass for an archeological dig site. However, I really enjoy reading posts such as these because they are true learning experiences that one can take numerous lessons from. So when the thread abruptly stops, I'm like a viewer whose show was cancelled mid-season, looking for the actual conclusion to the story I was following.

I know this thread is pretty old to be resurrected but I just want to share my information regarding other places where people can advertise outside of this forum. While Google does not allow the promotion of essay writing companies anymore, other search engines such as Bing still allows for such promotion and is, as my friends tell me, a proven alternative to Google ad promotions. However, not all the students take the time to do search engine research these days as social media is now the promotional trend of the time. So paying for a Facebook ad push, as well as getting a Twitter account are considered a must for most upcoming independent writers. These 3 updated promotional means should help you push the visibility of your business without stepping on any academic toes. It isn't illegal to promote your business, just don't make it too obvious that you offer essay writing services directly. I said that because sometimes, masking your actual intentions works best to get around the algorithm systems that may be looking for red flag words which could bury your advertisement.

While you won't find a listing in the manner that you require, you will find the most useful advice regarding the proper method of analyzing these companies for reliability, trust, and quality. If you read the relevant threads and then put the advice into practice, you should be able to find what you are looking for on your own. It should not take days for you to comb through this site to find those criteria listings. It is all over.

While participants in this forum cannot guarantee or assure you that the company will not scam you, you will at least have an idea as to the red flags that should tell you not to do business with them. Along the same lines, using the EssayDirectory or EssayBrand listings should be able to help narrow down your search. Most of the companies listed in that directory are of the reliable, non-money stealing kind of company. You should be able to trust those companies more than the random ones on the web.

@Major, most of the writers who tend to branch out on their own with such lofty sounding domain names are usually the product of academic writing companies. They tend to follow the business model of the company rather than creating their own niche in the already crowded line of business. They have a tendency to put the cart before the horse so to speak. That is why they fail.

Those who do succeed, do so because, quite frankly, they are willing to take risks and whatever it takes to get their business promoted as best as they can. These are the writers who were able to save up for a rainy day while attached to a writing company so they have the financial leeway for promotions, student discount opportunities, and networking privileges in other promotional groups.

Simply put, just like any other start-up business out there, these are the independent writers willing to go the extra mile to make sure that their virtual business takes off in the same manner as a physical business.

@sheila89 do you work for a writing company at the moment or are you one of those who have struck out on their own from the very start? If you are with a writing company, then you should be seeing an increase in your client base depending upon the quality of your work and the repeat clients coming your way. You may still have to bid on regular orders but, provided you always deliver exemplary papers to your clients, they should turn into regular clients for yourself in no time at all. With any luck, the company may even turn you into one of their "go-to" writers whom they will opt to approach for certain "special orders" just hang in there and keep improving your writing and research skills. The client should follow soon.

If you are an independent writer, then sign up for those independent work companies like UpWork. You will need to bid on jobs individually there as well but without the middle man who gets a cut of the pay per page, you should be able to create a steady client base with a better earnings target for yourself per order or per month.

For me, the deadlines will factor into the price of the essay more than anything else. The longer I have to work on the essay, the less I would be charging. I charged less during my time as a freelance writer for horizon deadlines because there as no stress factor involved in the research and writing process. If I had time to relax while doing the work, the more my client would get out of me. When it is a short turn around paper and I will be required to adjust my schedule and complete the paper with the client breathing down my neck, I definitely charge more. What students don't realize is that when they procrastinate, it affects the order value of the paper. Nobody will be willing to handle stressful deadlines in exchange for peanuts. Either may it worth my while or go find someone else to do the work for you. Even when I worked for a company, I had the same policy. You pay me to handle the stress for you. Nuff said.

Getting writing gigs can be quite difficult for newbies. Specially when one was originally attached to a writing company, which made it much easier to get writing jobs despite the low pay. Aside from the sound advice @Major provided above, I want to add that another suggestion as to how you can self promote and increase your chances of getting new clients.

Use your existing network of university students from your alma mater. Make sure to let the undergrads know that in spite of your being a graduate, you are more than willing to help them out with their academic needs "for the right price". Since these students already know you and the quality of your writing / work, it won't be difficult for you to earn their trust as an independent writer. Now, make sure to deliver impeccable work so that the same students can help you with word of mouth promotions. The rest of the writing gig stuff should come easy.

@joneswill Yep, up to this very day a majority of the participants at this forum are still in the independent writing business.

Most, if not all of them, have managed to make a pretty good income / regular career out of it. They are the ones who prove that perseverance, high quality workmanship, and a fully developed trust factor between a student / client and his writer can result in a long term career that, although seasonal in the case of those who focus solely on academic writing, makes for a very good income throughout the year.

Some of them are lucky enough to be able to participate in the academic writing community as both independent writers (where the really good income is) and as participants in writing companies (where they are assigned clients for a pre-set fee) whenever the need for their talents arise.

It isn't hard to keep one's head above water in this saturated market if the writer is adaptable and knows the tricks of the trade when it comes to prolonging his writing career.

That has been proven time and time again by the active participants at this forum.

The bait and switch game is still being played by these companies and it is getting even worse for the writers these days. My friends who are still working at Academia Research recently told me that now, they are forced to work practically for a dollar per page in most cases, with penalties being tacked on for unreasonable demands such as "draft copies" needing to be uploaded on the second day of receiving the order. Failure to do so will result in an immediate fine. Additionally, the full price of the order is no longer being presented to the writers. Instead they are told that the final price will be "adjusted accordingly" as the final submission date draws near. "Adjusted accordingly" usually results, I am told, in working for pennies per page, which has caused the company to lose some of their advanced level writers who are already tired of the bait and switch game. One of my friends actually got a promotion to one of the top tier positions at their company, was promised an unbelievable $8 per page upon promotion, which of course made my friend very happy. Only to find out as he progressed that he was extremely lucky if he had gotten a total of $3 per page for his work orders. Needless to say, he is looking for a new employer now while hoping to finally branch out on his own.

@Mag23

As a private academic writer with almost 3 decades experience, I can tell you that being able to write in both American and British English is practically a job requirement.

I don't know about the other writers here who have worked with UK based clients but, I always make sure that I click on the right English type box in my document encoder.

I have to make sure that the proper English spelling is used for specific types of papers. The spell checker helps me to make sure that I am spelling the word in the correct form (British or English) and that the paper is formatted in the correct manner as well. I will be the first to admit that aside from learning how to spell in British, I also went the extra mile to familiarize myself with British and European culture, history, and current events.

I did that all in an effort to ensure that I would do justice to the papers that came my way from British or other European clients. So when a client used to come to me from the UK, either privately or through my academic writing company partner, I was always able to provide the required type of writing and formatting that the student needed for the paper.

These Ukrainian based companies charge more because they work on the premise that "you pay for quality".

If you find a writer that works well for your writing needs, you will want to hold on to that writer. Which is why the company charges the client more. From my experience though, the increased rate does not include an actual raise for the writer assigned. The writers do no have any idea that an increased rate is being charged because they are paid the same rate by the company.

The only benefit of being a preferred writer for the company is that the writer no longer has to bid on work orders. The automatic assignments come as a blessing to most of the writers because it offers them an increased income for that pay schedule, in addition to the regular bidding work that they do. Technically, you should not have to pay extra for the service and if I were you, I would not go with a "preferred" writer at the company. As a word of caution, I have to inform you that these companies may not even assign the paper to your preferred writer.

There were instances when I was told by my regular clients that the company said I was unavailable to work for them, which wasn't true, but they were encouraged to pay the "preferred" writer rates as the order would be assigned automatically, as soon as I became available. I never did get those assignments for some reason. Don't pay more, just pay regular rates.

It's better for your pocketbook and the writer you want will most likely see your order and bid on it anyway. In which case, they assign the paper to him / her just the same.

One of the factors that seems to be overlooked in this over saturated market is the fact that there are also students, physically located in the universities who may also be doing the private writing job gigs for their dorm-mates, classmates, or some other random student who happened to hear of their availability with regards to writing services. Thinking in the larger context of the discussion, the students already know that there are scam websites, problematic private writer services, and some other related problems. The need for an academic writer is not negated by these problems. Rather, it makes the students more cautious regarding the services that they hire. Like @Major said, writing essays has become much easier these days because of the proliferation of online sources alongside the physical sources like libraries, interviews, etc. If a college student enrolls in just enough course requirements to qualify as a part time student, he will have the time to be available to his peers as an academic writer. These students, who dabble in the writing gigs are usually the ENL students who see a window of opportunity and decide to take it. While there may not be that many of them in existence on campus, and they are most likely spoken of in hushed whispers among the students, I believe that there are enough of them to have an effect on the academic company and private writer based orders. It is easier to request for revisions, prices can be better negotiated, TOS is not a very big issue, and both students have something to lose if one of them decides to report the "model" paper to the university authorities.

Based upon my conversations with my regular clients, they don't really feel bad about hiring a writing to help them with their homework and research papers.

Their college life is demanding enough and full to the brim with regards to their class responsibilities that getting extra help whenever they can is a necessity for them. They don't feel bad because they still have to read the lecture (in their own time), take the qualifying exams, and participate in class personally. Those are the additional factors that make them feel better about paying others to write their papers for them.

The extra help coming from the writers allows them to better budget their limited time and concentrate on the classes or activities that they feel need to be prioritized over the writing of subject specific papers. I have yet to come across a student who will admit that he or she felt bad about paying someone else to write a paper. These students feel that it is alright to get extra help whenever their situation requires it.

@Sindraalan I will admit that there are a number of writing companies that engage in fraudulent businesses. However, it is possible to screen the companies and pick one that will surely accomplish the task for the student. The difference between hiring a private writer, as opposed to a company based writer is that the student has options when it comes to the revisions of the paper. There is quality assurance department (for all that is worth) that investigates the presented paper based upon the original instructions and then demands that the writer revise the paper based on a specific set of guidelines. If the writer realizes that he is not capable of completing the paper as per the revision request, the writer can have the paper reassigned, with a penalty attached to his salary for the month. The company does not automatically reassign the paper. The original writer needs to file a reassignment request first. Whether the new writer assigned is more capable of completing the paper is a totally different discussion.

That is why I believe that there are certain situations when, provided the company is not a fraud, it is better to sign up with an academic writing company than a private writer. That is not to say that the private writers are bad. Just that there are some private writers who blindly accept jobs, which result in the situation that the OP experienced.

@wordsies I had to go the company route at the start because I did not have any experience as a freelancer at that point. Like I said before, academic writing is something that I just fell into. It wasn't something that I sought at the start. Since it paid well (I was working for 4 companies at the time), I stuck to it and never got around to actual independent writing work until much later in my career. I no longer work for the academic outsourcing companies at this point, nor do I actively seek out writing clients because I am already an academic consultant. However, I have a few select clients (read: they pay very well) who have decided to keep me on a retainer for their writing needs. So I get paid monthly even though they don't ask me to write anything for them. If I write anything, that is considered a separate charge. Sorry, I digress.

Getting back on track, I worked for various companies back then that had varying payment schedules. The ones I loved working for the most were the ones who paid out on a weekly basis ( you were very lucky to find one that pays on a per order basis ;-) ) As for Uvocorp, at the time that I signed up with them, they had a "weekly" pay out option as part of their payment schedule selections. So of course I chose that one. I found out too late that they automatically changed my setting to monthly. I would have been more agreeable to their actions had they at least set it to twice a month or, asked me if they could change my payment schedule before they did so. I apologize for not mentioning that sooner. Later on, the writing companies I was attached to also began to adopt the same payment schedule and I was amenable to them doing that because they at least, asked me if I would like to continue working for them under the new payment schedule.

@TenaciousMe I know its been years since you posted this topic and the situation may have already been resolved for you. I am just wondering how you resolved it and if you can offer any of the other newcomers to the independent writing field any advice as to how to find an employer online. I know for a fact that these writing companies have at least 12 different company names under their umbrella organization, so I am wondering how you fared in that aspect. Were you able to find a company that you had not applied to yet? Or did the umbrella organization thing pose a problem for you? Perhaps you became an independent writer who sought clients outside of the academic writing companies instead? Do update us regarding your employment position as of today. I believe it will be of tremendous help to the others who find themselves in a similar position as of today. I sincerely hope that you found a company that was willing to take a risk on you as a writer. If you can, please let us know how it went for you.

When I was starting out in my freelance career, I tried to become a part of as many essay writing companies as I could in an effort to create a more than decent income for myself. One of the companies I found myself working for was UVocorp and I can tell you right now, it was a nightmare to work for them. While they had no problem with the content that I was providing the clients with, I had a problem with them. The problem was that they always paid for back salaries. For example, they would pay for August in September and September in October. Never, in my history of working for them did they ever pay on time for services rendered. Even after I was promoted, the same cycle of payment scamming existed. Needless to say, their method of payment really messed up my budgeting, specially since they would sometimes send out an email that the salary, which was already back owed, was even going to be delayed. It was when I could no longer balance my expense account because of their irresponsibility when it came to paying salaries that I finally decided to quit writing for them. I never looked back.

@Major I believe that @Gurulwanga doesn't know what he is talking about. I mean, it is counterproductive, as you mentioned for an American to pretend to be a Kenyan. An American writer is an ENL. That means an American writer cannot pretend to be Kenyan even if he tried. It is just impossible to sound that way on paper. It requires a special kind of dumbing down in intellect. I mean no disrespect here but from my experience working with these Kenyans, their writer's grasp of the English language is so simplistic that I would not allow them to write an essay for an ESL student past the 3rd grade.

There is no reason that an American will even try to pretend to be Kenyan. The way these Kenyan writers have been scamming the students left and right is sickening. A decent American would never want to be associated with such a country or nationality. This guy is just shooting off his mouth for want of something to say. I bet he doesn't even understand what he wrote in English. He can't even use proper punctuation marks in his simple sentences. If he is truly an independent writer, I have only sympathy for the students he has managed to scam up to this point.

If the work requires him to check into your personal online account at the school, then yes, you have to risk giving him the information. However, if there is no need for him to have the information, then he is just setting himself up to be able to blackmail you in the future. Be cautious about whom you give your personal and student information to. Any independent writer who is dedicated to his job will have created accounts for themselves at Jstor, Questia, and other online libraries as part of their tools of the trade. He won't need to charge extra for that nor require any additional information from you. I had students before who required me to check into their school account for specific research information that the professor required. I always refused and asked them to send me screenshots of the required data instead. If the writer just wants to get the job done, without any ulterior motive, then he will not be asking you to present your personal or student information to him as part of the work process. He has other options that will allow him to respect and protect your privacy as a client.

I think the reason that there isn't a TOS between independent writers and their clients is because the negotiations are done directly with regards to the price of the order, number and duration of possible revision requests, and any other concerns that the students may have. Independent writers cannot have a cookie cutter template for their TOS as their work requirements are more of a case to case basis instead of a uniform need. Therefore, writing an all encompassing TOS would not be appropriate. Besides, independent writers are easier to deal with than the writing companies because the middle man (the company) is eliminated. With that factor missing, negotiating for the paper requirements on both sides becomes easier. It also makes the revision requests (which is usually what the TOS is for) more reasonable as the students know that they will get the best paper possible the first time out and there is no opportunity for them to make money off the same paper through alternative means ( requesting for a revision so that the paper can be sold to a friend or classmate) as the writing company does (they encourage revision requests and financially reward the clients that do so because of the "after sales" benefits). An independent writer creates the perfect paper the first time out. So the TOS isn't really necessary in those cases.

@AG14 since you know that you cannot insert your contact information in the papers that you write anymore because the QAD screens the papers and removes those references before the paper is released to the client, keeping the regular clients you made at the company is out of the question.

While those clients will most likely prefer to follow you as you work as an independent writer, the paper screening process has made that impossible already. However, nobody said that you cannot try to use other methods of creating a client base.

If you try your luck at the independent work sites such as UpWork (which is not recommended from my perspective), you can begin to build your regular client base there. Remember, any client whose work you get through the bidding process has the potential to become your regular client outside of the system.

So working at a more than competent level on the writing needs of the client could result in repeat business for you. From there, referrals may also help you to create a network of clients.

However, you are mistaken about your wish to create a trustworthy client list.

It is the other way around, you should hope to create a client base based upon the trust that they put into the work that you deliver. Win their trust and you will be set for years to come.

Search improvements have been made since this thread was first opened. These days, the Google search for a writing website already returns, not just the WHOIS information, but a geolocation representation of the registered address of the company. Since these company websites can buy a US or UK based address for their physical location, the geolocation map comes in handy when doing deeper investigation into a service prior to hiring the company. For one, the photo representation of the office address tells you exactly where that address is located. More than once I've seen that the address leads either to an empty lot, a children's playground, or a very abandoned looking street in a not so well to do neighborhood. These are better indicators as to the legitimacy of a company when compared to WHOIS. If the address is obviously false, then, once a student sees the information, he may very well decide to move on and try to find a company that actually has a physical office in the place it claims to be located in. Good luck with that though. It will never happen.

I don't view helping kids that need help in the writing department as something that is wrong. Let's think of it this way, the model papers that the students receive are there to serve as their guideline in completing their homework. No teacher is going to take the student by the hand and teach him how to write or help him develop his paper. The teachers don't have the time to do that. If they tried to do it for each student in their class, no lessons will be taught and no research work or essays will be completed by the students. The writers, both company attached and independent ones, are the tutors in this instance. The students can learn how to write from the work that is delivered to them. That is, if they want to learn. Nobody can force a student to learn how to write. Either he wants to learn or he doesn't. The model paper is created for the benefit of the student. How the students choose to use it is their business. They opt to cheat, the writers and companies don't encourage it. It just happens that way. Just like any other "tutor" as you put it, the person who "helped" should get some sort of reward out of the situation. Receiving payment for "assistance" or "work completed" isn't wrong in this instance, it should be expected.

It isn't nice of you to bundle the students all into one basked composed of bad students. Not all the students that avail of these services are out partying or too lazy to write their own papers. You are thinking in a collective mindset when actually, the students are divided into categories, just as the freelance writers are. Some are honest enough to admit that they need writing help and as such, seek out the help that they need. They are the students that want to pass their class no matter the cost. They are the ones who end up getting scammed and blackmailed to a great degree. While there are also students out there who would rather party and laze around on a school day, they are not the only ones that independent writers and writing companies cater to. Think about that the next time you set your phaser like tongue to wide beam. Not all students are as you describe them to be.

@Donald this is a very shocking revelation. Students who visit ES should take note of this post and the list of scam writers you came up with. You made their life easier when it comes to choosing reputable "services" and "writers". Having read the results of your investigation, I am now left some questions in my mind. Why haven't the social media companies clamped down on these services and writers in the same way that Google has banned academic writing services (to a certain degree) in their search engine? Can the social media company help the student who eventually gets blackmailed by these unscrupulous individuals hiding in the recesses of the dark web? I am sure that they are conscious of what has been happening to the student users, why haven't they made a move to clean their online community of these rodents and pests? The questions in my mind are endless. If only we could report each and every one of the "writers" and "companies" in your list so they can be banned from currently threatening or possibly threatening students again...

I did not meant to rant. I just feel so strongly when it comes to the issue of the students being blackmailed by these people and very possibly, getting away with their online bullying. At some point, these people who have nothing but evil intentions towards the students should be stopped. It just seems impossible to do that on the internet at this time. Maybe, just maybe, the time will come when that can be done.

The students these days rely on social media for way too many things and post way too much private information in public. Then they wonder why they end up dealing with scam companies, scam artists (the untrustworthy "independent" writers), and finding themselves being blackmailed in the future, after the work has been completed for them. I only wish that we could send each and every one of the students the list that you came up with in order to help them assess the "writers" and "writing companies" they come into contact with.

Students today are too comfortable sharing their public information with anybody they meet online. They have no idea of the consequences of their actions because they were not made aware that social media, when used improperly, has consequences, dire consequences. Hopefully one of those students will read your post and help it to go viral. You've come up with a very useful list that prioritizes protecting their privacy and information at all times. I thank you for coming up with it on behalf of the students.

Well, if we think about "party" universities in that context, then it does seem like the partying for 4 years does serve a purpose doesn't it? That is, if we consider that college is said to be that time in a person's life when he makes lifelong friendships and plants the seeds for his future business networks. That can't be done in the classroom, but it can be done after academic hours during social activities. Yeah, if you understand the business concept / model in that context, I can see why the academic outsourcing companies and others (in the scam) would consider the students "gullible" enough to fall for their sales pitches. It isn't that the student is on the lazy side or anything. It's that the companies encourage them to not do the work so that they can "help" (scam) them to get better grades. They may not learn much in the classroom, but they'll probably learn just enough to maybe, become the next Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg. I'm exaggerating here but I'm sure you know what I mean :-)

I actually thought the same thing. Being the inquisitive person that I am though, I decided to look further into their claims and came up with some interesting information. I learned that there are actually a number of universities, whose names I will not mention here, that are known as "party schools". While the schools will never openly admit to it, the lifestyle of their students on campus is enough of a confirmation of the moniker attached to the university. The university just doesn't force the students to pay attention to the academic side of their college life as the "stone sober" universities do. Since the students of these schools party harder than they study, some of them become regular clients of the academic writing companies. At least, that is what the companies implied each time I asked. Then again, you may have a point about the academic writing company underestimating the students. Who knows what kind of lifestyle the college students in those countries lead. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not. Let's take it with a grain of salt :-)

@writer4life, I have a firm belief that writers are actually born and not made.

I mean where would literature be without the likes of Harper Lee or Jack Kerouac?

Both are notable writers who never finished college. The true measure of a writer is not in the degree or the number of Masters or Phd's one has (although it doesn't hurt to have a few), but in the quality of the work that is produced. Granted that anybody can write, but not everybody can write well.

I would not underestimate the writing prowess of an independent ESL writer who is dedicated to his craft when compared with an also dedicated ENL writer. Sometimes, experience and dedication beats out formal training. Training one can get on the job.

I remember, in the second grade, I had an English teacher who could not spell the word "abbreviation". She marked all of us who spelled the word correctly during a spelling quiz wrong. The parents turned it into an issue, she still kept her job and went on to retire from the profession eventually. With teachers like that, it's no wonder that some students struggle to write.

I am lucky that I come from a highly educated family of professionals, I actually studied courses related to English and writing, love my craft, and I am also able to practice my profession as a writer in various forms.

That's how I ended up as an academic consultant. Far from the writing world but still close enough to influence the writing abilities of the newcomers to the field.

Let's face it, education is no longer the vocation it once was. It is now a thriving, economics driven business run by a select few. Just like any business, there are back door dealings and unspoken movements that take place in order to keep the market going. Some grades are for sale, while most are not. Some professors really want the students to learn and work hard at their jobs, while others (not all) with tenure just breeze through the semesters because they know their jobs are secure no matter what.

Students use academic research and writing companies in order to help them cope with the fact that some of them came into college unprepared for what it required. That's why independent writers and academic research and writing companies have valuable services to offer the students. Education is just part of the marketplace now with grades as the main commodity available for purchase. How a student chooses to purchase this grade is his business.

Is it a scam? I would not call it that. There are after all, legitimate companies and independent writers out there. Everyone needs an education to get a good paying job. If the person hires some help in order to achieve that, then so be it. There is no deceptive act in helping a student get through his academic needs. The writers, both independent and company affiliated, do honest work. It is the fly by night companies and not so qualified independent writers that give the industry a bad name and make it look like a scam.

Truth be told, this is the very information that was fed to me when I first entered the world of academic writing. The first company I signed up with always had a long list of short turn around time paper orders. Eventually, I started asking questions and management responded that the reason I have a job that pays so highly is because "The students can't be bothered to write their papers. They have too many parties to attend on weekends." It is actually the companies that propagated that myth which I slowly learned could only be partially true.

Most of the clients I had later on for short turn orders were mostly students who worked part-time and really could not have had the time to work on their papers. The reason most of them gave, when I asked why they ordered their paper so late was that they still needed to earn their salary while attending regular classes. The work part did not leave them with enough time to do their homework and special projects anymore so they needed to hire the extra help. Unfortunately, they normally had to wait for their weekly salary to come in before they could place an order for the paper. There is only a "partial truth" to the


tagline that the companies use.

@panadol the academic writing company would not have sued you.

Nor did they have any legal frame of reference to sue you for using a paper you ordered from them.

You need not have feared that they would have put you in jail. I am pretty sure that you are still a free person 3 years later and most likely a graduate already.

The writers that work for any academic writing company knows that part of their duty is to turn in plagiarism free papers (first) and that all the rights in terms of using the model paper that they write is turned over to the student that ordered the paper (second).

The academic writing company makes this clear to all the writers who they hire. These two references form part of the terms of service that the writer agrees to when he is given the permission to accept student orders via the company ordering system.

So your fears were totally unfounded.

There was no way that the company or the writer who was assigned to your paper would have run after you in any legal way.

If you eventually decided to turn in the paper you received from the company as your own instead of using it as a model, I am sure that you already know by now that your fears were baseless. It was perfectly fine for you to turn in the model paper as your own.

You received all the rights to that paper anyway the minute it was turned over to you by the company as per the TOS policy of the company.

@Major, if I may put my two cents into this discussion, I think that there was one method of buying essays online that was overlooked. I speak of the "recommendation" system that can come from word of mouth satisfaction among the students. Since a repeat or regular client will have enough experience with a writing service or independent writer for him / her to be able to assess the safety of the transactions with one of the two services, then it stands to reason that this could be one of the safest ways to buy an essay online. Most specially in the case of the independent writers who are referred by their regular clients. The trust factor that these services acquire from recommendations increases at least two-fold in the eyes of the student being referred. This is due to the fact that the friend or classmate of that person has successfully and repeatedly used the services of the company or writer in the past and present. Friends and classmates have a strong influencing factor in this regard and would normally not recommend bad services or writers to their peers. As for the riskiest methods, you hit the nail right on the head @Major.

I am an advocate of the the idea that ESL students will greatly benefit in terms of writing services if they hire ESL writers. This provides them with an easy "cover" with their professors in terms of their writing abilities and also, ensures that they will be able to get during the semester with someone else writing their paper for them. It will be a bane on the ENL writers to have to dumb down their writing for the benefit of an ESL client. ESL students will also be able to avoid requesting for revisions that are based on "English speaking" style problems. I have had to reject order requests and assignments from ESL students who request that an ESL writer be assigned to their paper of that ESL style writing be used in the paper. It is extremely difficult for ENL writers to sound like an ESL student. Mostly because ENL writers develop, process, and produce papers for clients at a higher level than that of an an ESL student.

When I was still writing for essay companies, I used to churn out papers like a machine without rest at the start of my career. As I became better known and developed my client base, I began to cut back on the papers I would churn out per day. Eventually, I would get a 50 page order request ( I only accept requests for large order papers from clients whom I had already worked with before as I needed to be familiar with the client and vice-versa for a smoother communication and writing flow) and ask the company to stop the assignment of lower page and rush turn around papers. The cost of the request was usually worth the temporary "Stop new orders" implementation at those times. Since I normally worked on those papers at night, having other things to attend to in the daytime, I would work for about 3 hours on the development of 10 pages then call it a night. I always made it a point to clock in at 8 hours of sleep everyday, even if it was in increments throughout the day. 4 hour of sleep in the morning and then another 4 hours in the afternoon and I would be all set for a full night of writing whenever required.