Freelance writers either fill out 1099 form (I think that's the name) or file taxes in their respective countries. On my end, I have a sole proprietorship (the equivalent) and I pay taxes on whatever I make. It's a bit tricky to file but it beats having the IRS knock on my door every year. I don't think there's a single legitimate writer or a company that avoids taxation - it's the unfortunate side-effect of the world we live in (although I am of the conviction that tax is theft under the threat of weapons - with the exception of municipal taxes and some rudimentary sales taxes, everything else just serves to grow the state until it's so big it can't see it's own pecker).

That's just sugar coating the fact that most of them copy-paste papers, extort money from students after the fact and claim they are from the US/UK/Australia just to get ahead. Not to mention the persistent attempts to steal, lie, buy their way into top writing agencies. To name a few.

Well, I don't know about others - but I imagine they treat customers in much the same way - but I don't bail out once I accept an order. I did do that two or three times over the span of my career as a writer, but that's such a small percentile it doesn't really factor at all. What I'm trying to say is that anyone who's serious about this work has to have a very high work ethic, and will not skip out on a client as that brings bad press and no referrals.

That's not really how it goes. If you lived the life you'd know most of us basically live for the work, not the other way around. And if anything gets screwed up, private writers are able to fix it faster, since they are in direct contact with the client - not to mention its much easier to fix your own mistakes. I can't recall any client that had to wait for support or answers from me for more than a couple of hours (save for the random 3am inquiry)

How is his, or my or any other writer's service less convenient? Those of us that do this full time have protections in place to safeguard our clients, and ourselves - such as crisis rescheduling and forwarding. Bar phone support 24/7, there is no marked difference.

When I work on something dull I play this one (works wonders for concentration and focus)

When I work on something interesting, I listen to jazz or something like this

Aside from the few Ukranian sites that I know of (not official data, just observation over the years), there really aren't that many sites which actually get repeat orders. From what I see, almost on a daily basis, 90% of students who order from such sites and don't give up simply find reputable services and deal exclusively with them.

Seriously? I've read some of the "simple" papers written by halfwits with 0 ability to write in English. They most certainly cannot produce anything that would even remotely pass in college. Maybe in high school, just maybe.

If anything, online classes need more writing, not less, and of better quality.

It's simple, really. There's a market for low end customers - who just want something written once and will never order again - and that's what the Ukrainians do best. And there's the bulk of other students, who are in need of support for a longer period. If they get burned once, they'll think twice who they're giving their money to, and then the truly legitimate writers/companies come into play. And finally, you have your cautious kind, those who look before they buy, and they tend to find us more often than not.

Well, I don't know about your company, but from my experience and that of other freelancers, the order numbers are growing steadily . It's not just me, almost every company I write for (from time to time) has seen a good growth over the last two years.

That does not mean you're wrong, however.

That's complete bollocks. From what I see, the quantity of orders has been going up over the last 3 years, especially for private writers. Companies had a slump but most of them are getting back as well.

Because he's not on it :)

All you have to do is go to Wikipedia and read the biographies of the writers you mentioned :)

All you have to do is go to freelancer/upwork/any other marketplace and look at the samples or even start a chat with writers to realize that my assessment is very much true. And not limited to Kenyans or other Africans alone, this includes a wide range of "writers" from a range on countries.

Or, like in my case, receive work from clients written by other freelancers to edit/rewrite (this happens very, very often). Most of such "papers" are utter trash and not worth the paper it took to print them out, let alone $10 per page.

That's not completely accurate, as I've stated before, education plays a role, but the most relevant factor in this business is the ability to write fluently in idiomatic English. That's a rare trait to find in ESL writers.

On your question, most if not all post-colonial literature was written by people who lived in the US or the UK for extended periods. There are exceptions of course.

If you take into account the entire ESL population that ratio would be much, much larger. If it was not, none of us would have any work, now would we

The question is redundant, the answer is in the text you quoted

Any ESL writer will have specific elements of writing that are "odd" by ENL standards. However, really good ESL writers (you can probably count them on the fingers of one hand) can write idiomatically, whereas others write in a bastardized version of English that is almost always an instant red flag.

There are 3rd world countries that are civilized, they just have shoddy living conditions due to the economy. The point here is the quality of education, but even more than that the ability to write in the English language. From what I've seen in my years in the industry, the number of really good ESL writers is extremely low (my personal estimate is that only 1 of every 100 ESL writers can actually produce a paper that will pass US/UK educational standards without any red flags. Those that do, charge substantially more than $10 per page - more likely in the $20-30 bracket. Other than that, yes, I agree with the estimates made by Major.

That's about right

I charge a 15 or 20% surcharge for anything under 48 hours. Other than that, every paper is priced based on its difficulty/time consumption.

You will never know (for sure) what degree your writer has unless he/she provides transcripts or you do extensive research. Both are equally unlikely.

As for your question about PhD writers, I think that many people with PhD's or on PhD track don't know how to write (at least from my experience) anything more complicated than a shopping list. I think PhD is not a prerequisite for good writing on that level, provided one has enough experience. Personally, I avoid PhD stuff as much as I can, and never accept PhD dissertations when offered. I will take random papers or coursework, but that's about it. That's been my stance from the start, and I don't see it changing anytime soon.

I can't write on anything other than my pc. I've tried several times to work from a laptop, didn't sit with me at all. I've modified my workstation so it matches my exact needs - double monitors, mechanical keyboard with two pads for support, a stereo for music while writing and a comfy but sturdy chair. When I'm away from home for longer than a day I'll usually take my laptop with me in case of emergencies, but if I can avoid it, I'll never use it for work.

That's completely true. The number of papers that do not require at least 1 source is 0.

My dear fellow. You're trying to invent hot water when it's already been in use for ages. The system used by FW and other well established writers (including myself) is the only reasonable way to do business in this industry. We're not plumbers, or electricians. We can't really go to the client's house and ask for payment, mainly because our client may be living 10 000 miles from our location. I understand that you're new and making your way, but trust me, giving freebies is a one way street to stress, misery and unpaid bills. In 5/6 cases, the clients will take advantage of your own model and either not pay or be completely unreasonable in their demands.

Because he/she probably wouldn't pass the test (either grammar or writing sample) most of these companies have for new writers, has no qualifications or something else.

The only problem with your logic is that any decent writer will also be buried with work. Trust me, I've tried. Can't remember the number of times I tried to offload some of my stuff, or others do the same and we were all up to our necks. The clients would just circle around.

Isn't slavery illegal?

Anyone with the basic understanding of ethics and business will KNOW that poaching only leads downhill. During my time here, I have tried to be as honest and as open as possible with my competitors, even if I know that they share the same pie and we all want as large piece as possible. But, I also know that the only way to get that big piece is by being a good writer, delivering consistent quality and being fair in my dealings with others. And that's what I do, consistently. What you're suggesting is a rotten practice, and I don't know of any reputable writer or company that does that. We all have our little space and try to make the most of it as best as we can.

*tho, though

Most of my sources come by the same means. I either get books in PDF from clients, or extract them from online databases. It's useful to have access to EBSCO and similar services, saves a ton of time. Textbooks are the biggest pain there is in this business, they're impossible to find online, so if the student does not have a PDF version, I have to buy them. Abebooks and Amazon must love us :)

You're so full of it. Please tell me when did Google Scholar first appear? By your own account, you have been writing essays for 30 odd years, and yet, somehow, you managed to use Google Scholar in what, 1983? Sigh, at least get your act together if you're gonna write fairy tales, please.

Well, some are gone fishing, others are enjoying comatose sleep cycles. I doubt you'll be given more attention, so rest easy. As for your choice of "marketing" (or your site's), it's waaaay off. But that's just me.

Calling your customers lazy and then pointing out that the site you work for (or own, whichever it is) has tons of bad reviews is good how? And for whom? My logic must be way off, yeah. I don't think it'll bring in the kind of results you hope for, but let's wait and see, shall we? I bid you farewell, I must return to my coffee pot and my typewriter. Adios.

As I've said, I have no clue (or interest for that matter) if you're the owner. I just find it funny you'd join just to "observe" a fact that has been known to us for years - you could've just used the search function, the site was discussed at length. The fact that you chose to focus on the negatives is strange, but I guess it could be an elaborate ploy to make us think you're actually legit. Who knows.

As for the typo, yeah, it's late, been writing all day, it happens.

You do realize that any press in this business is BAD press by definition? Or you think there's a halfwit journalist out there actually willing to write a positive op-ed about this industry?

Strangely enough, I came here once too, completely fresh. However, I never went through any "abuse." Could it be because I try to be honest and respective of a) my clients, b) my competitors and c) of the companies I work for (in other words, I don't talk **** about them)?

I don't have any opinion about you, or your site, yet. I just find it odd that you'd come here and trash your place of employment. That's telling. And not in a good way.

We're just a group of fluffy unicorns who have the combined IQ of a school of fish. The point is, Major and most other "senior citizens" here saw, heard and debated many people who claimed good faith and intentions. We're all addicted to coffee, have squinty eyes and high levels of cynicism.

This forum is a deterrent for frauds since they get pummeled shortly after they start to advertise - courtesy of wb and others. I imagine that's why we don't see ads from frauds very often.

There's nothing limiting about it, you want in, you place your ad and that's that. It just so happens that that is the extent (with one notable addition whom I know personally) of real services that take part in this forum. I'm sure there are many more, whom I do not know personally, but those that are "approved" did not come there using magic.

As for the other part of your message, yes, this forum is, primarily, aimed at reducing the plague of spammers, scammers and garbage writers out there. And there's plenty of them., trust me.

If you know the site's rotten, why work there in the first place? There's heaps of other sites you could work for if you have the qualifications. You're kinda cutting the branch you're sitting on, but that's your business anyway.