Major - thanks for the input. I agree with the one name/one point of contact suggestion, and would imagine branding and building up a reputation is key to stable, well-paying work.

I'm actually a bit curious about the "it's not legal to help students cheat" comment - you might be able to elaborate a bit on this, and apologies if I'm being a bit too candid about the subject:

- Do any students actually use these essays for 'research' purposes? Or is this something you stipulate in your terms & conditions, in order to cover yourself (knowing fully well most of your work is going to be submitted verbatim). Do freelance writers here believe that what they're doing is totally on the up & up?

- Is it actually illegal to help students cheat? Or does it just break the rules of various post-secondary institutions & result in expulsion for the student. Are there any caveats that writers consistently put in their terms & conditions to protect themselves legally?

I read several threads in this forum which were enlightening. I was wondering if any of the more seasoned freelancers here would recommend that a burgeoning writer first cut his/her teeth in one of the more reputable essay writing websites? Initially I was thinking about just setting out on my own, but now I'm wondering if it would be prudent to first knock out a dozen or so smaller/simpler essays for some of the magnates in this industry to see if I have what it takes?

Lastly, is there a market for B-quality work? Is that a niche?

Personally I have few scruples when it comes to essay-writing. However, I can't help but think that any writers who believe their essays aren't ending up on the prof's desk are deluding themselves. In my opinion, I can't imagine students who cheat ever getting to a point where they find themselves in a career that puts a person's health or safety at risk. Bridges aren't going to collapse because a student handed in an essay I wrote. Surgeries aren't going to go terribly awry because of my interpretation of Vanity Fair. I think the best (or worst) case scenario here is that a student might undeservingly make it to an interview s/he's not qualified for based on academic merit, in which case s/he would get weeded out pretty quickly. I hire summer grads each year for my job, and I've come to realize that 90% of students who look good on paper are staggeringly stupid during the interview.


I'm glad to hear this. Part of the reason I'm intrigued in essay writing is because I imagine it'll augment my own writing skills and critical thinking. Plus, I'm just generally interested in nearly everything. I think it would be kind of fun to spend some time each week learning about subjects completely unrelated to my career & hobbies.

I'm strictly interested in this as a way of making extra money; I like my current job and meet all my savings goals, but it would be amazing if I could make an extra $5k/year on the side for my various superfluous interests. Keeping that in mind, would you recommend I try to freelance on my own, or first sign up for one of the more legitimate writing companies? Also I'd like to try and keep myself as insular and anonymous as possible at first - do any companies allow you to sign up without providing loads of personal documentation? Ideally I'd like to give out an email address, paypal information, and a pseudonym.


I agree with this. In addition to degrees, I was thinking I could provide my GRE verbal scores; however this is also easily photoshopped and only really attests to my ability to correctly interpret difficult vocabulary based on context.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Great!

I want to make sure I'm complying with the conditions of this website, which I realize has some pretty strict anti-solicitations rule. Is it ok to privately contact another member and exchange information?

Is it also okay to publicly post an email address for contact purposes, or is that forbidden?

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On another note, how do writers here advertise? The sheer volume of garbage on the internet must make it difficult. Anyone can throw up a decent essay they found somewhere and take credit for it. The more I think about it, it would probably make more sense to work up an active presence (on a website such as this one), where at the very least potential customers are assured that somewhere in the world there's a human being capable of posting intelligently. Writing competently on a forum such as this one is in itself a form of advertisement, which is why I don't want to skirt any of the rules!

FreelanceWriter - is the only real deterrent from a half-now/half-later payment plan (on a relatively short essay) that scammers might get involved? Or is it just not worth the time of more seasoned writers?

Secondly, is there any harm in providing updates/drafts on such a small piece, especially if the client is willing to pay for it? Without knowing a reliable writer, I feel like this is one of the only ways to mitigate the effects of a substandard piece.

Working away at more entertaining subject matter. :)

Thanks for your reply; it's very helpful. I've written my first essay (so far so good) and used the half-now/half-later plan (successfully), simply because I thought it was the norm for this industry. The business side of freelancing is certainly interesting. I've also been contacted by two potential clients who immediately stopped replying to my emails as soon as I brought up the topic of payment - I think it's possible they thought I was doing this for free. I guess it's a start!

MeoKhan, could you elaborate on these two things? I'm wholly unfamiliar with both.

You usually need to be an expert in any field before going solo. I work for a engineering company full time because I'm still several years from being knowledgeable & experienced enough to head out on my own. I imagine the same goes for writing. If you can cast out on your own and keep the wolf from the door, you're likely a very good writer or a great businessman, or possibly a little of both.

On the other hand, there are obviously exceptions to the rule. I know a couple of deplorable engineers with great clientele, and I can only imagine it's because they specialize in trivial/redundant work that couldn't possibly do any harm to anyone. It's possible the writing world has prosperous 'D-quality' writers much in the same way the civil engineering world has a plethora of unimaginative hacks ruining small parking lots all day long with ineffective grading studies.

Then again, if you don't like drumming up work, and have a good thing going with the company you work for, who's to say you're worse off than an entrepreneur?