I'll start...
1. I have been in this industry for 7 years now, the golden days are over, only brutal competition for scraps is left
2. 6 months out of the year is pure famine, you can still get something but it is not nearly enough to make a living.
3. Other 6 months are pure madness, you get tons of orders but only have 2 hands to write. You can outsource, but it is risky and can cost you dearly, especially if you work for a company (can get fired).
4. Easy orders are sent to Nigeria for 2 bucks a pop. What is left for you are most atrocious, complex, time-consuming orders ever imaginable. You will spend more time on those than you thought, essentially bringing your hourly rate below the minimum wage.
5. Students are rude, entitled brats, pestering you with 1000 emails, wasting time, then not ordering anything, or requesting endless revisions, etc.
6. Companies are getting worse with every passing day, no respect for writers, management will always take the client's side, endless penalties, etc.
7. There are more writers and companies but fewer orders. Just yesterday ITT closed, 40,000 students were left high and dry. A lot of clients typically come from these "for-profit" colleges.
8. Searching for clients is a never ending process. Word of mouth does not work, students do not advertise their use of service, they graduate, and it means that a writer has to do a constant client search, eating up more time and resources.
feel free to add....especially if you have something good to say about being an academic ghostwriter
