@jeannie
Jesus almighty. You cannot be THIS dense........One can divulge a list of clients or emails of specific clients without revealing their private identification. Ever heard of "blacking out", "anonymizing", and similar terms? Strike that, of course you haven't.

I'm guessing your English classes didn't move past dunce when covering stupid words nobody uses. Or is that just your favorite one? How......quaint.

@jeannie
So..........that's a no.
And just for clarification (for you, since you're obviously too dense to understand without dangling it in your face), I would never divulge personal information of any of my clients. I would, however, gladly divulge correspondence and other pertinent information as evidence in our would be d... measuring contest (which I'd win, obviously).

@jeannie
When presented with accurate and honest criticism I will always consider it. Your sole purpose here is to shill, as evidenced by your constant drivel against private writers. Again, I'd be amused (there'd been many like you over the years) were it not for the constant attempts to defame and deface people I actually know to be legitimate. As for overpromoting and "unsubstantiated" credentials: I am willing to put mine up front and center if you do the same. I'll provide clients, companies, payment slips, email exchanges, whatever you want. But, and this is a big but, you must do the same and do so publicly. Put up or shut up.

@jeannie
lol. I'd actually be amused were you not trying to defame a well known and legitimate writer (one of the very few in this industry). You are completely clueless and judging by your lack of comprehension not very clever. So, to reiterate, both FW and myself have stated that reviews are easy to manufacture and that many writers use that tactic to gain credibility. This forum exists to expose scams and provide legitimate writers with a platform to interact with clients, competitors, and (sadly) the likes of you. That is why I pay to be featured. Or are you suggesting that it is somehow unethical to advertise for oneself? If so, on what grounds? I also don't give my clients a phone number for a very simple reason. I work alone and giving my phone number would lead to incessant calls in the middle of the night. Thanks but no thanks. Even so, if they so choose, clients can easily find my phone once they communicate with me because they know my full name, my address, and my location. Are you also implying that I'm a fraud? Because then you'd be at around 40-50% of legitimate writers on this forum, at which point your entire shtick stops working. Aside from FW, PV, and a few writers who have left the industry I am one of the very few legit writers here. I have thousands of reviews (many of which can't be faked as they were posted on websites of companies I worked for) and have been on this forum since 2012 or 2013. So, by your estimate, two legit writers have managed to dupe their way in this industry for well over two decades (FW) and a decade (me) until you came along. Right.......

@jeannie
Unlike you, I can actually recognize true statements when presented. That's why I adopted that very same idea in my communication with clients. I will always provide a sample but clearly state that the client has no way of knowing whether or not it was written by me. That's an honest appraisal. But then again, expecting you (having read through your drivel) to understand basic logic would be too much. I bet you think correlation equals causation.........

Just FYI. I have known Charles (sorry :)) for a decade. I wouldn't say we are friends, but rather friendly competitors. In my mind, there is only a handful of people in this entire industry that I consider to be better or more successful than me (excluding companies and company writers of course), and FW is one of them. Actually, aside from FW I've only known two writers whom I turned to for advice and help when I needed them. We (FW and me) exchange clients and orders regularly, and I have never known the man to deliver sub-par work. As I say to all of my clients whom I refer to him, he is expensive but well worth the price. Finally, I was recently planning a trip to NY and we were planning to meet but that fell apart due to COVID, although I'm hoping to be able to go soon. So whatever any buffoon has to say about FW it is most likely untrue.

@FW, that's precisely what I was trying to say. Ordering from a company puts roadblocks in communication, but I don't agree that private writers can be present 24/7, not if they work alone (as I presume you and I do). Now, I don't know how every system works, since I haven't worked for every company (obviously), but those that I do know have a poor record on communication, at least from the clients' perspective. However, you have to sleep, as do I. Companies have that advantage over us, they have writers who stay up (just like you say you did many times) all night just to catch that order that comes in. I can function without sleep for a while, but staying up 24 hours every day is just not possible. And I am not going to pay someone to monitor my email for orders.

Most websites have an automated system that accepts orders without flagging anything. The only time you're going to be talking to an actual person is either after a writer takes the order and starts asking questions, or if by chance the sales team sees your order and asks for clarification. This is not the case when you work with a private writer though. Each has its benefits; writers who work alone can take longer to respond because they are busy, or sleeping, or having their appendix removed. Company writers will respond faster (in general), because there's always someone watching the boards and looking for orders. Guess it boils down to personal preference.

This statement is completely and absolutely false. I always liked scribbling stuff down, but I never "excelled" in it, especially not in college. It was only after that I started to consider writing as a more serious career choice and evolved my skill over time. There might be some writers who actually enjoyed writing in college and even high school, but I somehow doubt they work in this exact field. It's much more likely they pursue other types of writing careers.

I'm of the same mind as FW in that I don't even book a paper unless it's been paid for. I do make exceptions for dissertations but even then 50% down payment is required, with the final payment sent before turning over the work.

I started off without ever joining a company so mine is a rather unique perspective. It's much, much harder to get established this way, but it is possible. However, perspective writers are always better off starting with a company, at least until they perfect the craft, as it will reduce the workload and allow them to enter the industry painlessly. Having to juggle writing, marketing, branding, and customer support is tasking for anyone, let alone a newbie. Take it from a guy who went through it, it's much easier to get started through a company. Only when you have your feet wet should you consider exploring independent freelancing.

Almost every day, that's true. If you're keen on looking further, there are entire forums dedicated to this type of activity online, and not just in Africa. I've seen, personally, quite a few people trying to buy accounts. Some came to me hoping I'd be willing to do the tests for them. I refused, of course, but it just goes to show that people are willing to do almost anything to get ahead.

I agree. Live bidding for projects and competing with other writers doesn't seem to attract high paying customers, either. I've dabbled with freelance platforms earlier in my career and found that the prices offered by writers from some countries cannot be beat - they have hundreds of workers and bid on virtually everything well below market rates simply because they can. Quality of the final product matches the quoted price, of course.

An experienced writer with hundreds or even thousands of papers under their belt can write several high quality essays a day. I've had days where I wrote more than 20 pages and all of the clients who ordered were satisfied. The same goes for other experienced writers on this forum and elsewhere. The rookies, however, will often struggle with a simple undergrad paper, and will often spread the task over several days of work. We've all went through this stage, so prospective clients should not be worried about tight deadlines. However, reason should be used, because no writer, no matter how good they are, can write 50 pages of text in under 24 hours (it is possible, but it will not be of high quality). Plan ahead is the word of the day.

Generally, writers cannot upgrade their writing to any level beyond their current expertise. A C+ writer cannot write A grade papers consistently (some may happen by chance). The same is not true for A grade writers. They can, when needed, dumb down their level of writing to any grade if the client so chooses. I had clients ask me to write poor papers with many mistakes because their teachers would immediately recognize the upgrade. One client in particular stuck with me, she wanted a D on the paper (I never promise a grade but I did my best to write according to her specs) because she was pregnant at the time and couldn't manage the workload. She got D's on all of her papers in the course and did not want to raise any red flags.

This is not true. You can have excellent grammar and written skills, but still be a shoddy academic writer. To be good, you need to understand how to formulate arguments, find sources, extract information, and phrase that information in a new way. I've had a number of clients who wrote very well but could not write a research paper. One more thing, to be a good academic writer, you need to do all of the above in as little time as possible, at least if you want to earn a decent wage. Writing 10 pages every two or three days is not going to pay your bills, rent, or put food on the table.

Are you serious? I agree that most ESL writers write worse than most ENL writers (there are exceptions), but to say that no foreigner can write better than your average ENL speaker is simply wrong. I deal with native speakers on a daily basis and I can tell you that some of them write far worse than some of the worst ESL writers I saw. That is not to say that most of them are like that, but rather that there are many who can't write a single sentence in the English language.

This. My wife hates this :)

This is not how it goes in this business, unfortunately. Hot seasons are precisely that, two-three months of constant red bull infused burnout frenzy that lasts for as long as there are papers to write. We get enough downtime during the summer and that sweet spot of 5-10 days in February to get some rest. Our job is not exactly fit for everybody, you need to be able to withstand the burnout phase and push through or there's really not much money to be made in this line of work.

I actually did some research not so long ago about the impact of discount codes and the frequency of discount cards in the research market. Surprisingly, I found that only one company in the market currently has discount/reward card program, and it was one of the sites in the Ukranian conglomerate. I too gave students discount codes until couple of years ago, but decided against it because it seems to perpetually increase their demands so I just instituted one-and-done policy. First time around you pay a fixed price and subsequent orders get a small discount. That said, I certainly hope that's not your company, because it's well known as being illegitimate.

Again, after so many years in this industry, legit writers tend to know who is and is not legit. That's not an opinion, it's a fact. Just as it is a fact that Hillary is not the president, to use your failed comparison. It may be an opinion to you because you don't understand or want to understand how this business works, but I have seen so many clients crying over their failed education at the hands of scammers that I tend to err on the side of caution. My list of legitimate writers and companies is very, very short, and it will remain so whether you agree with it or not. Give it a couple of years, and you'll realize that what we're saying is the only viable option, just as I realized it after I got a few hundred orders under my belt.

Based on this statement alone I can conclude that you have very limited experience in this industry. Posting the essay online with the client details would invariably result in one of two outcomes: a) the client would be swamped with fraudulent offers from scammers or b) the client would be approached by intermediaries who would charge incessant amounts only to refer the project to another writer. Very few offers would come from legitimate writers, since most of those who are legitimate already have their schedule full and don't generally go out and seek orders posted on forums such as this (although this is not always the case). In short, the client would end up in the hands of scammers, the very thing this forum is meant to fight against.


No, I can not say that legitimate writers are buddies. Sure, I have a few friends who also happen to work in this industry, but ultimately the only thing that matters is reliability and name. I know for a fact that any client I refer to the writers I have on my list will be served properly, and that is the only reason why I refer clients to them. All the better if it happens to be one of my buddies, but its not the defining factor.

You should read my post again. Most writers exchange orders, but they don't do that randomly, or because we are kind of heart. I will never even take an order that I know I can't complete, let alone leave it unfinished. As for sharing, I always recommend another writer or a company when I can't manage the order myself. However, what I don't do is recommend random newbies I know nothing about.

There have been dozens of geniuses like yourself over the years to come here or other forums and claim they are the best, they know everything, and that we the veterans are obsolete. And yet, here we are and the geniuses are nowhere to be found. Good luck to you.

Most of this is palpably absurd. The only metric used to determine one's worth is the contribution to the forum itself, the length of stay, and the absence of complaints. I came here in 2013 and was not attacked, molested, or in any way disparaged simply because I did not try to spew garbage and offer advice when I had none to give. Most new members do just that and then wonder why we laugh at them. As for sharing orders, you should move to a less competitive industry since you clearly have issues with the concept of competition. I share orders with several writers, but only and only when I cannot help the student or when I am completely booked. Why on earth would I give work to anyone other than for those reasons is beyond me.

That is most certainly not the case. Some writers choose to do this because they want to increase their earnings, or they get bored with writing. Others, like myself and at least two or three reputable professionals who frequent this forum, find this type of work interesting and moreover do not want to delegate. I enjoy my work, and I don't see any reason why I would have to "take it up a level." I earn more than I need, work when I want to, have free time to engage in my hobbies (most recently conquering Europe with Switzerland in EU IV :) and preparing for a boxing match in July) so I don't see any reason to take on management which ultimately does not interest me that much, or as much as writing. There's really nothing to gain except more money. Since my goals in life do not include driving a Ferrari or having a Rolex watch, I'm content with what I have.

The fact that there is a very precise and very easy to articulate response to any post made by freelance writers here speaks volumes. I have no quarrel with the owners of the forum, nor with any of the seemingly ever increasing number of their employees who post here - I partially understand the motives, but still. What I do have a problem with is the increasing persistence of some individuals to minimize the effect and voice of some posters because it seems that this forum has turned into an advertising machine for a very specific group that is doing whatever possible to minimize the effects of paid advertising for another group.........

While I pay for my listing (and I will continue to do so for as long as the forum owners let me), it seems that there is an ever increasing number of completely non-existent individuals who simply choose to appear (poof - as one movie character would put it) out of the blue and advertise here. You know what I mean, people claiming to have written for 20 odd years and yet there exists not a trace of their online history, nada, nix, zilch. If you look up some writers who advertise here, however, you'll find a lot of info, you can even find their names and addresses - simply because their identities got mixed with their online handle.

Now, call me crazy, but it seems almost as if the actual freelance writers who advertise here are competing with several whales acting as little fish.....And the whales get all flustered when the little fish dare to argue that customers may prefer writers over companies for a number of specific reasons. Even though it is completely true, just as it is true that there is a very big portion of customers who will always turn to companies for very specific reasons - and both of these are fine (or at least they should be).

Yes, there are objective, well reasoned, thoroughly supported arguments made by members who have been here for years levied against unsupported, uninformative, uneducated, and most importantly, notoriously self-defensive posters who just so happens advocate for companies and try to shill against private writers. You can call it what you wish, but readers will know immediately which poster is legitimately trying to contribute, and which poster is here solely to push "their company." I'll leave the guesswork to you, since that's what you're good at, eh?

Maybe from the website of the Resume Writers Association? thenrwa.com

The truth is precisely the opposite. Writers who work for several companies, and/or themselves do so because they want to serve only one master, themselves. I mean its not that difficult to figure out, is it? Writers who do this tend to be isolated, very intelligent and driven, but largely unsociable, or less sociable individuals who prefer peace and quiet of their home to the bustling noise and movement of a corporate office. Such writers understand that the only way to have their cake and eat it, too, is to work as much as possible, keep their options open, and have contingencies upon contingencies for any possible worst-case scenario.

That's just a load of bull, and you know it. Two of the most reputable writers on this forum and I daresay in the industry both use free mail accounts. Most, if not all other writers who are legitimate also use such emails. Companies are a different story. All you need to do is look at the recommended section (which you vehemently refer to in many of your posts by the way) and realize that every single writer there has a free mail account. Hmh, makes you wonder.

There are certainly writers who scam students and also use free email accounts. But then again, there are companies which use paid email accounts and have flashy sites and also scam students. Should we infer from this that all companies are scams and students be vary of any company with a professional website? Give me a break

Honestly, I don't know how it works for them in the end. For my part, I'd never steal another's client, even if they came knocking. But there are some reprehensible individuals out there for sure. The concept of it is interesting, though, since you basically work the same as you would with a private client, minus the administrative hassle .

Actually there are companies that do this - I worked for at least two. It's unorthodox, to say the least, but it does seem to work rather well. Basically you get the brief with the student's email attached once the project has been paid for and you send the finished work directly to them. I only did a few dozen projects for these companies, but still it was a refreshing change from the message boards.

@Write Review
And once again you venture into the "I ordered" territory. I honestly don't know what or who you employ but there is no way I would let anybody tell me/let alone order me to take a day off. Your writers are either desperate or just don't know any better. What I do know is there isn't any writer I am aware of that would take this sort of treatment from a company and stay there long-term. When I'm tired, I'll rest, when I feel like travelling I travel, but I don't let anybody tell me when to work or when not to work. The description of this job is - work when you want, how much you want, for whomever you want. If you're paying your writers' paid leave, 401k, health insurance, and taxes then you can tell them when to work. If not, they're pretty much free to do whatever they want as long as they deliver papers on time.

It is the job of the writer, not the company to keep track of deadlines. Whichever writer complained about this is a moron, since the entire job they applied for is based on the one thing they are complaining about. I live in Europe, and yet I work, eat, sleep, and do everything on EST simply because 90% of my clients do the same. I have to be available to them or I wouldn't eat....it's really not that complicated to understand. Writers who complain about time zones either don't take their job seriously, or simply don't understand it at all.

I know, but you and I started from substantially different points. My first experience with academic writing was not as methodical, should I say, as yours was. I kinda just stumbled into this field by proxy and grew into it as I learned the ropes while working for a small company - it was basically just one lady that sub-hired me. I was maybe 6 or 7 months in that I started looking at the best way to go solo and actually went through with it soon after. You on the other hand, worked for a company for years, and that company was probably good for you or you wouldn't have stayed as long. Only after years of experience did you venture on your own. Most of these differences are due to location, as I did not have access to many of the resources and opportunities available to you and other US writers, so I had to make due with what I had. As we all know, ESL writers are not really the cream of the crop, so proving myself and fighting my way up wasn't easy. However, I stand by what I said, now that I have 6 years under my belt, I would never limit myself to a single company, even if it kept me busy constantly (and some of them do, or try to).

That's strange. I've been a freelancer since 2012, and have since worked for (for any period of time) about 8 or 9 different companies in addition to an ever increasing workload from private clients. Some of these companies fell off the grid since then, but I still maintain relations with at least 4, sometimes 5 of them. The point is that experienced writers will never take more than they can chew, and moreover, freelancers are freelancers because they don't want to work for any single person or a company. I will never limit myself to a single company for all of my work, simply because I want to be as free as possible. Some people may yearn for the security of long-term employment, but I tried it, and it wasn't my cup of tea. I'll take less money (if necessary) but more freedom every day of the week. To illustrate, I've turned down at least three offers to sell my freelancing business to larger companies in the last two years. All of them wanted me to come and work for them as a manager.

You mean the ole' "I'm out of the freelance writing business but still want to spew my immense knowledge because I'm such a nice person" shtick that was played out at the start? No, nobody noticed..............Funny how that all changed in just a couple of months.

That's funny, I actually agree to a point. I've seen essay prompts written by US "professors" that have absolutely no idea how to write, their grammar is horrible, and they can't compose complex sentences. And yet they supposedly mark essays for grammar, syntax, and argumentation. Not to mention referencing styles, formatting, and everything else..........One would assume that professors should be able to compose a grammatically correct essay prompt, right?

@Write Review
Lol. I don't really care about you all that much, other than the obvious shilling you do on the forum - although it's kind of funny at times. Did you ever stop to consider that there are some of us who don't actually want to hire people? I toyed with the idea once my business picked up, and decided not to go in that direction. Not because I'm not able to, but because I prefer writing over managing. Simple as that. Besides, I want my clients to know exactly what they get when they order, which is why I only do as much work as I can handle, and turn away the rest (there's a couple of people here that can actually confirm what I'm saying, are there any that can confirm yours?). Besides, it is you who is digging up years old threads for no other reason than to promote yourself, so don't be calling us for your actions, eh? Finally, freelancing is a lifestyle, at least for those of us who are good enough to live comfortably from it and not forced to take crap from people. My point is simple, if you don't have a contract with your writers saying they have to clock in at 9, you have no right to pressure them to take any work, it's their choice. That's what freelancing IS.........