Website Review
Writers Weekly
By Shelly Hemig
Copyright © 2009 by Shelly Hemig, All Rights Reserved
http://www.writersweekly.com/
Established in 1997,
Writers Weekly is a freelance writing ezine that provides an
impressive array of information. For starters, it includes lists of
paying markets and jobs, warnings about questionable publications,
articles about making it as a freelancer, and a section for interview
requests.
Markets That Pay
According to the site, the
five or so submission guidelines published each week are "original
market listings received from and approved by the editors at each
publication." In addition, site owner and publisher Angela Hoy provides
a link to her markets database. Some of the information in the database
may not be up-to-date, but it's a great place start researching,
especially considering it's free.
Writers Weekly
also lists about 25 links to freelance writing jobs. Many of the offers
originate from metropolitan-area Craigslist postings across the country.
The jobs include ones for copywriters, technical writers, and
translators, among others. Still, it's convenient to have them all in
one place in order to research their viability. Hoy obviously does her
homework to be able to provide a new list of jobs every week.
Most importantly, since Hoy
is a strong proponent of not writing for free, they're all paying
markets and jobs.
Freelancers' Advocate
Writers Weekly
serves not only as a market resource, but also as a watchdog, of sorts.
Hoy compiles warnings against certain publications based on writers'
complaints. Most of these complaints are for nonpayment, and the writers
who make them generally don't turn to Hoy until they've tried to resolve
matters on their own.
Before posting a warning,
Hoy contacts the publisher in question. She's transparent in these
endeavors, publishing all correspondence between herself and the
publisher. If Hoy is unable to get payment for the writer, or her
requests for information are ignored, she will post a warning for other
writers to beware. In a career where so much time is spent alone, it's
nice to know there's someone who will fight for writers to get their
fair due.
If the writer gets paid, Hoy
lets her readers know that the publisher did come through. Depending on
the circumstances, she may even remove the warning.
Besides the warnings, Hoy
recommends that freelancers avoid nonpaying or low-paying markets, such
as pay-per-click sites. Writers Weekly itself is a paying market.
Write for Writers Weekly
Two freelance articles are
published in each issue of Writers Weekly. The feature pays $60
for 600 words, and the success story pays $40 for 300 words. Hoy pays on
acceptance and asks for first, non-exclusive electronic rights. Detailed
guidelines can be found here:
http://writersweekly.com/misc/guidelines.php
Writers Weekly
also runs a quarterly contest, the 24-Hour Short Story Contest. Hoy
charges a $5 fee, which is used to pay the first, second, and third
place winners. Twenty Honorable Mention winners receive non-cash prizes,
and 60 door prizes are also given away each quarter.
The contest is challenging.
Writers are given a prompt and 24 hours to complete a story of 1000 to
1500 words (depending on that quarter's word count maximum). More
details can be found here:
http://www.writersweekly.com/misc/contest.php
But Wait, There's More
If all that isn't enough,
the ezine includes "Letters to the Editor," "Ask the Expert," "Free
Book Excerpts," "AngelaHoy.com" (Hoy's weekly column), and even "News
from the Home Office" (snippets from Hoy's daily life).
The "Interview Requests"
section links to the site's forum. Writers are welcome to use it to find
interview subjects. A lot of activity is also seen in the Freelance
Forum, where people are encouraged to ask for or offer advice about
their freelancing experiences.
Per the name, the site is
updated weekly, on Wednesdays. Readers can choose to get an email
version which includes links back to the full text of the articles on
the site. Both the site and the email zine have a simple, uncluttered
format that is easy to read and to navigate.
Writers Weekly
offers something for every freelance writer. Check it out.
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