Ten Online Writing Sites You Might Have Missed

I will saddle you with a few of those kinds of web sites, and fill in with some other great resources that can get you work, get you noticed, hone your skills, or help you make contact with other writers who share your interests.

My feeling is, there’s no such thing as too many resources.

So here, without any more blah blah blah from me, are ten online writing resources you might have missed:

WritersDigest.com. Writers Digest started out as a print publication aimed at creative writers and people who submit articles to paper magazines. They feature articles about how to write, how to get an agent, and all those kinds of writerly topics, but they also regularly include calls for submissions (paper and online publications that are looking for new writers) and they list writing contests (some have an entrance fee, some don’t). Right now they are featuring an article (with hot links) on the 101 Best Websites for Writers, so if you’re looking for new places to sell your stuff and make money, you can blow a couple hours browsing all your choices in that one article alone.
Poets & Writers. Poets & Writers is another print publication whose online version (www.pw.org) is every bit as good as the paper magazine. I’m partial to Poets & Writers because the quality of the articles about writing is much better than Writers Digest, and tone of the whole thing is just a little more upscale. You’ll find interviews with successful writers and poets from all genres, advice, agents, and lots of new markets, writing contests, and calls for submissions.
WritersWeekly.com. Lots of solid information on publishing on demand, online markets, agents and so on in a slightly cheesy format, which for some reason, is extremely typical of many of these writing sites. Apparently, not all writers are web designers too.

Journalismjobs.com. Tired of trolling the net for clients who balk at a penny a word? Sick of working 20 hours a day to build “passive revenue”? If you think you might like to try for a job type job, as in forty hours a week, health plan, 401k, annoying boss; then this is the place to look. Jobs are broken down into ten different categories including film, television, and online media.

Bukisa.com. Bukisa is a revenue sharing site much like Hub Pages. The user interface isn’t bad, and while you don’t really meet the people you do on Hub Pages, the revenue is comparable and they are constantly adjusting it. One nice thing about Bukisa is that the payout threshold is only $10, so you don’t have to write for a year to make a little money.

Examiner.com. The Examiner started out as a San Francisco newspaper and is currently hiring writers for its online venue. To write for The Examiner you have to fill out a template which includes a brief (250-300 word) writing sample and an explanation of what you will do for them. They hire writers by region, so you have to give your stuff a regional slant (I write for the Grand Rapids MI area), and you have to pick a topic (I write paranormal stuff). They have a specific format that isn’t hard to nail down, and they pay through revenue sharing, like Hub Pages. If you decide to try it and you get in they’ll pay me $50, so if you say I sent you I won’t be sad. I just started myself, so I can’t say I’m raking it in, but I’m having fun and the articles are short so its easy to write them.
Freelance Zone. Freelance Zone is a blog that features lots of good advice about what not to do and what to cultivate if you are trying to make your living grubbing for word bucks. So many people are doing this now that the competition is really fierce. Freelance Zone is a kind of a water cooler web space to kick around and read about your issues.

Freelancewriting.com. This is another one of those uber-job-board type sites, with links to jobs from lots of other sites. You can spend a lot of time here and get overwhelmed pretty quickly, but every so often you do hit on something good if you keep at it.

Demand Studios. Demand Studios subcontracts freelance work to online writers. You have to apply to write for them, just like you apply for a regular job. If you get in, they pay you per article, but you don’t have the bennies of a real job, (natch). Why would you want to do that? Because the freelance job boards are getting crazy wild competitive and its one way to make sure you get at least $10 an article or so.

Freelancewritinggigs.com. Another general site for online freelancers, offering business advice, job leads, tip and tricks, and so on.

With the global recession starting to hit harder and harder in more and more places, more and more people are trying to write for money online. It’s not that easy and the competition is insane right now. Having lots of resources and staying on top of new trends can help you to become one of the few people who actually get work.

In all honesty, I do think there’s an outer limit to all this writing online insanity. I mean, everybody can’t make money writing online. It’s really, really hard to do, folks. But some people are indeed doing it, and you might be one of them.

You never know until you try.

Good luck!