Examining the Current Writing Job Market (Part One)

As someone who posts writing jobs almost daily (jobs.poewar.com) I often notice trends in the job market. I see which job titles are generating a lot of new listings and which job titles are scarce. I also see the other end. I know which types of job titles are getting a lot of traffic on my site and which ones are languishing despite the number of openings. I think this information is interesting, so I thought I would share. Perhaps it can help you in your job search.

Note: When I discuss the number of listings for a position, I am referring to the number of listings I find on the job aggregator, Indeed.com. I am not referring to the number of listings on my site. I sift through the positions I find (on Indeed.com and elsewhere) and try to list the best opportunities.

Technical Writing

Technical Writing is an interesting place to start. There are currently about three thousand technical writing positions listed on the job search aggregator I use. Now, some of those listings are duplicates, so any number should be taken with a grain of salt, but this is a good projection when compared with other job titles. Three thousand listings are by far the most you will find for any specific job title in the writing field. Editing has more job titles, but it is a much broader category as you will see below. On my site, however, technical writing positions are not searched for as heavily as other positions. In fact, they place sixth among my job categories (eighth if you count Write from Home and Freelance Writing). I think this is due in part to the barrier to entry for this field. It does require demonstrable technical skill, and that scares job seekers away. For those who have the qualifications though, technical writing offers the most jobs per seeker – at least on my site.

Write from Home

Write from Home is the most popular category on my site. It isn’t a job title, so much as a job goal, which is what makes it so attractive. On the downside, it is hard for me to come up with positions for this category that don’t sound too scammy. The dream of writing from home is obtainable, but it isn’t easy and you are not going to find a lot of businesses lined up to make you this offer. Most of the write from home listings I do come across are freelance opportunities. In those cases I do list the jobs in both the write from home and freelance writing categories.

Proofreading

The most viewed specific job title on my site (leaving out Write from Home and Freelance Writing) is Proofreading. I don’t have a full explanation for why, but plenty of people come to my site looking for proofreading jobs. On the job availability front, proofreading jobs have a modest number of listings. Less than two hundred proofreader jobs are currently listed on the aggregator. This is a reasonable number, but far from an explosive job market. This tells me that the amount of interest in the job exceeds the amount of available jobs, but that there are opportunities out there.

Editing

Editing is the second most trafficked job title on my site. It is true that proofreading is a form of editing, but I leave that out of the general editor positions. Editor positions are plentiful (there are 3700 listings on the aggregator) but it is a wide category. A technical editor, for example, requires a much different skill set than an acquisitions editor or a managing editor. There are also many editor positions I don’t list such as film and video editors.  Still, there are opportunities out there for editors, and they seem relatively on par with the number of seekers. Here is a quick breakdown of some of the editing subcategories in terms of the aggregate listings:

• Writer / Editor: 421
• Technical Editor: 200
• Copy Editor: 176
• Web Editor: 73
• News Editor: 72
• Assignment Editor: 60
• Acquisitions editor: 13
• Sports Editor: 13
• Book Editor: 4

Blogging and Web Content

Blogging is the third ranked job title on the site. There are plenty of people looking for these positions. Unfortunately, the number of listings out there doesn’t really support the interest. There are about three hundred current blogger opportunities, and the category is filled with listings that offer little or no money. It is a hard category to sift through if you are looking for good positions.

I also list Web Content Jobs and those listings do not get nearly as much traffic as blogger jobs. In fact, the category gets less than half the traffic that the blogger category gets. I find this interesting because I can locate a far greater number of legitimate web content jobs than I can blogger jobs. There are close to a thousand positions and while there are still some very low paying listings, there are many more good paying positions here than in my blogger listings.

Job Category Popularity Rankings

For those who are curious, here are the job categories on my site, in order from most to least popular.

1. Write from Home Jobs
2. Freelance Writing Jobs
3. Proofreading Jobs
4. Editing Jobs
5. Blogging Jobs
6. Copywriting Jobs
7. General Writing Jobs
8. Technical Writing Jobs
9. Web Content Jobs
10. Social Media Jobs
11. Reporting Jobs
12. Grant Writing Jobs
13. Canadian Writing Jobs

I will continue discussing job titles and opportunities in my next post. I’ll discuss copywriting, freelance writing, and social media jobs among other topics.

How to Write for Money

Written By Bob Sassone

So, here it is, another new year. And this year, you promise yourself that THIS YEAR it’s going to be DIFFERENT. You’re actually going to make some money from your writing!

Now, there are many among us that will be the next Stephen King or Dave Barry or John Grisham or Sue Grafton. But until that day arrives, wouldn’t it be good to get a little realistic about what you can make as a writer of only columns, reviews, and essays?

Business Writing

Generally speaking, the more “business” oriented the writing (corporate newsletters, brochures, proofreading, etc), the more money you can make.

Newsletters

Small companies, large companies, fan clubs, and community organizations often have internal or subscriber-based newsletters. Do you have the software or writing chops to actually put one together for them? Software programs and paper is cheap now, so you can produce a professional product right in your home. Or perhaps you could create and market a newsletter of your own, get some subscribers, and make some money that way. This is what I did in the early 90s. I created a music newsletter and a television newsletter in my home (with help from friends, of course), wrote up press releases, called record companies and production companies to get the word out, contacted the media, called a local printer, handled the mailing and distribution. If this sounds like a lot of work, it is. Running your own publication is a lot of work, but it’s also very satisfying. Pick a topic you know well. And it’s not really a matter of creating a glossy, slick, perfect-bound publication. Mine were just stapled together pages. It’s the useful and informative content that counts (but that’s not to say you can’t make a first-class product – do what you think will sell).

Web sites

Of course, many have gone from dead-tree newsletters to web sites. Web sites are easier to put together than you think. Web-site creating software is plentiful (some of the better ones are Adobe PageMill and Microsoft FrontPage). Knowing a little HTML helps too (tons of books available at Barnes and Noble or Borders – including the “Dummies” and “Idiots” series and a great book by Elizabeth Castro titled “HTML 4 For The World Wide Web”).

Brochures and Manuals

All companies, even small ones, have brochures, flyers, and other marketing materials that have to be created and edited. When I did sales for a major media company a few years ago, I also volunteered to put some marketing materials together because they didn’t have anyone in-house who did it. This is often the case. You might not be able to do it for Microsoft or Hewlett-Packard, but you can find local companies (ah, there’s that word again, “local” – don’t overlook all the opportunities in your area for extra income) who need help. I was once offered $1000 do rewrite the employee manual for a restaurant that once employed me. Who do you know that might need help? Maybe a friend knows a friend who owns a business?

Greeting Cards

Yes, SOMEBODY has to write those poems and funny remarks you see when you open up those cards. And the companies are more open to freelancers than you might think.

Resumes

This can be a great way to make extra money on the side. With resume and desktop publishing software so plentiful, making great resumes and cover letters for others is actually pretty easy. If you’re not sure of how chronological and functional resumes are put together, there are literally hundreds of books on resumes and dozens of web sites that will show you the way. Job-seekers don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars (like my roommate just did) for some big-time company to do their resume. You can do it too.

Editing, Copyediting, and Proofreading

Not everyone can write and edit. Since writing is all around us, text, text everywhere, we take it for granted. We think everyone knows how to write, knows how to edit, is sure that the stuff they’ve written is grammatically correct and makes sense and the words are spelled correctly. That’s not always the case. Small businesses often need help with editing and proofreading (including ads, if you think you can think of some great ad ideas for them). Also don’t overlook magazines and newsletters. Many editors look for freelance or temporary help when it comes to editing or proofreading. Sites to check out: Mediabistro (http://www.mediabistro.com), Guru (http://www.guru.com) and Newsjobs.net (http://www.newsjobs.net/usa/). And let’s not forget The Writers Resource Center (http://www.poewar.com/jobs, and http://www.poewar.com/freelance)! These are all great sites, not just for editing and proofreading, but for staff and freelance positions as well. Also, it doesn’t hurt to pick up the phone and call a newspaper in your area to see if they need help.

How about a non-writing job in publishing? I know, I know. You dread working on the “business” end of publishing. But let’s face it, that’s really where the steady money is. If you want to work in publishing, perhaps you could do what I did to get my foot in the door: I did sales and promotion full time for a music magazine. Sure, it was a lot of phone work and office-type paperwork, but it was a pretty good salary (plus commissions). Besides, you’ll make contacts you wouldn’t have made if you were waiting tables or babysitting. The publishing world runs on more than just words. Get a job in sales, marketing, circulation, distribution. It’s your foot in the door. And when another position opens up…

Magazines, Newspapers and Web Sites

Op-Ed Pieces

Newspapers are always looking for people to write op-ed (opinion-editorial) pieces on various topics. Start with your local paper. Back in the 80s, that’s how I got my first clips. Many don’t pay (though some do), but I’m a firm believer in writing for free, especially when you are first starting out, or even later when you want to get something published. It’s a great way to get clips, get your name out there, and put some impressive credits in your portfolio. Who cares if you didn’t get paid for that op-ed you did for The New York Times? I mean, it’s The New York Times! And that could lead to something else. Check the editorial pages or the masthead of the newspaper for a contact name. Many want to see the whole piece, though a few might want you to query first.

Become an online community leader

There are many online communities, sites where people who share the same interests get together to share information, chat, exchange information and links, learn new things about a particular topic (health, computers, music, movies, sex, politics, the latest episode of “Battlestar Galactica,” etc). Many online communities don’t pay, but three of the top sites pay regularly and are worth checking out: About (http://www.about.com), recently bought my media giant Primedia, is one of the most visited sites on the web. Community leaders share a percentage of the ad revenue generated by the site, which right now is between $100-500 a month, sometimes more. But hurry! Topics that need to be covered are going VERY quickly. Suite101 (http://www.suite101.com) is a similar site, jam-packed with great info, though it doesn’t pay as well ($25 if you update weekly, less if you do it every other week or monthly). But being a less-visited site, they have more topics available right now. Terrashare (http://www.terrashare.com) takes a slightly different track, telling their community leaders they will give them there own web site for free, and the more visitors you get to visit your section/site, the more money you make.

Teach

Schools and local colleges are often looking for writers to teach classes. Even if you don’t see an opening listed, write up a proposal, along with your resume and clips, and send it along to a school. Many times you don’t even have to have a teaching certificate (check your state laws). But even if you do, that doesn’t mean you can’t teach privately in your home. Charge by the hour. Get 4 or 5 students and the money will add up every week.

To make more money from your writing, start to think a little differently. Sure, getting a regular syndicated column in 100 newspapers or writing a best-selling novel are great goals. In the meantime, make sure you can pay the rent. You might have to take other work at the same time to make ends meet, but with a little flexibility, you can still call yourself a writer, learn the ropes, and be a few steps closer to the writing career you want to have.

Bob Sassone is a contributor to TVSquad.com and has written for Salon, McSweeney’s, Tripod, iUniverse, Compuserve, North Shore Magazine, and other publications. A book of columns and essays will be released later this year, as will his first novel. Web site: http://www.bobsassone.com.