Q:

Note: I edited the question a bit to cut out the irrelevant parts.

I am looking for a legitimate source of freelance writing jobs.

I am a communicator and proficient at story writing/telling.  That would be another source of much needed income for me, to keep a roof overhead, have utilities and food without having to choose one or the other.

I found your website and I am grateful for you and your service.  Finally there is someone that exposes the frauds.
This past November I was laidoff, searched until exhausted and found no other option; as of this month I become retired. A Baby Boomer,very low retirement benefits and dependents still; I need to work.

But despite college degrees, being multilingual, very PC proficient and my extensive CSR experience, aging people such as I do not get hired, at least where I live. I have been trying to find a solution such as working from home.

There is a long list of frauds and scams I have found offered in my area (North Carolina). If your service is interested in knowing of those, please tell me and I will be happy to provide you with a list.

A:

There’s definitely a bigger demand for writers than ever right now. Basically the reasons are:

1) The search engines filter out junk
and duplicate content more than ever which
means that more and more sites need
better content.

2) The Web 2.0 model where a content
is produced by the users and revenue
is shared or content is paid for
up front (rates are lower than regular
freelancing, but it’s easier to
get content accepted.

3) I’m sure there’s a 3rd reason.
It doesn’t seem right unless there’s 3. LOL

OK,

First: If you’re not a member of
a good freelance writing forum, you must,
must, must join one.

One of the better ones is here:

http://forums.writersweekly.com/

which is part of:

http://www.writersweekly.com/

Also:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/

which is part of

http://www.absolutewrite.com

You’ll start getting a sense of which
companies & sites to trust within
the field by participating in a couple
of quality forums.

I wouldn’t recommend joining a ton
of writing forums. You’re probably
best sticking to a couple high quality
ones so you can get to know the
members better.

Second:

Use these watchdog sites:
http://www.sfwa.org/beware/
http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/
http://www.writersweekly.com/whispers_and_warnings.php

I’ll do a little digging on that site you
mentioned, but I suspect most of it
is the same as the free resources I
helped put together here:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Make_Money_Writing_for_the_Web

You probably want to look at the section there
called Additional Resource for Writers as it lists
the sites that are geared more towards the
serious freelancer.

There are tons of free, excellent legitimate
freelancing sites. If you start with the
"authority sites" such as absolutewrite
and writersweekly you’ll have much better
luck not hitting the scams.

Yes, please send me info on the scams
in your area.

Thanks.

Paul