Authorr.com - My Experience as a Freelance Writer

Today I would like to review Authorr.com from the writer's perspective. While the site is pretty new on the "content mill" market, it claims to do things differently. Indeed, there are some differences, and some of them are not positive, either. If you are a freelance writer, looking to start up your career by signing up with Authorr.com, you are up to some surprises. Read the below guide so you will be prepared when the time comes.

The Sign Up Process

Here is what the company says about their application process:

Nothing concrete there, regarding payment, schedule, quality, etc. I signed up with the company a couple of months back. Then, I had to submit a sample article and wait a couple of weeks to get it accepted. I got an email that I was ready to start, but it took me another few days to figure out that I had to "opt in" for assignment types. Back then, you had to submit a bid for the type of project, and the maximum you could bid at was one cent per word. So I did, and started working. 

Assignment Types

Currently, there is only one, standard assignment type: "value article". It pays the amount you bid on, per word. I was - in the beginning- only able to opt in for 400-word articles, but I am currently being offered anything from 300 to 1000 words. The company states that you will be allowed to apply for "Niche Expert" articles in the near future, but I will cover this subject later in the article.

Website

The site, unfortunately, is everything but writer-friendly. You get notification about projects available through email, right, But that is the most information you will ever get. When you decide you are ready to do some work, this is what you see:

Now, this means that you need to take the first random assignment that comes your way, without knowing the topic. That is simply not good. Once you have taken the project, you have 6-8 hours to complete it. There is currently no "release" button. Instead of the "TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT" approach, the company offers a "TAKE IT OR GET PENALIZED" policy. If you fail to submit the article in time, Your rating score (only seen by the company, not you) is affected by completion rate, rejection statistics, and the number of revision requests, which - in most cases - are completely out of your hands.

You can review your completed assignments and your invoices on the site. The page does not state your outstanding balance, though, so you see how much you earned so far, but not how much is owed to you. 

There is a Support link with a contact from, but it takes a long time to get answers. No live support is offered for urgent issues.

Communication

On one particular occasion, I took an article that did not have enough instructions. According to the email, I "did not focus on the topic enough". I accepted that, there was nothing wrong with that. However, next time I logged in to the system, I got the very same assignment. I sent an email to support, no answer. After six hours, I got a message saying that I failed to deliver. I was a little angry, sent another support email, and the company simply acknowledged that they got the previous message. That's it. Not much of a communication or writer support there. 

Payment

One good aspect of the company is that they make the payment on time every Monday. I have another client on board that makes payments on Monday, but they are usually 12 hours late compared to Authorr.com. 

The Future of Authorr.com

The company sent me an invitation to a webinar that explains the future plans of the company. Unfortunately, it came in the middle of the night, only a few hours before start, so I could not attend. The recording was sent out later, and I watched the while hour of content. You can watch it below, too, to understand what the content site is trying to do:

How to Be Successful on Authorr from Authorr on Vimeo.

After watching the video, I have a couple of questions for the management of Authorr who would like to find, select, and promote niche expert copywriters:

1. How can they determine if you are a niche expert or not if you cannot choose your profits?
2. Why is the company promoting "minimum formatting", if it is not good for SEO? Are they considering clients' interest here, or just want to reduce workflow?
3. How writing at a 9th Grade level improves the quality of content?
4. Are creative writers welcome by the company, or do they prefer to work with robots?
5. Is it fair to have a rating system that is not "public"?
6. With the lack of feedback on work, I believe that he company is not working towards empowering new writers, but it does indeed discourage them. 
7. The company has removed the "bidding for price" option, Does it mean that all writers are the same, creating the same quality articles? I don't believe it, and I think that other sites, such as The Content Authority do a better job by "rating" writers, reviewing their work regularly, and determining the pay based on quality. After all, this approach serves the interest of the company, customers, and writers, too. 

Share your thoughts and experience with Authorr or other content mills below. 

Good luck with your writing career. 

Pick My Brains for Money

Adult Toys and Incontinence

An online writer should be flexible. This sometimes mean that you have to write about things that you have no clue about. For example: wicker baskets. Or Incontinence products. Well, that was one of my least favorite one of all. Lasted for a few weeks, then I had to hand the project back to the customer, saying that they cannot pay me enough to lose all that weight. I literally couldn't eat, had a bad tummy all the time. When it comes to topics, you cannot pick your own. Except... I refused a website job once that was about adult toys.

Do You Have to Be Smarter than the Customer?

In many cases, yes. If they could write it themselves they wouldn't hire you. I have done several e-books in the past, when the client had the clear idea what they wanted but didn't know how. To be honest, these days, many of my customers barely speak English. I mean as long as they pay on time I don't mind. Welcome to the global economy!

The Learning Process

Even if initially you are not smarter than the client, in the end you have to be.If you are not willing to educate yourself, you should not choose this profession. Some topics you will enjoy, others will be boring and it is your job to make it look interesting. One of my favorite things to write about is travel. I have done several Costa Rica travel sites and fell in love with the country. I will retire there one day, buy an organic coffee farm and have a pet toucan. If I will ever have the time for writing that bestseller. Not that there is any chance for that in the near future. 

Until next time.... 

Intro... About me...

My story is not important. Events are not important, either. The past should be forgotten. We need to focus on the present and the future. In online writing world, it means: do the project when you can; between school runs and chatting. You can have a rest when it is quiet.

The life of an online writer is hectic, at least. The competition is fierce. Pay is low, unless you have a name. It is the reason why most of us give up. There are upsides, as well. But you have to rely on yourself.

I created this blog to help people understand how to make the most out of online writing and how to keep on learning every day. That is my favorite part of the job. Learning new things. I guess I am compensating because I wanted to do so many degrees. And still do, one day. When the projects are over.

My ultimate goal is to write a bestseller one day so I don't have to deal with customers. But because I need to work to pay my bills (not to mention two teenage daughters costing me a fortune), I have no time for writing it. It is a Catch 22.

I sometimes enjoy it. I sometimes hate it. When I feel like running away, I can. I come from the corporate world, where you have to book your holidays at least 18 months in advance. I enjoy my freedom.

Most people think I am just sitting at the computer messing about. But I am thinking constantly. This is why when people open the study door everything falls out of my head. And I get angry. Then I do a quick yoga practice, close the door and think more.

It is not just my writing skills that I am selling. I think I am selling a part of me. My brain cells are for hire, as well as my services. It is easy to burn out. That is why I am blogging about it. It makes things easier. So does yoga.

You will read about joys, miseries, annoyances and freedom. Hopefully, you will understand more about online writing than ever before. Enjoy!