by Zeynep Bayhan

Created on: January 17, 2009

As a graduate student in sociology, I've written various papers, and published few articles in my short academic career. However, freelance writing was something that I have never experienced before. It all started 2-3 months ago, when I discovered that I could use Craigslist's writing gigs in order to generate extra income. From that day onwards, I searched a lot, and read a lot on freelance writing jobs that can be found on-line. The more I discovered this new world, the more excited I got. My impression was that there were endless opportunities out there, somewhere on the Internet, and sky was my only limit. It did not take me long to realize how difficult it was to find writing gigs, and how much I had to invest in me in order to become a competent writer. Throughout this journey, which still continues, I generated some knowledge about where to look at in order to find freelance writing jobs. I would like to share that information with you.

Craigslist:

I think Craigslist is one of the best known sources for writing gigs. However when you are on Craigslist, you have to look at major cities, such as New York City, Washington D.C., Seattle, San
Francisco Bay, which offer more ads on writing jobs than other cities. On
Craigslist, you can either find job offers in "gigs" section or in "jobs" section. Do not forget to check "ETC" under "jobs" section which often offers jobs on freelance writing, too. Just be aware of potential cross-postings.

Websites:

I bet there are many other websites out there with a search engine for you to search job offers but I only came across with one of them. http://journalismjobs.com is the website that I'm talking about. Although the website is called "Journalism Jobs," it lists ads of various freelance writing job offers, too. I strongly urge you to use Quick Search engine on the left hand side. I usually type "blog," or "freelance" in the box. You can also restrict your search by typing in a location, i.e. your city. You can not only search for job offers, but also post your resume and have employers find you.

Blogs:

During my research on ways to find freelance jobs, I came across with two very helpful
blogs. The first one is "About Freelance Writing," http://www.aboutfreelancewriting.com
and the second one is "All Freelance Writing," http://allfreelancewriting.com. Both of these blogs publish daily lists of job offers, and the good thing is, they cover job offers on Craigslist. So, these blogs actually save you from a lot of time and energy, which you can use for writing more articles with good quality.

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