Textbroker Blog

Increase Your Income With Teams

By Textbroker author globalgal

Applying for Teams is a surefire way to increase your income at Textbroker. When I first started writing for Textbroker as an L4 author, it took all day for me to reach my daily goal of $100. Writing for Teams, I can make $100 in five hours and often less. Currently, I’m on over 120 Teams and very rarely need to take an article from the OpenOrder pool.

Some Teams are industry specific, but don’t let that stop you from applying. If the Team requires an article that is industry specific, take the time to do the research and write up a good sample article. Although it will take time, it pays off in the long run. I’ve done this for several Team applications and consequently was accepted to a Team that paid nearly 6 cents per word!

Of course, there will be Teams for which you apply and never hear back. Although it’s frustrating, there are just as many Team applications where you will get a response. I apply for Teams every day, which keeps the work flowing for me. Some Teams won’t post any articles, some will post many, and others die out over time. Applying every day will keep your author’s cup full.

Often, Teams require specific knowledge about a topic. Read more...

posted by 8298 on 05/17/2013 - 07.26 | authors | comments: 16

Writing Appealing Product Descriptions

by Textbroker Author Anwar HJG

Howdy! I’d like to share a few of the tricks I've picked up in writing what feels like a bajillion product descriptions for Textbroker clients. While many of these orders look like easy work at first, things can get pretty intimidating when you open up the order detail and see how many instructions and guidelines there are. Furthermore, if you're unable to hone in on the important stuff, these short orders can take way longer to complete than they ought to. Let's focus on the best ways to avoid problems and keep the clients happy.

What are Product Descriptions For?
These assignments are really common, but each client seems to have their own spin on how they should be executed. This is because clients usually have their own unique uses for product descriptions.

Obviously, descriptions tell customers about products they might be interested in purchasing. They also let sellers advertise their goods appealingly in a short, SEO-friendly format that translates well to banner ads and email catalogs. Therefore, it's important to write each product review in a way that focuses on portraying the item in the best possible light while being as concise as possible. Read more...

posted on 03/15/2013 - 07.09 | authors | comments: 7

Press Release Basics

by Christina Zila, Textbroker's Director of Communications

This post covers everything you wanted to know about press releases, including how they're used in a content marketing strategy, how to order one with a press release writing service and how to write one successfully.

Why do companies use press releases?

The goal of a press release is to either get published as-is or get the attention of a journalist, leading to a bigger story. Press releases sent through a newswire service like PR Newswire can gain significant backlinks, improving a site’s SEO. Press coverage adds to a site’s reputation, introduces the company to new audiences and diversifies link sources, reducing the risk of Penguin-style penalties on major search engines. Since press release writing is an art that takes time to perfect, many small businesses employ a press release writing service to complete these technical pieces quickly and proficiently.

When should a company use a press release?

Companies should use this content marketing tool for anything newsworthy. Standard press release topics include new hires, relocations, expanded or additional offices and acquisitions and mergers, special events and new products. Read more...

posted on 02/22/2013 - 06.19 | authors | comments: 18

Deciphering the Client Code, Part 2

by Ben, Textbroker's Editorial Supervisor of Managed Clients

Hi! We're back again with part two of Deciphering the Client Code where we'll continue to discuss the different aspects of client instructions and some of the best ways to respond to those instructions. In part one, we tackled using the correct voice and tone as requested by the client, so now let's focus on some of the other varied requests and types of instruction you may receive as an author.

Types of Orders

It's always important to recognize the type of order you are writing. Clients may ask for a general article, a product description or a press release among other things. All of these order types will be written with different structures and perspectives. For example, a "product description" would typically be the type of text you would read when purchasing a product from a retailer whereas a "review" could be about the same product but written from a user perspective. When you are not sure of what structure and perspective to follow for a particular type of order, such as press release, try searching the Internet using phrases such as "how to write a press release." If you are still uncertain about writing a particular type of order, it may be best to try selecting order types that you are more comfortable with. Read more...

posted on 01/18/2013 - 03.08 | textbroker blog | comments: 7

Deciphering the Client Code, Part 1

by Ben, Textbroker's Editorial Supervisor of Managed Clients

Hello authors! I'm Ben, Editorial Supervisor of Managed Clients. Many of our managed clients provide very detailed instructions, and when editing, I’ve often had to send articles back for revision when the instructions were not followed closely. We never like to send articles back for revision because it delays the client receiving the article as well as you, the author, being paid for it. The principle holds true for any client, not just the managed clients, and making sure the instructions are followed is the first requirement to having an article accepted on the initial submission.

The Importance of Instructions
As much of a role as grammar plays in writing content, following a client's instructions can make or break an article. Even articles that are grammatically flawless can be useless to the client if they do not meet the requirements laid out in the instructions. Giving clients exactly what is requested is the quickest way to receive positive client feedback, which could lead to future DirectOrders or TeamOrders from those clients.

By far, the most important thing when starting an order is reviewing the instructions carefully. If a client provides links or a style sheet, be sure to review those as well. Read more...

posted on 01/04/2013 - 06.29 | textbroker blog | comments: 16

Filler Busting: Fluff and How To Avoid It

by Jamie L. and Nicole W., Textbroker Quality Assurance Editors

Imagine you are in a movie theater, snacking on expensive popcorn and trying not to waste your drink in case the theater doesn’t offer free refills. You’re watching an epic movie about dragons attacking a town defended by noble warriors when you notice something: The movie is dragging on, and the narrator is taking forever to get to the point. Did he really just spend 20 minutes telling you something you understood in the first five? Did you really just pay $10 to see a movie without a plot? Why is the popcorn so expensive?

Maybe these look familiar: [Please avoid using filler content.] [Do not use fluff to reach the word count.] [Vary your word choice and sentence structure to avoid sounding choppy or repetitive.] Filler can be hard to grasp, and it can be even harder to fix. Here are a few tips to help you more easily identify filler, increasing your chances of attaining 4-star status:

Examine each sentence
Pull out a sentence and ask yourself if it enriches your article. Is the information something your reader would like to know? In this way, information that is off topic, repeated, or unnecessary can all be identified and discarded. Read more...

posted on 12/28/2012 - 04.00 | grammar and style | comments: 18

Show, Don't Tell

by Leah, Textbroker Quality Assurance Editor

My name is Leah. I’m a quality assurance editor at Textbroker and took my first formal journalism class at the age of 15. The gray-haired man who taught me journalism was old school. He taught me the founding principles of the profession in a time when cut-and-paste was becoming copy-and-paste and when reporters still interviewed most sources in person. Mr. Elliott taught me to “show and not tell” from the moment I walked into his classroom, and learning that principle at a young age was integral to my success as a writer.

What does show rather than tell mean in regards to writing, you may wonder. This simply means that a writer should paint a picture for the reader rather than dryly explaining the subject.
To better illustrate this concept, consider the following sentences:

“She had blonde hair.”

“Her hair was the color of a wheat field in the fall.”

The first one tells the reader the facts. It is factual but not very engaging. The second sentence gives the reader more of a mental image. That’s what I mean by showing instead of telling. You’re showing your reader by painting a picture in their minds rather than telling them with words. Read more...

posted on 12/14/2012 - 07.39 | grammar and style | comments: 11

Writing A Landing Page

by Textbroker Author Nicole

Requests for professional writers are growing as Google raises the bar for quality content. Meanwhile, new technology is granting small business owners greater access to tools that enable them to tap into the power of Internet marketing. This has generated an unprecedented demand for Textbroker writers to create new types of marketing content, such as landing pages.

What is a Landing Page?
For consumers, a landing page is a stand-alone web page that acts as a gateway, pointing them to the exact information they are seeking. For business owners, a landing page is one of the best ways to capture quality customer leads and the attention of search engines.

By providing relevant content, whether it is a map, coupon or trial program, a well-written landing page can boost a website’s credibility with visitors and search engines. Google loves landing pages that are original, transparent and easy to navigate. The quality of the landing page experience can increase a website’s AdWords Quality Score, strengthen advertising position, lower ad costs and improve search result rankings.

Landing pages designed for personal computers typically include contact data fields with a strong call to action. Read more...

posted on 12/07/2012 - 06.55 | authors | comments: 12

Pub-Con 2012

by Melissa, Textbroker Author Services Manager

The annual Pub-Con convention was held in Las Vegas on October 15th through the 18th this year, and yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending for the first time. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Pub-Con, it’s one of the premier search engine, social media and Web optimization conferences and expos in the world, and Textbroker has had a booth there for several years running now.

Our presence at the event is focused mainly around clients, but I went this year so that I could offer our prospective and current clients some information about what is perhaps our greatest asset: you, our authors! It was really cool to chat with folks from all facets of our client base, and I definitely learned a lot about what firms in our industry are looking for as far as content is concerned. Here are some areas of writing that I think we will start seeing a lot more orders for:

Specialized Content
One of the most common questions that I was asked yesterday was some variant of “I produce blog posts for a really wide variety of clients. They want really specific niche content. Can your authors provide that?” My answer was “They sure can!”

As the blog industry grows, and with the recent Google updates, clients are looking for ways to set their blogs apart from the rest, and the best way to do this is with high-quality, insightful content. Read more...

posted on 10/19/2012 - 07.47 | textbroker blog | comments: 7

Textbroker's Guide to HTML

By Alex, Textbroker Author Services Representative

Hello! My name is Alex, and I work with Textbroker Author Services answering technical questions and providing support to our authors among other responsibilities. Far and away the most common technical question that we receive is, "How do I make a _______ in HTML?" These questions are always interesting to me. I'm pretty tech savvy, and I study programming and Web design as a hobby, so tech-speak and the language of the Web comes easy to me. However, most of our authors don't have a background in web coding and don't have time to learn a whole new language, so I always have to make my answers approachable even to someone who has no experience with these kinds of topics.

With that in mind, I set out to create a guide that our authors could quickly reference when they had a question about HTML. I promise to not use any fancy terminology, make no fancy analogies, and tell you in a straightforward way exactly how to do the thing you're trying to do. Just search below to find your "tag," and voila – easy to follow instructions!

How Does HTML Work?
HTML is the language of websites. Webpages appear to be clear-cut, easy to read documents, but they come in all shapes and sizes. Read more...

posted on 09/21/2012 - 07.29 | textbroker blog | comments: 31

How Managed Clients Can Help You Meet Your Textbroker Goals

by Textbroker author DottyDot

During my time at Textbroker, I’ve seen quite a few forum discussions about managed clients. Many authors are reluctant to write for such clients, citing reasons ranging from delays in payment to a high rate of revision requests. I do understand these concerns, but I believe that authors who actively avoid managed clients are missing out on some great opportunities.

Authors who want to get ahead at Textbroker stand to gain big time from writing for managed clients. I’ve outlined -- and answered -- some of the common complaints voiced by other authors about managed clients. The next time you see an order from a managed client, don’t be afraid! Take some time to review the positives of writing for managed clients. You just might find that extra boost you need in order to get ahead at Textbroker.

I have to wait more than four days for my orders to be approved.

We’ve all seen the orders that warn us that approval may take more than four days. If you’re trying to meet a weekly earnings goal, the idea of waiting more than 96 hours for payment might be discouraging. However, keep in mind that
not all managed clients take days upon days to approve orders. Read more...

posted on 07/27/2012 - 05.18 | authors | comments: 16

Breaking Your Writing Speed Limit

by Textbroker author Whitney

I read a Textbroker forum post of mine from nine months ago in which I mentioned taking half an hour to write a 500-word article at my best speed. I now turn out a similar article in about 20 minutes – less, if I know the subject thoroughly. It isn't a land speed record, but it's a good enough pace that I felt I could share some tips on improving writing speed.

You might have distractions that I don't face, or you might write 20,000 words daily and wonder why anyone who clocks in at a maximum of 1,500 words an hour is writing about speed. It isn't a contest against anyone but ourselves, and chances are we can improve no matter where we currently stand. We all have an intrinsic writing speed limit past which the words become a blur and writing quality suffers. However, this speed limit is flexible.

If you were driving to work, you'd spend time mentally preparing for your day. When you're working at home, a routine creates a mental commute that helps you differentiate between writing time and noodling on Facebook. My routine includes getting dressed for work to transition from pajama-wearing indolence to a businesslike mindset. Your regimen might be more involved, or it could be as simple as pouring your coffee. Read more...

posted on 07/13/2012 - 07.41 | authors | comments: 52

New Feature at Textbroker: Expert Teams

by Christina Zila, Textbroker's Director of Communications, and Melissa M., Textbroker's Manager of Author Services

We've recently been talking to a larger and more diverse segment of clients, which has led to new developments at Textbroker. We've noticed that high-end clients are concerned about subject knowledge as much as compositional talent and would be willing to pay higher rates for articles written by proven experts. For those of you who have published professional articles within specific fields, our newest development will make your earnings more commensurate with your expertise.

Expert Teams
We are creating Expert Teams for different industries, each of which will have their own landing page and mini-site. Some industries may have multiple Expert Teams to cover a variety of sub-specialties. Each Expert Team will have one per-word rate for orders. Clients will sign up for an industry or sub-specialty Expert Team to access pre-screened writers and can then place orders with the Expert Team, just like they do now with Open, Direct, and TeamOrders. In essence, an Expert Team is much like a regular Team, except that Textbroker determines which authors are on the team and fixes the price per word.

Clients who sign up through an Expert Team mini-site still will have access to the traditional Textbroker ordering systems and the full author database. Read more...

posted on 06/27/2012 - 08.21 | textbroker blog | comments: 3

Author Updates June 2012

by Christina Zila, Textbroker's Director of Communications, and Melissa M., Textbroker's Manager of Author Services

We often receive feedback from writers about the Textbroker system and how we can make improvements. Over the last few months, we have been diligently working to optimize the functions we currently have as well as add a few extras. Effective immediately, Textbroker authors can enjoy the following updates:

Profile view counter

With the new profile overview available on your author home page, you will now be able to see how often your profile has been viewed by clients. A complete and powerfully worded profile has proven to be very helpful for many writers in landing them more DirectOrders and Team invitations.

Notes on a client

Since clients don’t have a nickname function available like authors do, it can be difficult to remember which client is which. This function will allow you to make notes on specific clients. These notes are only visible to you. Notes you make about a client will automatically display when you view the client's orders or profile. You are also able to edit and add to notes when viewing or working on an order. Leaving yourself notes like “Client is based out of the UK,” “Client likes HTML headings,” or “Client accepts orders right away” can be very helpful. Read more...

posted on 06/18/2012 - 05.39 | textbroker blog | comments: 10

Reaching Level 4: Eye on the Prize

by Keira, Editorial Services Manager

For some, level 4 may seem like a fabled oasis beyond a harsh and inhospitable landscape. You know that you too could drink from those waters if only the oppressive heat of comma usage and awkward phrasing would stop beating down on you. Why can't a cloud ever push that heat away and let your message stand alone for what it is? Who cares about commas anyway?

The fact is that punctuation is the compass in your sentence. It guides your reader through the article, and if it's lacking, your reader may be left wandering forever. What makes sense to you does not always make sense to your reader, and that is why we have standard rules for how to break up units of thought into commonly accepted patterns.

It's true that some clients may only care about your message, but many others do care about grammar. Poor grammar can weaken your authority, and why should someone continue reading from a debatable source? Clients are looking to be viewed as experts and may reject your work if they find your authority lacking. If the work really does conflict with our published standards, we have no choice but to uphold the rejection.

We give feedback in the hopes that authors improve in future articles because we genuinely want our authors to succeed, but maybe that feedback isn't enough. Read more...

posted on 06/01/2012 - 06.15 | grammar and style | comments: 21

Memorial Day 2012

by Melissa, Author Services Manager

Hello Textbroker Authors!

Help the clients help you!
In our recent blog post This Month at Textbroker: April 2012, we asked for your help in guiding our clients by rating their instructions. Our Client Services department asked me to express their appreciation; your ratings have made a difference! Since that blog post, we’ve had an influx of clients calling to ask for our advice on making their instructions more clear, so we thank you! Rating client instructions really does help the clients to make order instructions that are clear and specific, and we appreciate your taking the time to help them out. No one is perfect, though, and while some orders are still unclear, progress has been made! Hooray!

Memorial Day at Textbroker
To give our clients some time to celebrate the long weekend with their friends and loved ones, we have turned our auto-accept feature off. We will be turning it back on Tuesday, May 29th mid-day. If you choose to spend the weekend writing, we encourage you to pencil in a little time to celebrate in thanks of the men and women who have served our country so valiantly to secure the freedom that we all enjoy. Read more...

posted on 05/25/2012 - 05.50 | textbroker blog | comments: 4

How To Get Your Textbroker Author Profile to 100%

by Christina Zila, Textbroker's Director of Communications, and Melissa M., Textbroker's Manager of Author Services

We’ve been getting a lot of emails about this particular topic, and we see that the question has been asked many times on the forum. There is a fun and helpful “percent complete” area on every author’s profile, but it’s not clear what actually contributes to filling this bar. This post will go through all the steps to get your Textbroker author profile 100 percent complete. You can also watch a video to see each step here.

General Info Tab

Resume
You can make your resume as short or as detailed as you like, but please do not include your contact information. Since you are not applying for full-time employment, you do not need to include references or the contact information for previous employers. You certainly can and should list any educational background you have.

Capacity
You can use your mouse or the arrow keys to set your capacity. Your capacity is not a requirement but merely an estimate of how much you can do. This helps clients plan out large projects.

Picture
When you upload a picture, it will automatically re-size for the space available. Read more...

posted on 05/11/2012 - 07.32 | textbroker blog | comments: 11

This Month at Textbroker: April 2012

by Melissa, Author Services Manager

Hello Textbroker Authors,

Textbroker’s Inaugural Author Extravaganza

We want to extend a great big “Thank you!” to all of the authors that attended our first Author Extravaganza in Las Vegas on April 12th. The response to the event was overwhelmingly positive!

We kicked the event off with opening remarks by our founder, Jan Becker-Fochler, and our CEO-Americas, Phillip Thune. After a round of Getting To Know You Bingo, Kristine Schachinger of Sites Without Walls took us through writing for SEO. This was followed by a behind-the-scenes look at how our editors really rate your articles that was presented by Textbroker editor John D. After a delicious Italian buffet lunch, I presented tips for getting more DirectOrders, and our Client Services Manager, Christina Sas, walked us through a client account, showing us what clients see when placing orders. After Christina Zila offered us some tips for effective proofreading came my favorite event of the day: the Author Open Mic. Some of the authors showcased their creative non-Textbroker work, and it was just amazing. It feels super to work with such a multi-talented group of people! Finally, the Textbroker staff opened ourselves up to a Q&A in which the authors asked us everything they’ve ever wanted to know about Textbroker. Read more...

posted on 04/27/2012 - 06.55 | textbroker blog | comments: 12

Besting the Demon of Style: A Tale of Adventure, Valiance and Virtue

words by John D. and illustrations by Amanda S., Textbroker Editors

I would like to share a tale with all of you, the brave authors of textbroker.com, that has been passed down from the editors of old. This story involves a young man named Sir Antecedent and his noble steed Predicus. Our journey begins years ago when the beast Comma Splice and the dragon Appositive still battled endlessly into the night, when the homophones grazed peacefully in the fields of ellipses, and when the serial comma was still acceptable. (Like what I did there? Please don’t mention that I just used a sentence fragment or how this entire bit is within parentheses. I’m breaking the fourth wall. Okay, let’s get back to the point. See how distracting it is when parenthetical material takes over? Great! I’ve completely forgotten what I was talking about, and I'm sure you have too...)

Sir Antecedent was given a task by King Critique: He was to travel across the land and rescue Princess Superlative from the clutches of the evil witch Protasis, who resided in the Apodosis Mountains. All the while, he had to fight against the sinister stylistic traps that Protasis had set along the way.

Shortly after setting out, he arrived at—the Swamp of—Unnecessary Dashes. Read more...

posted on 03/16/2012 - 04.06 | grammar and style | comments: 28

Writing Effectively: Why My Eyes Are Blue

by Textbroker author Stormgod

As a 5-star writer on this website, I enjoy the opportunities presented to me. A reliable group of customers consistently offer me Direct Orders, I select Open Orders from the queue to introduce myself to new customers, and TB Customer Support sometimes even emails me to connect me to a customer who might fit my background and writing skills. I’m not a professional writer, but I am certainly a capable writer. I frequently read forum posts from other writers who seem capable but who have not yet attained 5-star status.

Many of those posts ask the same question: “How can I become a 5-star writer?” At least one reply will invariably advise the person to obtain a copy of the AP Style Guide and study it. Other common responses will be for the person to “read as much as you can” or “be careful with commas.”

Those responses all mean well, but I don’t agree with them. I believe grammar is over-emphasized. Knowing how to punctuate a sentence is important, but it is not the ultimate measure of a writer’s ability or an instant ticket to a promotion at TB. A 5-star writer must be able to present thoughts and ideas in a natural flow to communicate with others. Read more...

posted on 03/01/2012 - 07.01 | authors | comments: 52

Word Choice Consideration

words by Oscar G. and illustrations by Julia P., Textbroker Editors

We've had quite a few authors write to us over the past few weeks wondering how they snag level 4 articles. One big difference between level 4 or 5 writers and those of a lower quality level is the ability to correctly use words with respect to both their meaning and spelling. Some of what we'll discuss you may have heard already. Whatever the case, below is what we as editors have noticed in the recent work we reviewed as of late. A special note to all of our 2 and 3-star authors: We look forward to seeing these in your next 4-star articles!

Speaking of a lot, remember it is always two words. We'll usually consider "alot" a typo, and you will likely see this noted in your feedback, along with any other errors we find. Fear not, folks: Some word processing applications such as Microsoft Word will recognize this and correct it for you. GoogleDocs (free!) will also highlight this mistake.

Unfortunately, even Word's fancy grammar and spell checker often will not find fault with "allot" sprinkled in your text instead of the aforementioned a lot. Read more...

posted on 02/24/2012 - 05.53 | grammar and style | comments: 15

This Month at Textbroker: January

by Melissa, Author Services Manager

Greetings, Authors!

Tax Time at Textbroker
We are in the process of closing the books on another fantastic year at Textbroker. Thank you for all that you’ve done to make this a record year. We truly appreciate your hard work! Authors who have earned more than $600 in 2011 will receive a 1099 form. As per IRS guidelines, the 1099s will be posted by January 31. We don’t know if the accounting department will have them done earlier, so please give us until then.

Inaugural Author Event
Mark your calendars for Thursday, April 12th, 2012. It’s our inaugural Author Extravaganza! You’re invited to Vegas for an all-day conference. Meet other authors and members of the Textbroker staff, and participate in our grammar events and industry-themed panels. Food will be served, so we will require that you register in advance. The event will have an attendance cap, so start planning now! We’re looking to see what kind of hotel deals we can get for you; we will make details available as we have them. We’re really looking forward to meeting all of you!

Writing Contest Winners
Finally, the news you’ve all been waiting for—the winners of our writing contest! It was an extremely difficult decision made by consensus of the Textbroker editorial staff. Read more...

posted on 01/13/2012 - 07.40 | textbroker blog | comments: 17

The Month at Textbroker: December

by Keira, Textbroker Editor

Textbroker.co.uk:
Textbroker.co.uk launched on December 12th. Textbroker.co.uk will not be accepting US writers due to US tax laws, but we hope that our authors understand. While we do anticipate some clients will switch over to our UK platform, we are actively recruiting new clients and working hard to maintain our current clientele.

Due to the current exchange rate between British pounds, Euros and US dollars, the price per word in Europe is higher than the price per word in the US, and as a result, many European clients may elect to keep their business at Textbroker.com, particularly if they have established relationships with our writers.

We do not believe that this new development will significantly impact Textbroker.com orders.

Zazzle Shop:
We now have a Zazzle shop for authors who want to purchase Textbroker-branded merchandise. Authors are under no obligation to purchase these items, and prices are set by Zazzle. You can find our items here.

Auto-Accept:
We will be turning off auto-accept from 12/23/2011 – 12/27/2011 and 12/30/2011 – 1/3/2012. Read more...

posted on 12/20/2011 - 08.44 | textbroker blog | comments: 45

New Feature: Bonuses

In the forums, many authors asked for a tip or bonus system. We're happy to say that clients now have the option to give you a cash bonus!

When a client looks at your profile, they now see a new icon specifically for bonuses. This means that a client can give you a bonus at any time. Bonuses are not linked to articles in any way.

The bonus feature allows clients to compensate you for your extra effort. It should not be a way to work around the standard DirectOrder or OpenOrder system. Please note that we cannot force a client to pay you a bonus, even if they promised one. You should not send messages asking clients for a bonus, unless a client brings it up to you first. We will block any messages requesting a bonus. We will inform clients about this new feature and remind them about it from time to time. You do not need to let a client know that the bonus feature exists, and you may not make your acceptance of an order dependent on a bonus.

Because we still have costs with every payment made on our website, and to avoid use of the bonus feature to get around our normal rates, there is a commission taken from the client's original bonus amount. Read more...

posted on 11/03/2011 - 07.45 | textbroker blog | comments: 13

Speak Briefly and Carry a Big Stylebook

by bumpylight

After an extensive search, I decided on Textbroker as a marvelous opportunity for learning to be a better writer and for collecting a splash or two of beer money. The editors were very kind as I fought to rid my writing of grade-school errors. With much effort and with considerable help from Keira, Melissa and Christina, my skills have at last struggled feebly into the estate of maturity. It is an honor to have been invited to share a few thoughts on the art of writing.

In a world flooded with poorly expressed ideas, brevity and clarity are the golden twins. Style is their urbane little brother, always ready with an amusing quip. Strong sentences linger in the mind and soothe the soul with easy comprehension. Flabby sentences, on the other hand, are verbal mush. They harbor a multitude of extraneous words that mooch like unwashed party crashers, diverting precious attention from clear meanings.

Readers, editors and clients all dislike prolixity. Authors paid by the word are understandably stalked by the temptation to dragoon a host of hobo words into scavenging extra pennies, but a competent writer values efficiency. Hard-working prose delights readers, pleases editors and attracts more orders from happy clients. Read more...

posted on 10/26/2011 - 04.59 | authors | comments: 61

TeamOrders

by Christina Zila, Branch Manager

We're excited to launch a new feature: TeamOrders!

While the majority of our clients are very happy with the OpenOrder system, we are targeting new clients that want a specific skill or knowledge set. These clients are often willing to pay for extra knowledge, but they want assurance that an expert will take the article. We also have clients who work with a few select authors, but those authors are very popular, and the client would like to easily switch the order from one favorite to another. These client needs led us to TeamOrders.

TeamOrders are a hybrid of Direct and OpenOrders. Orders go to a specific team of writers selected by the client at a price set by the client. When a Team member chooses the order, only that author completes it. If the author doesn’t complete it on time, the order goes back to the Team and another Team member can complete the assignment.

TeamOrders are not a concept to circumvent OpenOrders or DirectOrders. They are an additional ordering function that alleviates certain issues that new clients are experiencing. Clients can still place OpenOrders and DirectOrders. Clients can place DirectOrders with authors who are on one of their Teams. Read more...

posted on 09/12/2011 - 08.43 | textbroker blog | comments: 42

The Month at Textbroker: September

by Keira, Textbroker Editor

Good news at Textbroker!

Weekly Payoffs

We will be transitioning to weekly payoffs. We will be starting with payoffs on the following dates:

September 5th
September 20th
September 29th

After this month, we will be scheduling a payoff every Friday. Please make your requests by Thursday 11:59 PM PST.

Author Profiles

While there have been a few problems with the new profiles, they seem to be a success. We've had a number of clients sending DirectOrders to authors just based on search strings, so if you get an order from someone you don't know, it's probably because of your profile information.

Please keep in mind that all changes have to be approved by an administrator, so there will be a delay in posting the information. We are currently working on the "travel" feature as well. We appreciate the updates when something isn't working, and we will give an update when the issues have been resolved.

Ratings

We are behind on ratings, but we are trying to catch up. We have a limited staff, and because we are trying to rate all authors in a timely manner, please limit emails to technical issues. Read more...

posted on 09/02/2011 - 04.22 | textbroker blog | comments: 61

This Month at Textbroker: August

by Keira, Textbroker Editor

There are quite a few things to mention this month as Textbroker keeps growing.

Blog Winners

We had a client who asked us for the list of winners from the last contest so that he could send those authors DirectOrders. We'd like to take this time to remind you that clients do sometimes read our blog, so this means two things for you. First, be professional at all times. You don't want to get blacklisted by someone you've never worked for just because of a comment left on the blog. Second, clients have their own opinions, so even if you weren't one of the winners, your writing may have still impressed one of our clients. Always do your best, especially in a public forum.

UN.CO.VER

Those of you using our plagiarism checker may have noticed that it is no longer working. This program was powered by Yahoo!'s API, and they have begun charging for API usage. Because we cannot support these costs, we will no longer be able to offer this program. For any authors aware of alternatives, feel free to comment on this post so that authors can continue checking their work.

Semicolons and AP Style

AP Style states that you can use a coordinating conjunction with a semicolon outside of a complex list. Read more...

posted on 08/05/2011 - 05.12 | textbroker blog | comments: 42