# Freelance Writing - Elance.com? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 28, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freelance-writing-elance-com/178050 "2003-05-28T16:35:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freelance-writing-elance-com/178050/1 "2003-05-28T16:35:23Z")
Anyone here have an experience or testimonials for [Elance](http://www.elance.com)? I’m looking for part time, at home transcription work while I work on my catering business, and this looks like a good way to get it. (providers bid on prospective jobs and are awarded jobs after bidding closes) It does, however, have a subscription fee that’s pretty steep (for a gal out of work) and I wanted to know if anyone had had experience with them or had other suggestions of similar sites. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freelance-writing-elance-com/178050/2 "2003-05-28T16:38:24Z")
The reviews for Elance on a mailing list for publishing freelancers I belong to have been mostly negative, IIRC. (I’m not a writer, so I didn’t follow the discussion closely.) ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freelance-writing-elance-com/178050/3 "2003-05-28T19:07:52Z")
Do you have any other suggestions, Scarlett of websites or groups that discuss freelance transcription and writing? ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freelance-writing-elance-com/178050/4 "2003-05-28T20:51:38Z")
I used to do stuff on ELance (freelance writing and web design) about, oh, a year and a half ago. It was possible to pick up work now and then, but lowball bidders would always win, people didn’t always want to pay (for example, they’d ask for samples, then just use said samples), and it was generally not a use of time. I think I got 3, 4 jobs over 6 months, none of which paid more than $200. Try [FreelanceWriting.com](http://FreelanceWriting.com), I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freelance-writing-elance-com/178050/5 "2003-05-28T20:55:27Z")
Not a good use of time. It was quite a use of time. Maybe I didn’t get more jobs cause I can’t type? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freelance-writing-elance-com/178050/6 "2003-05-29T00:16:56Z")
Check your e-mail, **jarbaby!** ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freelance-writing-elance-com/178050/7 "2003-05-29T02:32:34Z")
Any good sites for freelance proofreading or editing? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freelance-writing-elance-com/178050/8 "2003-05-29T02:56:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scarlett67 \* > \*\*Check your e-mail, **jarbaby!** \*\* Is this something you can share publicly? I also might be interesting in freelance resources, and others reading the thread might also. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freelance-writing-elance-com/178050/9 "2003-05-29T13:40:53Z")
Hey, Jar! The best publishing site for freelance editorial work (ANY editorial or design work, for that matter) that I’ve used is [www.mediabistro.com](http://www.mediabistro.com). I know many in the publishing world who rely on it exclusively. Also, if you’re just looking for transcription work try some local doctors offices. I worked as a gofer one summer for a large one (5 offices) where the doctors would just dictate their notes and shove the tapes off on transcribers to process. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freelance-writing-elance-com/178050/10 "2003-05-29T14:59:58Z")
OK, you’re right, I could have posted this. (When I e-mailed **jarbabyj** I had no idea whether I was going to include personal info or not, so I kept it private. The following is OK for public consumption, though.) These are not so much job leads as general discussion. (At least in freelance copyediting, there’s no easy way to get decent work, such as going to a Web site and “signing up”; you’ve gotta pound the virtual pavement, sending out your materials, taking editing tests on occasion, generating word-of-mouth and networking, and so on. Wish I had a nickel for every newbie who posts, “OK, I’m a-gonna be a freelancer! Where are the Web sites where I can sign up to have them send me work?” Uh, try [freelancerfantasyland.com](http://freelancerfantasyland.com). Or worse, “Tell me who YOUR clients are so I can hit them up for work!” That would be no.) OK, off the soapbox. Here’s the dirt: Freelance mailing list: [http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/freelance.html](http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/freelance.html) Mostly discussion about the _business_ of freelancing – paying taxes, handling clients, getting work. We’re all in publishing – mostly writers, copyeditors, proofreaders, and indexers, although we also have compositors, graphic designers, illustrators, photographers. Might even be a few transcription folks, though I admit to deleting discussions specific to fields I’m not in. Occasionally someone posts a job op or a site that provides leads. Freelance Online: [http://www.freelanceonline.com](http://www.freelanceonline.com) I check in at the message board once a day; you can also list your resume and whatever for (I think) $15 a year. There may be job listings as well; I’ve had plenty of steady work for several years now, so I haven’t bothered to check it out. The population is about the same as Freelance, with perhaps more writers, but it’s not as busy. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freelance-writing-elance-com/178050/11 "2003-05-29T15:10:38Z")
Thanks for the help. I would do medical transcription, except that it says you have to have a huge knowledge of medical terminology, which, regardless of my hypochondria, I do not. Some medical transcription places even say you need to have taken the MCATs!