Freelance writing sounds like a dream job to so many people; working from home in their PJs, or sipping on lattes as they type away in a cute cafe downtown—what’s not to love?
But the truth is, becoming a successful freelance writer takes a lot of work and dedication. There’s more to it than what we see on shows like Sex and the City. There’s bookkeeping, keeping track of invoices, coming up with new story ideas, constant communication with editors, and even interviewing sources, but the hardest part is often finding work.
A lot of new freelance writers have no idea where to look for paying gigs, or gigs that pay more than pennies. So many beginner freelance writers end up writing for content mills where they literally get paid less a cent a word. For example, a few years ago I found myself trying out a content mill. After writing two 500 word stories, I made a whopping $0.75, which I couldn’t even withdraw from my account until I reached $5. It’s still sitting there years later.
If you want to get into freelance writing, but aren’t sure where to look, here’s a list of job boards.
1. Freelance Writing Gigs
Freelance Writing Gigs list a variety of different gigs in a daily blog post from Monday to Friday. Jobs they list include copywriting, content writing, blogging, journalism, editing and more. It’s more of a roundup post of the best writing gigs from around the web, all conveniently posted in one place and is the perfect site to find freelance writing jobs.
2. ProBlogger Job Board
The ProBlogger job board is the perfect place for beginner freelance writers. This is where I found my first two gigs, gigs I still have to this day because they pay well and are very professional. ProBlogger is an amazing resource for bloggers to learn all about the business side of it. Darren Rowse, creator of ProBlogger, is legit and so are the job postings found here.
3. All Indie Writers
One thing I really like about this job board is that the job listings have their pay rates right there before you click on the actual job listing. They’re even categorized between low pay and pro-rate! Some of the pro-rate jobs even go up into $1000 or more. The job listings here are also quite varied and even include poetry submissions.
4. Writing Career
Writing Career is very different from the other sites listed here because it includes call for submissions for poetry, short stories, novels and more, so if you’re into creative writing rather than reporting or non-fiction, this is a great site. They still display job postings for non-fiction, too, but instead of ongoing work it’s usually for magazine articles.
5. Freelance Writing Jobs
This is a Canadian site and most, if not all jobs, are based in Canada. They list new job postings almost daily, making it a great site to visit each morning. They, too, list a variety of different writing styles and projects.
6. Blogger Jobs
This job board is nice because they list not only freelance jobs, but also internships, full-time writing jobs and more, so be sure to check off the option that you want when looking for work. Some of the jobs are for a specific location where you will have to go into their office, which only works if you’re local to them. They also share a daily blog post with recent gigs and job openings.
7. Journalism Jobs
I feel like this website is more for professional journalists. They post jobs for newspapers, PR firms, publishing houses and things like that. Still, it’s a good site to check out if you are looking for a professional writing job.
8. Who Pays Writers
This site doesn’t really post about reoccurring gigs, but it does share websites and magazines that pay for submissions, and even shares how much they pay! This is a great site to look into if you want to get into feature writing, especially for magazines.
8. LinkedIn Jobs
You can find jobs on LinkedIn’s job board, which is great because it shows jobs that are local to you. LinkedIn is a great tool for networking and every freelancer should have an account with them. LinkedIn makes it easy to display your talents, experience and portfolio. Obviously this is perfect for when you want to reach out to people or apply for jobs.
9. MediaBistro
This site is great for looking for a job. You can search by industry, location, duration and company. If you’re mostly just interested in freelance writing, look under duration.
10. Morning Coffee Newsletter
This is a newsletter that gets sent out weekly with a list of current gigs and job openings. Signing up makes it easy because instead of searching the job boards, you can simply get a list of available writing gigs right in your inbox. However, if you prefer to search their job board instead of receiving their newsletter, the jobs they share are often listed on their website, too.
11. BloggingPro Job Board
BloggingPro has a job board that lists a variety of writing jobs and gigs. They, too, make it easy for you to search your specific style or niche.
12. Craigslist
Craigslist gets a pretty bad reputation, but when it comes to freelance writing gigs it’s an excellent place to start. Since anyone can post to Craigslist for free, and it is not filtered like these other job boards, it’s important to do your research before accepting any work.
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