been offered a job...

[Gigantor]

...but the writing on their site is fair to dodgy.

do i take the job?

ive only been writing since 2009. freelancing for two companies online. and now that ive been writing for a while i would like to begin seeking work with other employers.

the company seems legit enough. i write an article. they pay me via paypal. if they like what i write maybe they ask me to write something else. fine. but inspecting their site i discovered writing that was fair and in some cases plain old bad. grammatical errors. in one case an article was clearly written by someone who didn't have a strong grasp of the language. it looked unprofessional i think.

okay. so what. these writers are not me. and im not Tolstoy. i know. but is it worth it to be associated with a site/company that pays so little attention to such things?

my answer? don't take the job. but i'm wondering what some of you might do. after all, a potential client is unlikely to peruse the entire site, right? they just want to see if i can write. thoughts?

[Susie]

:welcome: 'n good luck in whatever you decide, Gigantor. You could try it and if you don't like it, then you can say it's not for you, right?

[Ulee_Lhea]

As a relative newbie, I have struggled with this too!

Earlier this year, I did a 600 words piece for a regional sports and travel magazine. When the issue came out, it had typos in, and they'd smacked a racy photo on top (it was an article about Bangkok, but nowhere did it mention mostly-naked dancing go-go girls!). Needless to say, it's not something I can easily send out as a clip to most markets.

Since then, I've been more selective about the markets I work for. If this particular site has poor editorial standards, it may not be worth your time because you won't be able to use it as a credit in the future.

Just my $.02.

[WildScribe]

Your potential employers might not read the whole site, but the worst have made a name for themselves as crap content mills, and the editors know that if you have an article posted on XYZ site, and especially if you want to try to use it as a clip, you're getting a strike. I have written for content mills, but only ever as a ghostwriter, and only when I was desperate for cash.

[scope]

I don't think it's wise to attach one's name or in any way become associated with something they KNOW is garbage. Those type of things have a funny way of coming back to bite.

[CatMuse33]

It depends how much they pay. Seriously. Because if you're not going to use it as a clip, it's worthless unless the pay is good.

Also, make sure you can write under a pseudonym. Who knows -- you could be the shining star there who convinces them to raise their editorial standards. (Okay, maybe not likely, but readers really may benefit from your articles, so if it's a topic you enjoy and feel can help people, that's something else to think about.)

Dawn

P.S. I'm not condoning writing about things you don't believe in or are dead-set against "just for the money," but I feel that if your writing on a website is good, even though the rest is shoddy, especially if you can write under a pen name, that's really not a crime. Especially if you have other legitimate clips to your name. It would be an issue if the editor was editing your work and posting it with typos you didn't put there in the first place and other things like that.

PPS - I assume in your professional writing you use capital letters when appropriate. ;) Maybe you're holding a baby in your other arm, (as so many of us do!) so you can't use the shift key right now? ;)