Guru.com ... reliable?

I've heard Guru.com recommended by a couple of relatively well-known pros at conventions, and never heard anyone there or in forums complaining about it. Check it out further first, though. YMMV.

Anybody's advice on breaking into and getting legit work offers through sites like this would be much appreciated.

(need $)

I'm afraid I don't have specific advice, as I only got a couple of jobs there early in my career before I started looking elsewhere and turning mostly to magazines. I can't speak to the quality of jobs offered, but I do know that the site is legit.

yeah

Hey there,

Yeah Guru is legit. I won't comment on the rate of pay for some of the projects, but I have done pretty well there. Some gigs are not worth your time though, but i guess that is the case everywhere.

No worries though, you will get paid out from there.

Good Luck

Cyndi
www.writingbycyndi.com

And on the other hand, my sister just picked up an SEO gig and got stiffed for her work, then found it online.

The rates are generally atrocious. There's always some hobbyist out there willing to work for less than a penny a word, and the clients sign the lowest bid, often without looking at the experience or credentials of the writers. I searched for months without finding anything. I won one bid, and the client flaked out and moved to South America after trading a dozen e-mails.

"The hobbyist" Yeah, my editor was telling me about that. I found my editor and cover designer on Guru in 2009, and with so many people out of jobs lately, it's been flooded with those "underpaying" bids and quotes. I'm glad I found the two I needed when I did, because they are Great!

Unlike most, I do look at someone's website to check on what they do and how they do it. Its a shame that there are those out there you take your work and then don't pay you. My editor put a percentage down to start the work to try to avoid things like that. That's an awful story.

I've looked at their project listings a few times but never put in a bid. What bothers me is that, unlike Elance, Guru doesn't let you send samples of your work with a bid unless you have a paid membership. I was able to get a project on Elance while I still had a free membership. On the basis of that, I decided to go ahead and buy their most inexpensive membership. Both sites are problematic in some ways, but at least Elance lets you test the waters for free.

When putting in a project for Guru, you can't request for samples either. I tried to post about editing a few pages of my novel (you know, so that I can get an idea of who someone would edit my work), but Guru kept rejecting my request.

I completely understand. You ask for someone to do a bit of work (that's probably the ENTIRE work) and then back out and not pay the person for their time. But it's risky to allow someone to take on your project, having No Idea how they will do it, and then obligated to pay them. I did that with one project, didn't like the way they editted my Book Cover text, and had to still pay $25.00 to that person.

I say "have to" because you'll get a low rating if you don't.