Best content sites for newbies?

Hi everyone,

This is an awesome forum, I'm so glad I found it!

I'm pretty new to writing for content sites and I wanted to ask what your opinion was about the best ones to start with.

I've been reading different threads and I understand that different sites work for different writers but I'm still a bit overwhelmed and unsure where to put in the most effot.

So far I've signed up for textbroker. I don't mind it since I can write the articles fast but as you all probably know it's hard to rely on that for income.

I've also submitted 5 articles to constant content but haven't sold any yet. I'm going to keep submitting since it seems volume is key to success there but I wanted to find a place where I can get paid a bit upfront and also eventually get residual income.

I signed up for Associated Content but don't know if I should stick with them. My one problem is that it seems that so many people are writing articles there that every topic, no matter how obscure, has already been covered. Also it seems they take a while to review and I really don't want to end up waiting a week or longer for something to be published. I've read some rave reviews about Bright Hub but there are so many sites out there I have no idea which one to concentrate on!

I plan to sign up for DS but I want to build up some writing on a residual income site first so they don't dare reject me (I don't take that well!)

What sites work for you and what would you recommend for a beginner?

I'd like to write for DS but from what I've read it seems like they're a bit strict with who they approve. I don't have much of a writing resume or a link to a blog or any other site like ehow where they can see my writing samples. So I was thinking of waiting a bit before applying.