Textbroker - Writing for money (not vouchers)

Tirian

Perhaps what would be most helpful would be at least a pointer on what grounds they based their rating.

Not wishing to sound too arrogant, but I know my spelling, grammar and proof-reading skills are extremely good and I don't think there can have been any grounds to mark me down on that. That leaves style - which is a rather subjective matter. I accept that. However they gave no directions on style (or audience, for that matter) for the test piece so there wasn't any real opportunity to do more than guess what style they were looking for.

Lilyann

Tirian wrote: »

Perhaps what would be most helpful would be at least a pointer on what grounds they based their rating.

Not wishing to sound too arrogant, but I know my spelling, grammar and proof-reading skills are extremely good and I don't think there can have been any grounds to mark me down on that. That leaves style - which is a rather subjective matter. I accept that. However they gave no directions on style (or audience, for that matter) for the test piece so there wasn't any real opportunity to do more than guess what style they were looking for.

That's weird, because in my experience they mark writers down on grammar and punctuation more than style. What comments did they leave? I still remember the comments from my initial application article lol....

Tirian

Lilyann wrote: »

That's weird, because in my experience they mark writers down on grammar and punctuation more than style. What comments did they leave? I still remember the comments from my initial application article lol....

They didn't provide any comments at all. This is the sum total of the feedback I received.

"We have rated your writing sample and activated your account - you can now start to write. By writing qualitative content, you can improve your rating and opt for higher paying assignments."

I wonder whether they are just cutting out some admin for themselves, and assigning all new authors who pass an automated grammar/spelling test a 3 star rating, and only upping them if they get good enough feedback from paid assignments.

But anyhow, it seems pretty much impossible to improve your rating from 3 star at the moment since it seems like you'd need to be online and checking 24/7 to have a chance of spotting any 3 star assignments before they're gone. Looking likely that I am just going to check out for now and look again in six months or so to see if they have any greater through-flow.

googler

Tirian wrote: »

Perhaps what would be most helpful would be at least a pointer on what grounds they based their rating.

The first comments you'll get will be on the first 5 articles. You can't do the sixth until they have rated your first 5.

Not wishing to sound too arrogant, but I know my spelling, grammar and proof-reading skills are extremely good and I don't think there can have been any grounds to mark me down on that. That leaves style - which is a rather subjective matter.

If you're feeling brave, you could post your sample article here for a critique?

Even once you get going, TB are in no hurry to provide ratings. Barely 10% of mine have been rated by them, and those that have contained little in terms of pointers or recommendations, merely additional or deleted commas, and a colon instead of a semi-colon ...

Tirian

Hmm, well I'm not sure that I have the sample article. I presumed it would be saved in my profile on Textbroker, but it isn't that I can see.

You can critique my piece on Comment is Free if you like though!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2012/dec/07/bristol-university-christian-union-anti-women?INTCMP=SRCH

googler

Tirian wrote: »

Hmm, well I'm not sure that I have the sample article. I presumed it would be saved in my profile on Textbroker, but it isn't that I can see.

No, nothing that you submit to TB gets retained in a form that you can browse it on their site.

googler

Tirian wrote: »

You can critique my piece on Comment is Free if you like though!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2012/dec/07/bristol-university-christian-union-anti-women?INTCMP=SRCH

Is your piece the article, or one of the comments?

Tirian

Article is mine. Thanks for the info on TB submissions. Will make sure to keep local copies in future for sure!

CWSmith

TB's "marking" does seem to be a bit erratic and certainly, they don't seem particularly interested in style or content.

The first bunch I had marked were given a "well done" in a few places by TB. The second bunch I had marked, which were (I know!) far better than the first bunch (and the excellent clients' comments I received confirmed this) didn't receive a single "well done" from TB and they also collected more corrections, which I thought was quite strange!

Probably it comes down to who does your marking. This sounds so much like being back at school!:D

bigmoe66

I think that I may have read about textbroker on this forum before. I think that I may give it a bash. If you enjoy writing it probably is the thing for you. I have been doing a few surveys to. They do take a bit of time dont they.