Hiring a Writer

[Dural]

I'm aware of services like constant content and elance.com, but have any of you guys hired a full-time writer? If so, how'd it go?

The reason I ask is I have about 500 pages of writing I need to do, and none of it has to be brilliant. It just needs to be grammatically correct, clear, and well structured.

While I have all of the knowledge and ability to write it, I don't really have the desire. Not this part of it, at least. In fact, I probably have enough writing to keep a full-time employee busy indefinitely.

Hiring someone seems like a good idea. I could probably dictate the material into a tape recorder and then hand it off.

Am I crazy or is this realistic?

[Chris]

I guess it would depend on your budget. Many of the writers at these places aren't full-time writers, its a hobby or side job for them.

If you just need transcription done, you could get that fairly cheap I know, but actual creative writing involving research etc for that many pages and you're going to have to pay quite a bit.

[Dural]

Hmm. I'll probably make 100-200K from those 500 pages. What's a decent writer cost? 30-35K salary? I can handle that. Or do you think it would be cheaper to outsource it to someone on constant content?

Most of it is highly specialized real estate stuff that is hard to research. I'd have to provide them with an outline, as well as the information. All of it is educational material, including two books that are about 150 pages each. I'd be willing to list them as a co-author.

[Blue Cat Buxton]

Sounds like the sort of thing you would want quite a bit of control over, enough to warrant an employee type relationship - although presumably you get into tax problems then (you would in the UK, PAYE, National Insurance etc) unless they can be a direct contractor, and handle that themselves.

[Dural]

It's not that bad here. I already have several employees on payroll. I pay a payroll company about 50 bucks per month to handle the paperwork for each employee.

Yes, I'm also thinking that an employee might be the best option. Only, freelancers are attractive because they're not completely dependent on you for income. I hate laying employees off. It can ruin their life.

[Shawn]

I know someone who is in the process of writing a novel -- she's very good. She's smart, writes well, and should be able to spend a good 6 hours a day or so working.

PM me if you want phone/contact info.

[Chris]

Yes... basically I think you'll need to hire someone for a year or 6 months in a basically full time position. Some out of work english teacher or something.

[chromate]

How many words are those 500 pages? If you're talking less than 1000 words each, then it's not that big a deal. You shouldn't have a problem finding someone that knows what they're doing on elance. Prices vary a lot. You could spend $20/page and they may not be any better than someone that charges $8/page. The problem you will face is finding someone you can trust to complete the project to a good standard. Might be an idea to dish out a few pages to a few different freelancers and pick the one you like to take on the entire project.

[platinum]

Hire a local person, so, so much better. The company I work for used to outsource writing, and the articles were very obviously written by someone who didn't quite have the best grasp of english (ie it was their second language), and the content simply sounded 'wrong'.

[Dural]

How many words? 1000 or less per page. $20 per page is pretty cheap. That's only $10,000--significantly less than the cost of hiring a full-time writer. On the other hand, I'm not producing quickie adsense sites here. I'm writing books that will influence my status in the industry, at least marginally. I've never used elance for content, but could I expect high enough quality not to be embarrassed?

The best approach is probably to test it. I have an idea for a smaller niche site that only needs 20-30 articles, a forum, and some backlink building to hit number one for a relatively uncompetitive keyword. It could be crap and I wouldn't really care. Probably worth testing some writers out on it, when I can squeeze it in.

[Bleys]

Printed pages are closer to 250 word/page. But if you're talking 500,000 words, then $.05/word would put you at $25,000 for the project--which I think would be pretty fair for a project of that size. Though, depending on how intensive the research requirement is and how quick your expected turnaround, it might still be a tad low.

$.05/word is sort of at the low end of the pay scale (at least for magazine writing--which I am most used to)... but magazine articles aren't 500,000 words. ;) I don't think anyone would expect you to pay near the WIRED end of the spectrum ($1/word).

$.07/word puts you right at your $35,000 estimate. So that is about what you'd be paying based on your initial guess.

[chromate]

The best approach is probably to test it. I have an idea for a smaller niche site that only needs 20-30 articles, a forum, and some backlink building to hit number one for a relatively uncompetitive keyword. It could be crap and I wouldn't really care. Probably worth testing some writers out on it, when I can squeeze it in.

Yep, testing is the only way to go. You will probably have to go through quite a few writers to find one you trust will be able to complete the project to the standard you require. You'll also be able to get a reasonable idea of what the writer is capable of by looking through their portfolio.

[Dural]

Yes, it's probably more along the lines of 250 words per page, which would bring us under 10K for the rates you mentioned. Research should be pretty light.

Anyway, this project is still a month or two out for me. I might try ordering some articles from elance, just to see what it's like. But I doubt they'll be able to provide the quality I'm expecting.