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Earn Money Online Freelance Writing for Suite101.com
Felicia | Mar 10, 2008 | Comments 115
Suite101.com calls itself an online magazine. It’s a content rich site whose articles are contributed by freelance writers which allow the writers to earn internet income. The freelance writers are broken into two categories, Feature Writers and Contributing Writers.
Feature Writers are responsible for their particular section of expertise. They are required to write a certain number of articles per week on their topic and maintain an associated blog. They may, if they are so inclined, also write articles on any other topic of their choice as long as they maintain their Feature Writer requirements.
Contributing Writers can write on any topic of their choice and are only subject to the 10 articles over a period of three months writing requirement.
Apply as a Freelance Writer
To become a freelance writer for Suite 101.com, you have to become a member (membership is free) complete an application and submit a resume along with two writing samples. Suite101.com will review your work and notify you if you are accepted.
Suite 101 has been around for over 10 years and has developed a readership of over seven million readers monthly. They offer a quality product; so if you are not serious about writing quality articles, don’t bother to apply to Suite101.com.
If you do decide to earn internet income by writing for Suite101.com and are accepted, be prepared for editor interaction. The editors review the work and offer quality feedback. Any writer knows that feedback is part of the growing process. The editors are there to help you improve your craft. Take the criticism as constructive criticism and learn from it. It’s a good place to get honest critiques that server to improve your writing
Payment
Payment is made via Paypal and is based on the number of page views and ad revenue generated by your articles. None of the writers know the actual page view/revenue share formula, but we do know that payment is made monthly as long as your earnings exceed $10.
Earnings from Suite101.com vary depending on the number of articles written, topic popularity, seasonal fluctuations and a host of other variables. Once you’ve written a few articles, you get a feel for which ones work and which ones don’t. Additionally, Suite101.com provides a user interface whereby each writer can see just how well each article is doing and were the traffic is coming from. You can see which search terms were used to access your articles. It’s a useful tool when it comes to honing SEO skills.
Article Ownership
You maintain the copyright for your work; however, you grant Suite101.com exclusive electronic rights for the first year that your article appears on their site. After that, you can post your article anywhere you wish.
Success?
Success can be measured in several different ways. First of all, having a Suite101.com profile has helped me in getting other writing assignments. One link to
Suite101.com was all it took to show what and how I write.
Success can also be measured by level of income. I’ve had moderate success financially. Let me preface my success by saying that I maintain the 10 articles per three-month minimum requirement. Some writers write in excess of 100 articles in that period of time (other obligations prevent me from doing so). Unfortunately I had to remove the actual figures earned as I found out that it is a violation of the Suite 101 Terms of Service. Suffice it to say that my earnings have increased over time.
That number is a little deceiving because some of the articles were written as recently as two days ago which haven’t had time to be process through the search engines as yet. Some articles get great traffic while other ones are not popular at all.
Either way, as long as I continue as a freelance writer for Suite101.com, the articles will remain on the website and I will continue to earn internet income. Even if I stop writing, as long as the articles remain on the site and generate revenue, I will continue to earn and get paid.
Filed Under: Earning Money • Freelance • Legitimate • Opportunities • Suite 101 • Writing
I like writing for demand studios beacuse they say if your article is approved, then you will recieve payment. Time and time again I have recieved payment.
My background is in both the automotive industry and I am also a prior service veteran. If a writer is to write about what they know, then the auto industry, politics, and military affairs are right up my alley.
I have had articles published both in print and online. I have found that if you want to make it as a professional writer, then having expirence in particular field seems more valuable then a degree and no expirence what so ever.
I often think about making writing my full time job, and not just a part time way to earn some extra cash. I have sat down and talked to editors of newspapers, and though it seems most of them like my work, none of them seem to have a freelance budget.
In my personal opinion, I think there should be a balance between web content and in print works. Personally I think media journalism should go online, it will save them thousands on overhead costs alone. However I do feel that well written book, thats something that should always reamin in print. Thanks for listening-
Steven R
.-= Steven´s last blog ..Women the most Complicated Creatures on Earth =-.
Hi Felicia,
Would you mind answering a couple more questions?
1: Are writers allowed to link up to Amazon books to earn the Amazon associate kickbacks?
2: What does it take to become a Feature Writer? Do they hand-pick them after a writer has established him/herself as an expert in that particular field with lots of articles?
3: Would they allow a writer to use a pseudonym? There are only about a dozen people in the US with my last name, and it would take about 4 seconds to pinpoint my exact location, my husband’s work, and my kids’ school. I just don’t want to advertise too much about us to the world!
Thanks in advance for your help.
Hi Carley,
I’ll try to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge.
1. Suite does not allow affiliate links.
2. To become a Feature Writer you have to show proficiency in your area of interest. Editors look to see how many articles you’ve written on the topic and how well they are written. To be considered for a topic you must contact the editor when an open slot is available.
3. I don’t think Suite allows pseudonyms.
Hope that helps.
Thanks Heidi for the info. Just submitted my Suite101 app. Funny thing I discovered. When I actually clicked inside the text box is when the instructions popped up about required sample article length (400-600 words). Sure seems they could make that a little more obvious prior to the actual submission stage.
.-= Crystal´s last blog ..Make an Easy, Luxurious Tied Quilt for Someone Special =-.
I also used previously written work when I applied in March. It won’t get published unless you actually put it on the site. Minimum length was 400 words.
.-= Heidi´s last blog ..Top Chef’s Fabio Viviani to return to Bravo =-.
Thanks for the speedy response. Unfortunately the Suite101 site seems to be down so I’ll just have to submit my samples another time:(
.-= Crystal´s last blog ..Make an Easy, Luxurious Tied Quilt for Someone Special =-.
Hey Felicia – Quick question I can’t seem to find the answer to on the Suite101 site Re: the writing samples – can I submit previously written work or must I compose something entirely new? Also, any feel for the perfect length? All they say is 600 words max. So will 200 do? Or should a sample be more like 300-500? Ok – so that’s 3 questions – sorry:) I know you may not have the exact answers but what’s your feel on this?
.-= Crystal´s last blog ..Make an Easy, Luxurious Tied Quilt for Someone Special =-.
Crystal, it’s been a while but back when I applied I provided previously written work. As far as word count, their requirement for writers is to write between 400 and 600 words, so if you stay within that word count you should be fine.
If there is anyone who applied to Suite more recently than two years ago, please correct me if I’m wrong.
I’m glad I found this discussion. I saw an ad for Suite101. They’re always looking for writers. I’m interested in doing it because I want to learn about writing for the Web. I don’t want to take a course, I’d rather get real experience. Do they provide lots of feedback this way? Thanks.
I was accepted into Suite101. I like how you write on a specific niche that you’re experienced with. Having an interest in manga and other various aspects of Japanese culture, I decided that’s the niche I’ll stick to for Suite101. It makes it easier to write when you have structure (at least for me). Anyways, I love reading your blog. Keep up the excellent work.
Congrats Deborah!
If writing about a particular niche works well for you, than do what works. I think you’ll be happy with the results.
I’ve applied today to Suite101, got accepted and just submitted my first article. As I don’t know much about how long it takes for it to go to the editor and be approved (or not), and what people’s opinions are on Suite101, I googled the subject and your post came on the first page. Read the whole article and the comments, thanks for all this, it makes it much clearer now.
I’m trying to get away from my 9-5 job and freelancing seems like a good way to go.
Marika
.-= Marika´s last blog ..Social Bookmarking Made Easy – The Power of Social Bookmarking =-.
@ Felicia
Thank you for your wise words!!! I am a bit tired at the moment, and I can get really hard on myself at those times. Whereas I used to have a very matter-of-fact attitude about content writing, today I am just feeling low…but you are so right about the cat skinning…very good point…
It is so important to keep you eyes on the prize, and not get bogged down in whether an editor “likes” me : )
I am so glad this site is here.
Keep up the good work!!
Wendy
.-= Wendy´s last blog ..Another day, another… =-.
I’ve been writing for Suite101 for about a year, and I find they are getting very bogged down. Editors used to flag articles for something
simple and once corrected it would go right back on line (usually voice or opinion issues). Their pay is so low, every day your article is viewed is crucial to your earnings. But now the editors for the various sections are constantly changing (possibly for this very reason). Now if your article is flagged, even for minor issues, it can often rot off-line for weeks before an editor gets back to it. Very bad for the writers, very bad for writer motivation, and horrible for writer income. I like their forum, but it’s no longer a place to make much money. I’ve been a writer and editor for many years, but I’m a stickler for wording, spelling, and grammar. I take my time and write well, so I’m not a production writer who can crank out articles in an hour. It’s not cost-effective to write for a place whose guidelines keep changing with new untrained or overwhelmed editors. I write for many other sites and I decided to move on from Suite. It’s probably a better site for people who want the criticism.
Sam, I’m sorry to hear about your bad experience with Suite 101.
I’ve been there for a couple of years and found them to work very well for me. However, I guess it depends on the section editor.
Once I ran into an editor on the Suite site that seemed to have a problem with the very fact that I breathed air. No matter what I wrote, there was a problem. So, to rectify the problem, I submitted my articles to a different section. Sometimes certain articles can fit under more than one section topic. I chose the path of least resistance and placed it in a section with a ‘nicer’ editor. It’s amazing how they were never flagged.
The not so nice editor flagged my article because my introductory paragraph didn’t use all of the available character spaces. I believe I only used something like 148 characters where the interface allowed 170. When I received a flag for that I realized that I needed to place my articles under a different topic heading.
By the way, those articles that I placed under a different subject heading are doing extremely well as far as page views go. I wrote a series of articles on the topic and they all are doing well. Unfortunately, page views don’t always translate into dollars and cents and since Suite doesn’t share the per article earnings, I’m not sure how lucrative they are.
As I’ve said before (and my daughter hates when I say this), there is more than one way of skinning a cat. I’d rather not waste my time trying to please someone who is unpleaseable (not sure if that’s a word, but you get my drift).
I just joined Constant Content; it seems like a good idea. Would you ordinarily charge around $65 for full rights, Jenn? If so, how long an article would that be? For usage, do you think around $4 per 500-700 words would be fair?
Alyssa,
I’ve been writing for constant content now for about 2 months, though not with any real regularity. I’ve got about 30 articles posted, and have sold 4, 3 for useage and 1 for full rights ($65.00).
I don’t want to hijack this thread but I’d be happy to chat more with you about this if you shoot me an email (ladyaudley_2@yahoo.com).
Jenn
I’m seeing references to Constant-content.com and I wondered if anyone reading these posts have an opinion about them.
I’ve found several reviews, but the one that was most thorough and coherent is located here:
http://master-dayton.blogspot.com/2008/10/freelance-writing-constant-content.html
The reviewer succinctly highlights the pros and cons. By the end of his blog, you should be able to make an informed decision about whether to pursue this course.
I’d be interested to read any other opinions on this blog.
Good luck to all.
Oh sorry Textbroker!!
It may have just been the long weekend, but there was a reddish box that comes up and says now that I’ve written five articles, they have to clear them through or something and it can take up to seven days. It seems like these companies take the maximum amount of days they say they can to ok you, but now that it’s the work week again it may work.
Kate, I’m a little confused. Are you talking about Textbroker or Suite?
Felicia,
thanks for the candid response – I know it’s hard to compare some of these writing sites, I’m just trying to get the maximum bang for my time and I’m not terribly patient. Plus, I abhor the sites where it seems you need to be on a buddy list to get clicks on your articles.
Jenn
I’m like you Jenn. I don’t do well with buddy lists and rounding up the troops to view articles. That’s why I like Suite. You can participate in the forum if you choose, but you don’t have to. There are no friend lists or anything like that. They’re a professional site that wants quality content.
I tend to do poorly if I have to round up a group of folks to read and comment on my articles. Honestly speaking, once I write an article, I forget about it and go on to the next. It’s only when I receive emails asking for help on things that I’ve written that I have to go back to remember what I wrote.
Kate,
I’m not sure why you’d be out of comission for a whole week with TB, they’ve been a little sparse wwith the lvl 4 articles for the last week or so but just 2 weeks ago they had so much surplus they were offering a bonus for doing weekend writing just to clear through the huge number of articles.
I’ve had as many as 15 or so articles in ‘waiting’ status but there’s nothing to say you can’t keep writing.
Also, check out constant-content.com – the set up is a wee bit different but I’ve sold articles there for as much as $65 each, and some people sell them for more.
Jenn
Do you have to give Suite a SS number or is a tax id number okay? I’ve been writing for textbroker and would like to broaden my options. Thanks. Abby
If I remember correctly, Suite didn’t ask for a tax ID number. They’re not a US based company. They don’t submit 1099′s. You have to report your Suite income to the IRS yourself.
^Because this is all fairly new to me; I’m trying to take it on as a successful part-time job since it’s so hard to find work now and I right now it just makes more sense to be my own employer!! And the one catchy thing in the Textbroker system is that once you fill five orders (it seems) you’re out of commission for a whole week!! So I think it would not be smart to put all my eggs in one basket
Hi Felicia,
I was just about to write and ask if anyone knew of other sites that paid for writing. I’m a very environmentally active art major, but it seems like no one wants to read about the environmental movement or the art world, so I have made a total of 9 or 14 cents in like a month and a half!! I’ve written for Triond primarily, and I tried doing a Google AdSense-Blogger thing. I shall try Suite now!
I’m trying to use Werkadoo but I think it’s fairly young, so no jobs ever come up in the postings. And I have heard mixed messages about using a Squidoo lens, but the whole “lens” thing sounds kinda awesome so maybe it’s something to try anyway.
Hello,
I’ve been trolling your blog for a while now and have found it to be immensely helpful and full of great information.
The one thing I’m hoping you may be able to answer (directly or indirectly) you’ve already answered but had to delete so I’m wondering if we can work this another way around.
Currently I write for textbroker and constant content. With textbroker lvl 4 I earn about $7.00 per 500 word article. While I understand about the residuals earnings from suite 101, I’m just wondering how they compare. Would an article have to be posted on suite 101 for a long time to earn $7.00 or do they add up the pv’s fairly quickly?
I know this is like comparing apples to pears, but I’m a niche writer (food/drink/cooking/health) and don’t really like to write articles about insurance or mortages, I leave those to you! I just don’t want to waste my time writing something that might never earn as much in pv’s or residuals.
Thanks in advance for your guidance,
Jenn
Hi Jennifer,
It’s really hard to compare the two. Suite 101 pays based on ad clicks. Although they provide statistics for the number of page views and will list the average revenue per page view that your articles might bring in, they don’t tell you how much each article earned. Therefore, I know how many page views a particular article received, but I don’t know how much money it generated. Having said that, you’ll probably earn money quicker with Textbroker because you can decide how much you want to earn each month.
I’ve learned that upfront pay and residual pay does not have to be an all or nothing situation. You can continue writing for Textbroker while writing an article a week or so for Suite 101. In the long run, you’ll have more options.
Although my per article earnings with Suite is a constantly moving (and increasing target). I’m just shy of $30 per article (averaged over 2 years) and I write an average of an article a week (1.3 articles). Some weeks I write two, some none and on rare occasions I might write 3 in a week. I’m usually busy writing elsewhere.
If you can manage an article a week, I would strongly suggest that you try Suite in conjunction with Textbroker and allow your per article rate to rise. Additionally, you retain ownership of work Suite work. I don’t think you do with Textbroker.
Forgot to mention: As far as writing in your field of food, drink, health and cooking, I find that those fields are popular and seasonally do well with ads. I find that the Food and Health sections of my Tidbits & Stuff site surprises me sometimes with the earnings. While they are not consistent high earners, they do bring in a steady source of income.
I was going to begin writing for “Helium.com,” but just read that Helium “steals” articles – has anyone known suite101 to do such a horrid thing? I’m very protected over what I write, as I “give birth” to my writings (strange, I know!) and they feel like my kids. Do writers on Suite101.com ALWAYS get credit for what they write? Really, I’m more important in owning my work (to go on to publish it elsewhere, after a year) than in getting paid! Can I submit the online articles Suite101.com does accept to markets printing offline on paper (before the obligatory year waiting period)? Does anyone know the answers to some of my questions? Thanks so very much for a wonderful site!
Hi Paula and welcome to NJFM.
Suite 101 is a legitimate respectable site. They do not steal articles and the ownership and copyright of the article remains with the author.
According to Suite 101′s writing contract “Suite101 has the exclusive right to electronically publish the Content on the internet in accordance with the terms of this Agreement for one (1) year from the posting date of Content…” Therefore you can submit your article to print publications within the first year of your posting the article on the Suite site.
I’ve been writing for them for a little over 2 years and am very satisfied with them.
Brenda- I see two clauses in the T&Cs section of the Suite 101 site:
——————
Disclaimer
The material in this site is provided for personal, non-commercial, educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement with respect to any company or product. Suite101 does not provide any endorsement or recommendation of any third party’s facility, business or event and makes no representations and specifically disclaims all warranties, express, implied or statutory, regarding the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, durability, title, non infringement of intellectual property rights, interoperability of products and services, availability of the site, storage of content, merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose of any material contained in this Website.
Neither Suite101 nor any of its partners, suppliers or affiliates or any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering the Website is liable for any errors or omissions on the Website nor for any direct, special, incidental, consequential, indirect, or punitive damages arising out of your use of the Website or the information contained herein including, but not limited to, business interruption and loss of use, data, information or profits.
———-
On the other hand they have this clause too:
Personal Liability
You are legally and ethically responsible for words, files, pictures, or any other work you post or transmit using Suite101′s services (the “Work”) and are responsible for honoring the rights of others, including intellectual-property rights (copyright, patent, and trademark), the right to privacy, and the right not to be defamed. If you wish to post any Work on the Website in which a third party owns the copyright, you are responsible for obtaining the copyright holder’s permission first.
—
The two clauses seem a bit grey frankly and not sure if writers would be covered by the Disclaimer clause. The discaimer may indirectly protect a writer but the first part of the second clause does a writer no favours.
Thanks for breaking it down so clearly. Your detailed description of your Suite 101 writing experience so far is very helpful.
Awsome Analysis…this really helps
I, too, am a writer with Suite 101 and must say I’m impressed with the editor feedback.
For writers trying to transition to online writing, Suite gives them the ability to learn and earn–a good deal, no matter which way you look at it.
Thanks for all the honesty being posted here.
Does anyone have any thoughts to share on the following?
1. If you’re currently a contributor to Suite 101, do you now have to list references for very every article you submit? I wasn’t quite clear on that.
2. Do you know if eHOw or Suite 101 publishes a disclaimer aimed at readers of their sites? I haven’t seen one for either site yet (I need to look closer), but in their terms of agreement with writers, they have very strict rules to those who write for them, including that we’ll pay their court fees, attorney fees, etc., if anyone files a claim against them because of our content. No big deal in most cases, but frivolous lawsuits by people who claim your how-to gave them a serious allergic reaction or caused their child to get hurt still have to be defended and paid for in court sometimes. If either eHow or Suite 101 have a good disclaimer for readers of their site, that could ease my mind.
Thanks.
Thanks! I think my link may be working again! Who knows??
I submitted another Suite article, if anyone is interested.
For some reason, those articles drain me. I appreciate your words and support.
Julies last blog post..Comment Luv
Hey fellow writer. I am still reading your blog here, it has been helpful.
So far Suite has not been too profitable. But, I realize I only have 4 articles on there. I am doing far better on eHow. I am sure as the articles go up, it will get better. So far on eHow, I have made almost $34.00. Those articles are easier to write, too.
Just curious-Do you know why my last blog post won’t work in Luv here? It says, “A feed could not be found at http://julies-journeys.blogspot.com“.