The reason is simple. Book blogs provide the freelance writer with publication opportunities, career advice, industry scoops, job links, writing gig opportunities, book reviews, and the ability to have one's work critiqued. Online, you can join a book club or join a site independent publishers peruse while scoping out new (and thus less expensive) talent.

But these Internet opportunities come at a price. The freelance job search has become greatly decentralized and, as a result, many freelance writers may not know how to look for a job in the most efficient manner. I would suggest starting with google and some well-known “mainstream” job search engines. Searching for “freelance writing jobs”, “contract opportunities writing” will provide you with plenty of resource material such as Freelance Writing Jobs: Writing for a Living which, in turn, will lead you to 23 Places to find freelance writing jobs and freelance blogging jobs . It was during one such search that I (to use a personal example) found CommonTies. CommonTies is a web site that actively solicits fifty-word responses to its twenty questions and, since the site pays $50 per response, it once helped my husband and I defray the cost of our pug's operation.

If all you want is to know which sites will pay you for your articles and stories then doing a google search and exploring some of the better known “mainstream” freelance job search engines such as Guru, at eElance, and craigslist will probably suffice. If, however, you would like to look into the subject at more length, you may want to visit the many book blogs online. These blogs will offer you advice on everything from your writing style to whether you should carry a purse. (You shouldn't.) And since you can't visit them all, the question becomes: which blogs are worth your time? Which blogs concentrate on your posture (which, while valuable will probably not get you published) and which will genuinely help you refine your work and get it published? Where do you start?

I started with a book. With Catheryn Kilgarriff's and Rebbecca Gillieron's The Bookaholics' Guide to Book Blogs: the new literary force to be exact. (That doesn't mean you should start where I did; your choices are quite varied-as a simple amazon search for “blog book” will demonstrate. (Amazon itself is, of course, a highly profitable book blog.) The Bookaholics' Guide to Book Blogs' recommendations were (for me) merely a starting point. For most blogs have blogrolls (or lists of blogs the blogger likes) and it was through these recommendations that I found freelance writing opportunities available at Triond (for example). Indeed, had it not been for The Bookaholocs' Guide to Book Blogs which led me to the Urban Muse, you may not be reading this essay.

But perhaps you don't have time for this much research? Perhaps you are an ordinary person with a regular job and a regular life? For you, I have put together a starter's list of useful web sites:

Mainstream” Freelance Work

Guru

Elance

craiglist

Freelance Writing Sites

Freelance Writing Jobs

About Freelance Writing

The Golden Pencil

Sites Soliciting (and paying for)Your Written Word

Triond

CommonTies

HubPages

Sites Accepting Freelance Work (non-paid)

Amazon

MetaxuCafe

The Book Reporter

Industry Insider Blogs

The Galley Cat

Miss Snark, the Literary Agent

Publishing Insider

As you can see from the above (greatly abbreviated) list, the Internet can be a wonderful resource for the freelance writer. And while it is not yet the freelancer's primary resource, its prominence is increasing.

Even the Writer's Market series recognizes this. On June 2008, Writer's Digest Books brought out the 2009 Writer's Market Deluxe: Writer's Market Online. It is receiving great reviews on amazon.com.

That's realization set him on the path to a successful career writing biographies. “I realized that there was more to what I was doing than the superficial stories I was doing. In fact, I realized that all these people had stories that could ….that should have been written as books. I set about collecting materials. I have written five fine “autobiographies” that are doing very well,” Peter told me with enthusiasm when we met in a down-town café.

What Peter had found is an endless source of ghostwriting opportunities. “Everyone in Africa-and that's literally speaking-is an excellent subject for a biography. Everyone has had momentous experiences that can make good reading.”

Big Names, Big Money

Bookshops in most cities and town in Africa today are full of ghostwritten autobiographies. Politician lead the pack, starting from the adorable Nelson Mandela of South Africa to the ignoble Robert Mugabe, the dictator of Zimbabwe. They are also the easier to pay big money and quickly.

The most celebrated of these was that of Kenya's former president Daniel arap Moi. Faced with a growing dissent against his rule, Moi was in a hurry to write a book which he hoped would “do public relations work” for him. The book was written by a British journalist Andrew Morton-you'll remember him for his bestselling biographies of Princess Diana and Monica Lewinsky, the woman in the American Whitehouse sex scandal that nearly brought down former President Bill Clinton. According to reports, Moi paid Mr. Morton more than US$10 million.

A biography of the late Sudanese rebel leader, and first President of Southern Sudan John Garang, is said to have brought a small fortune to a Kenyan journalist. Mr. Garang who was killed in a plane crash, was also the Vice President of Sudan.

Idi Amin's Biographies

When headline grabbing former dictator of Uganda, Idi Amin Dada, was deposed and exiled to Saudi Arabia, almost all the people who had contact with him, including his cabinet ministers, had their autobiographies written.

The earliest and possibly the most famous of these “Idi Amin biographies” was that written by a British teacher, Denis Hills. In the book, Mr. Hills, then a lecturer at Makerere University, described Amin as “a village tyrant.” Amin's extensive spy network smelt out the book when it was still in manuscript form.

Mr. Hills recounted the events that followed in an interview with me published in a twice a week column I wrote in the 80's for the Daily Nation in Kenya, “I was startled when Amin's soldiers pounced on me,” he told me. “I didn't know how Amin got wind of the remark in a book that was not yet published!”

Amin sentenced Mr. Hills to death for treason in a case that was as comical and bizarre as it was tragic. He was “pardoned” and released only after the intervention of the British government.

Mr. Hills, who had by the time I interviewed him already written six more books told me that the British Queen was among those who were happy that he was released. “I wrote a letter to the Queen to thank her. Her secretary wrote back and said the Queen was happy that I was released. She had to be because had I not been released, it would have meant that her letter to Amin had been ignored.”

The most successful writers and bloggers on the Internet all understand the importance of marketing, especially online marketing, because it is the most important subject that can generate the largest audience of active readers on the Internet. Writers desiring to earn an income must be willing to learn everything that they can about the subject of online and offline marketing and marketing techniques, so that they can drive the traffic to their articles or blogs that are published on the net.

The following websites and articles were written with new writers in mind, because these are the ones who will benefit the most. Stop asking questions and start learning the marketing techniques that can potentially make you a successful Internet content writer in the future.

Marketing For Beginners Series for Writers

1. Choosing Your Online Publisher

   A helpful guide to help you choose an online publisher that is right for you and that will attract the type of readers that would most likely reader what you write.

2. Choosing Your Author's/Pen Name

   The name that a writer choose to write using can make or break an author's chances to become a popular Internet writer, so this useful guide will point you into the right direction.

3. How to Setup a Winning Bio Page

   The majority of online publishers allow their writers to setup a brief bio page, so that they can introduce themselves to their audience and fans. What most writers fail to understand is that their bio page is also an excellent marketing tool that can earn them new readers and in many cases the writers do not have a clue how to setup a winning bio page to achieve the greatest marketing results. This guide will help you setup your bio page right the first time.

4. Choosing Your Audience

   There is nothing more important than knowing you audience and understanding who you are writing for. This marketing guide teaches writers what to look for and how to locate the audience that you need to make an income when writing.

5. Writing Targeted Article Titles

   Once a writer has a working understanding about who their audience is, then it is time to learn how to write targeted article titles that make money.

6. Writing in Volumes

   Internet content writers usually make money every time someone stops and reads their article or blog, but to make excellent residual royalties in the future, writing in volumes is a marketing technique to really consider.

7. Networking Basics

   Learn the basics of networking on the Internet using this brief, but helpful marketing guide.

8. Social Bookmarking Basics

   Learn the basics to using social bookmarking websites, so to reach a broader audience and to potentially drive more unique visitors to your blog or article.

9. Co-op Marketing Techniques

   Learn what Co-op marketing is and how you can use it to your advantage in regards to your future marketing plans.

10. Using Existing Offline Networks

    Learn how to identify your existing offline (real world) marketing networks and learn how to use them to generate a bigger potential audience of readers.

Marketing Basics for the Established Writer

1. What Every Internet Content Writer Should Know

   This article is an excellent one to learn more advanced marketing techniques to apply to a writer's daily marketing schedule.

2. 10 Important Things That Every Triond Writer Should Do to Improve Your Earnings

   This is an excellent marketing article for writers who have elected to write for the online publisher “Triond”.

3. 10 Easy Steps to Build a Successful Internet Marketing Social Network

   Learn what you need to know about social networks and how to setup your own social network circle, so that your marketing campaigns can meet or exceed your marketing ambitions.

4. Understanding Social Bookmarking Services So You Too Can Build a Successful Internet Marketing Network

   This marketing guide teaches writers the important things about using social bookmarking services, so that they can build a successful Internet marketing network.

5. 10 Useful Websites to Increase the Popularity of Your Blog

   This article will guide interested bloggers and writers to free Internet services and programs that can be used to increase the amount of traffic that their blog currently receives.

6. Writer's Spelling Resources

   This is an outstanding guide for writers wanting to learn new words.

Online Publisher Guides

1. 10 Killer Internet Companies That Want To Pay You to Write

   Use this comprehensive online publisher guide to locate an online publisher that is right for your style of writing.

2. 10 Real Internet Companies Where the Words You Write Will Pay You

   This is another comprehensive online publisher guide that contains ten different online publisher-writing opportunities complete with details.

3. Get Paid to Write 10 Profitable Writing Opportunities for the Serious Writer

   As if a writer needs more writing options to choose from, then comes yet another ten potentially profitable writing opportunities to use when selecting an online publisher to write for. This article contains a brief description of the details for each of the writing opportunities.

4. 10 Marvelous Magazine Article Writing Opportunities

   This writer's guide presents ten magazine writing opportunities for the serious professional writer and these writing opportunities are not designed for every writer either. Only the best-of-the-best writers will succeed in this highly competitive writing field, so be prepare for heaps of rejection letters.

Research skills to a writer are more like a private car to a worker-they are not of much commercial value. Their value lies in taking them to their destination - in the case of writers, is the story. So, to carry the comparison further, the owner of a private car can starve without thinking of turning his vehicle into a commercial transport.

I got this insight when by chance. It was during those dry days when you are biting the tip of your pen wondering where else you will get an assignment from. A friend who worked for a motoring magazine called me up and said the magazine wanted an urgent research on motorists, and could I do it? After a little hesitation, and pushed by the need for cash, I said yes, I could.

Need for Professionalism

I went to it professionally, developing my initial expectations, known by scientists as hypothesis, to guide my observations. Writers rarely remember that they work with hypothesis! Within a few days, I had a professionally bound research report for which I was paid many times more money than the accompanying article.

Not long after that, a banking institution called me. They wanted to invest in a certain area and they needed quick research so that they could get the initial impression. A writer's research skills are well adapted for quick, relatively cheap, research. Again I went into it and came up with an expensively bound report-the sort the bank people are used to. Needless to say I was thanked with a fat check.

Consumers of Research Services

Since then I have included research in my marketing materials among the services I offer. I have discovered that opportunities are many from individuals to medium firms, right through to the large organizations. Ironically, writers are some of the largest consumers of the sort research I am talking about. Other consumers include media organizations, universities and the academic community and non-governmental organizations.

A few weeks ago, a small firm next to my office wanted to get a loan from a financial institution. Then they began to ask themselves which institution? Where are they located? What they offer? What are the terms? To answer these kinds of questions, they realized they needed a quick research. And that's where I came in.

Remember, of course, that to succeed in marketing your research skills, you must learn to present your materials in a variety of writing styles. Invest in studying presentation styles of various consumers of research skills and you will find you are much more than financially rewarded for your effort.

On the Internet, there are a variety of writing opportunities that can earn writers an income. Some writing opportunities pay a royalty, share advertising royalties, pay a flat rate or can be negotiated depending on who the author is and what works have they had published and where. Other writing opportunities are non-paying, but these opportunities shouldn't be overlooked, just because they are non-paying.

Non-paying writing opportunities are a great way to establish a professional writing portfolio to show to potential publishers that require their authors to be established. Most non-paying writing opportunities for reputable magazine, newspaper, or Internet publishers must follow a strict set of publishing guidelines that the editors set forth. This vetting and/or screening process separates the best authors from the rest and rewards the best writers with valuable exposure and an added bonus an excellent publishing credit to fill out any professional publishing portfolio.

The following writing opportunities are offered as paying opportunities that may require a vetting or screening review before being accepted or rejected for possible publishing. It is highly recommended to first read the editorial or writing guidelines before submitting any articles or stories to the publishers.

1. WireTap

   Writers should understand that WireTap Magazine is focused on issues that affect youth ages 16-26 years old. Articles should be well written with research-supported facts about real world youth trends, news and concerns. Articles that are published pay $50-250 per story depending on the amount of reporting and analysis.

2. Smorty

   Smorty is a bridge between bloggers and advertisers. Smorty offers serious bloggers an opportunity to earn an income from the blogs that they currently manage by broking advertising sales according to the popularity of the current blog. In layman's terms; the more popular your blog is online, then the more money you can earn from the advertising sales.

3. CellPhoneForums.net

   This is a sweet writing opportunity for writers who can write and deliver a well written, easy to understand review on their favorite cell phone. CellPhoneForum.net is seeking good reviews that consist of explaining all aspects of a particular phone model. Writers will be paid $10 per review if approved.

4. CMS Jumpstart Magazine)

   This is not a writing opportunity that every writer will be eligible to write for, because in order to write a series of tutorials suitable for CMS Jumpstart Magazine, the writer must have in-depth knowledge of setting up and operating a Joomla site. If you are a writer that processes this knowledge, then CMS Jumpstart Magazine pays $5-20 per article depending on the length and subject matter.

5. YouK

   YouK is a refreshing breakaway from the traditionally common sponsor driven content websites that allow the sponsors to shape and suggest reader content. YouK is a site that is on a mission to change this common practice and focus the appeal on the reader with a focused, helpful and stable resource. Writers whom desire to run their own site, on a topic of their choice can earn an income from every article that they write. This is a revenue sharing publishing opportunity.

6. Blue Mountain Arts

   This is a unique opportunity to write greeting cards and get paid for expressing a memorable emotion. Blue Mountain Arts is not looking for all genres or writing styles, so it is very important to carefully read through the writer's guidelines. Blue Mountain Arts pays $300 per poem for the worldwide, exclusive rights to publish it on a greeting card and other products, and $50 per poem for one-time use in a book.

7. GZYN

   GZYN is a website that is looking for original, quality web content in the form of a well written article, that can be published in exchange for a share of the Google Adsense advertising program. To learn more about this opportunity visit GZYN to learn if you have any relevant article ideas that you may be able to publish on this site.

8. RealityTvFan.net

   RealityTvFan.net is offering an ideal writing opportunity for bloggers that are fans of television reality shows. Writers who enjoy expressing their feelings and emotions about their favorite reality television programming can earn a share of the Google Adsense revenue earned from your articles published by the Orble network. Watching television and writing about the experience is the perfect job for any writer that values their time to play.

9. Animation Arena

   Currently, Animation Arena is looking for a couple of writers to write video game, comic book or movie reviews that pay $20.00 (USD) per review accepted and published. There is a maximum of 10 reviews per month.

10. INeedCoffee

    INeedCoffee is currently seeking writers that are interested in writing quality web content for their website. This opportunity pays writers by sharing an even share of Google Adsense advertising revenue that is generated through the writer's published article. This is an opportunity that will require the writer to self promote their published work them self, so to increase the overall amount of views their article(s) receive in a 30 day time period.

Triond writers can write just about anything and about practically any subject that they can imagine. Of course, there are some rules and policies that all interested writers should read and consider before making the decision to write for the company.

I have been writing for Triond since September 2007 and I have had several articles that have become very popular on the Internet and in several social bookmarking communities. My best articles have earned well-over $190.00 each in just a few months, with the majority of the earnings being earned within the first 72 hours.

It is true that not every article that is written for and/or published by Triond will earn big money. I personally have written over 70 articles and several of these articles have only managed to earn less than one dollar apiece. Sure, these articles are not making the big money, but they will earn a little money every couple of weeks. Every little bit helps increase your overall earnings in the long run.

Triond writers continue to earn a royalty for their published articles for months or years to come. The more that you write and publish and then the more you will earn in the long run and continuing to write new articles will only increase the earnings both in the near-term and the long-term.

This is a legitimate Internet opportunity for writers of nearly any skill level. Triond pays consistently well and on time. Writers are paid 50% of any advertising revenue that the writer's articles generate in a course of one month. Triond pays out on the 15th of every month and the writer has several different types of payout options to choose from.

If you ever wondered about Triond, but really had never heard any firsthand testimony about the company, then this review is especially for you. Triond is a really good company to write for and provides a great opportunity for writers who not only desires getting paid, but creating exposure for their work.

If any of my Triond fellow writers would like to leave a comment and/or testimony about their personal experiences writing for Triond, then please do.

Locating legitimate Internet writing opportunities can be quite difficult at times, especially if you do not know what to look for when you want to find it. This article lists 5 of the best freelance writing opportunities on the Internet today.

If you are writer and want to get noticed for your creative talents and earn a nice income in the process, then these writing opportunities are what the doctor prescribes to jumpstart your writing career into high gear.

Triond

Triond offers writers an outstanding opportunity to make an incredible income and getting new authors noticed by the world of readers. Writers receive a 50/50 royalty-split of advertising revenue that is generated from the articles, stories and poems that a writer publishes with Triond. The income potential varies from article to article and author to author. The harder that you work and the more that you write, then the more you will be able to earn. It pays to work with an incredible company like this one.

Online Writing Jobs

Find a freelance writer or post a freelance help wanted ad to locate a qualified writer to do the job that you need to have completed. Online Writing Jobs is an online marketplace for writers seeking new opportunities and companies and individuals in need of the creative skills of a writer. This is a forum and requires free registration to post to threads.

Freelance Writing

This website offers a comprehensive collection of writing opportunities that are updated regularly through RSS Feeds from the freelance writing job markets. If you cannot find a freelance writing opportunity here, then you are probably not looking hard enough.

iFreelance

Wow, this is a great idea that could potentially keep any freelance writer busy and earning a steady income. Companies seeking to outsource some of their creative projects can post those jobs on iFreelance and freelance writers can then bid on the projects in a competitive auction environment. Companies can potentially save a lot of money and writers can potentially locate new jobs on a consistent basis.

Xomba

This is an excellent writing opportunity where writers are creating new web content that is known on Xomba as “Xombytes” and can earn money through ad revenue generated from the writer's Xombytes. To participate in this writing program you must have a Google Adsense account, because the ad revenue that is shared in earned through your Adsense account. Membership is free and registration is required.