Writers and Editors

Many organizations for writers, editors, journalists, indexers, and other service providers have their own job banks and referral services, generally for use only by members and potential employers, service purchasers, or licensees of rights. Remember that when you are looking to hire someone, and check out relevant listings for specialty organizations.

As for figuring out how much to charge, remember the all-important questions (and this doesn't generally apply to writing magazine articles, for which the pay these days is totally inadequate):
How long will a writing job take (the hardest thing to learn how to estimate realistically)?
How much is your time worth?
How high a fee or price will the market for that product bear (in a local market or an industry market)?
How eager are you for the work--or how willing to walk away from a job or project?

For other resources, check Local and Regional Organizations. Networking with a local group may be one of the best ways to find jobs and outlets for your writing and editing.

The following sites and the listings they post have NOT been vetted for quality, reliability, etc. If you have reason to believe any of these sites should not be listed, please let us know -- and tell us why. Is any useful site missing?

Freelancer Directories
Many writers and journalists organizations have begun offering freelance directories, so for publishers and clients looking for an independent writer, journalist, editor, etc. make sure you're listed in the directory of organizations to which you belong -- and join the ones whose directories are likely to be searched. I'll list more as you make me aware of them:
• Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ's list of independent journalists)
• Editorial Freelancers Association (search by state, skill, specialty, hardware, software)
• Find a personal historian (Association of Personal Historians, to help Mom and Pop write their memoirs)
• Publishers Marketplace (not an organization but a place to announce your availability!)
• Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) (freelancers in an organization that traditionally attracts staff journalists)

DIRECTORIES OF MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS, AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS
You won't find mastheads on all of these, but you can check out the publications.

The Practicing Writer. On this website, Erika Dreifus sells three e-books for writers, including the "Guide to No-Cost Literary Contests and Competitions," "Directory of Paying Essay Markets," and "Directory of Paying Markets for Book Reviewers." For $6.95 I decided to check out the directory of paying essay markets. Strangely, it did not include The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Newsweek ("My Turn"), the New York Times Magazine, Salon, or any of the women's magazines, all of which pay much better than most of the publications listed. Perhaps this is because she listed only publications that posted writers guidelines, with pay rates, on their websites--but this excludes most of the best and best-paying essay markets. Save your money.