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Demand Studios

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by goalmouth, Nov 20, 2009.

  1. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    That editing test is baffling. My wife didn't pass either, and she's the best editor I know.
     
  2. txsportsscribe

    txsportsscribe Active Member

    what the heck, i just signed up after reading this thread. mostly out of curiosity.
     
  3. golfnut8924

    golfnut8924 Guest

    The pay rate seems pretty reasonable for the word count. But most of the articles they want require a decent amount of research, like how to fix a radiator on a 1998 Chevy Suburban as someone else mentioned. So banging out 400 words for 20 bucks seems like easy cash but how much do you have to surf the net to find your material for those 400 words and then work it into the style that they prefer?
     
  4. Roscablo

    Roscablo Well-Known Member

    My wife said they probably just put the applications on a board and someone throws darts at it to pick who makes the cut. I actually wondered if maybe I edited the test too aggressively. That's the only thing I can think of that I did wrong.
     
  5. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    I'm not going to judge what some people will do or put up with to make money, but if I knew how to fix a rad in a Chevy Suburban, I'd get a job fixing rads in Chevy Suburbans and make a fuck of a lot more than $20 with my knowledge.
     
  6. golfnut8924

    golfnut8924 Guest

    haha seriously
     
  7. beanpole

    beanpole Member

    I was just laid off, so I signed up for an editing gig with these guys. They want me to edit at least 12 hours a week, and I figure I can clear at least $15 an hour. Decent spending money to supplement unemployment.
     
  8. Desk_dude

    Desk_dude Member

    In some states you can only make a certain amount if you're collecting unemployment.

    Demand Studios will report your income on a 1099.
     
  9. cyclingwriter

    cyclingwriter Active Member

    FYI on taxes, keep a running tab in your head of what you made. I've written for them for three years and they have always been late in sending me my tax info.
     
  10. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    I was steered into this deal from another respected member of this board. I guess it's not for everybody. But even with a full-time job, adding this is currently a financial lifesaver for me -- understand, with divorce and my own habits, I have a lot of debt.

    You edit at your own pace, although it's true, they ask for a minimum of 12 hours. I made a shitload of money two weeks ago. This week, I had something to do on one of my primary editing days (Sunday), so I just had an off period (you get paid twice a week, straight into Paypal; I have never had a problem getting paid). Every payment they send me, at the advice of my tax guy I take 42 percent right off the top and stick it in a savings account. He told me not to do a quarterly tax payment this year, but I'm sure I'll have to do it next year, and I'm all set up to do that electronically with the Feds.

    Currently on the site, there are 4,352 stories waiting to be edited. Most you get $3.50 for. There are things called "Tips" where you just get a buck, but they also sometimes only take three minutes (although if you run into a problematic one and have to either do some rewrite yourself or send it back, it quickly becomes far more work than it's worth).

    Some of the writing is really good, and if you get a bunch of fact sheets where the person knows what they're doing, you can make $35 to $40 an hour, easily. On the other hand, sometimes, you'll spend 30 minutes on Best Steakhouses in New London, Connecticut, and that can get frustrating.

    There's a lot of hand-wringing about the rates, but if you get used to the system and how everything works, you can make some reasonable money. I wish they paid more, but I do OK with what they pay now.

    For a writer, some of the stories, you should be able to knock out in a half-hour, and if you're any good, you'll get a kindly, efficient copy editor like me, and I'll move it along and that's it: You get paid. Some writers also get paid for page views, but I'm really not sure how that works.

    Make no mistake, though: I'm now working two jobs, no matter how I want to fudge it. I get up two hours earlier than I used to in the morning, and I go out less and instead head straight home to work at night. But to me, the money has really been worth it.

    Bottom line: If you're going to think a "professional journalist" should be paid more for this type of work and consider this "slave labor" or whatever, it's probably not going to be for you.

    Me, I'll take the money.
     
  11. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    Did they send you a rejection note, or did you just not hear back.?
    Took me a couple of weeks before I heard back and got accepted.
     
  12. Roscablo

    Roscablo Well-Known Member

    No, I got a response. Best line was, "It seems the results of your test did not meet our needs." It seems? It either did or it didn't. And then it said for safekeeping purposes they can't give the results. So I'm only left to wonder.

    Anyway, it's not the end of the world, but for many of the reasons you mentioned in your above post I really would have liked this job. And it doesn't look like they give second chances at applying. Oh well.
     
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