Applying for a writing gig? What is your sample article?

I write articles for a living. I write for online publications as well as privately owned websites. There are sites which allow me to publish articles under my name, but most clients ask for ghostwritten ones.

A ghostwritten article is something a writer composes and sell for a fee. Once paid, the writer does not have any more rights to it. This means that the client has every right to do whatever he wants with the article. He can publish it under his own name, sell it to other clients or post it anonymously in other publications, online or offline.

Many aspiring writers wanting to test the waters of online writing continue to apply for writing opportunities being offered here and abroad. In order to do that, they have to send their application emails to probable clients. Clients usually ask for a resume, a short letter, and an original writing sample or two.

Can a writer use the articles he had ghostwritten as writing samples? For clients who paid for those articles, it is not okay that the articles they already paid for, and therefore own, be used as sample articles. Clients looking for new writers will also evaluate the aspiring writer for his article samples. He usually reads them, take note the flow of words and the overall tone of the article as well as for grammatical and spelling errors. He can also check the article in various softwares which detect plagiarism. Just imagine his surprise if the article claimed by the writer is already published somewhere else under the name of a different person. This means the article was copied, and the client – who would have considered the writer for the job – becomes disappointed and he scans his inbox again to look at the application of other writers.

There are several publication sites, like Factoidz, Hubpages, Triond and Suite101, where an aspiring writer can submit his original articles and have his own name under them. These sites does not usually give writers an upfront payment. The writer however is usually paid for the page views he gains from his articles and depending on the popularity of the article, the dollars can accumulate.

So why write for these sites? The articles written by the writer under his name can be added to his writing portfolio. And these can be used as writing samples in applying for writing jobs. These sites also allow comments, and a writer often knows what his readers and other writers think about his article.

I hope this helps some new and aspiring writer proceed with their writing ambitions.

----dulz