Thank God for Grammarly!

Ever since I started writing online last summer, I've been aware of my need to improve my punctuation and grammar. A few months ago, I discovered Grammarly - a wonderful tool that helps you correct your writing and teaches you, via a choice of short or long explanation, what you did wrong.

Grammarly is a brilliant piece of software; it checks your writing for grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes. It also suggests ways to improve writing style and provides synonyms to help expand your vocabulary. I've used similar tools in the past, but this is by far the most comprehensive. It's perfect for amateur writers and bloggers.

I've learned a huge amount just through editing articles prior to publishing them at i-zeen, and I'm making fewer and fewer mistakes in my own work as time goes on. I know my sixteen year-old son, who is sitting exams next year, will benefit from using it as much as I have. Therefore, I'm happy to recommend Grammarly to anyone who needs to improve their written English. It's absolutely worth the reasonable fees charged; and, because you learn as you correct your work, there will soon come a time when you no longer need it. 

You can choose from several payment schemes - annual, quarterly, or monthly; paying annually saves you a good deal on the monthly fee, so it's worth investing in if you can afford to splash out. I chose quarterly simply because I wasn't sure how useful it would be, but I'd have been in serious trouble without it!

It's helping me create a professional website, which is crucial to our success. So, if you need help with grammar and punctuation, sign up for Grammarly!

Online Community & Social Networking Site for Professional & Amateur Writers & Bloggers

Networking is a great way to promote yourself as a freelance writer and can also benefit you financially if you publish residual earnings articles. We Like to Write is a new social networking site for writers and bloggers, enabling social networking in a safe, professional environment. Writers may also publish articles containing back-links in the on-site magazine, thus providing exposure, in addition to helping boost page-rank.

We Like to Write is a brand new social networking site and online community for writers and bloggers of all abilities. There are many provisions for self-promotion, such as groups and events announcements, but simply using the forum and getting to know other writers and bloggers can help drive traffic to blogs and articles.

All members have their own profile pages, on which they can publish up to twenty links via an RSS feed. Writers are also free to submit blog posts containing a backlink to an article or blog, which, if accepted, will be published on the homepage. However, the main magazine, which is hosted elsewhere, is authored strictly by authors who've passed an entry test.. Magazine writers are able to generate revenue from the advertising placed on their articles, in addition to being permitted to include up to three self-serving links per 500 words. 

The forum and live-chat room that form an integral part of the social networking site are open to all members, making it easy for members to find writers and bloggers with similar interests. However, the forum is automatically computer-moderated for spam, and suspected perpetrators are immediately suspended. Persistent offenders will be banned from the site via an IP block.

The site effectively combines useful promotional tools with the potential for professional and amateur writers to make friends or gain followers/subscribers in a professional environment. The We Like to Write online community for writers and bloggers also welcomes younger writers aged thirteen and up, and all content is moderated for suitability, making it an ideal place for students to visit for friendly advice.

Join the We Like to Write social networking site.

Prospect Solution - Helping You to Help Undergraduates Cheat Degree Passes

Prospect Solution appears to be a respectable, professional agency, providing freelance work for writers of graduate or undergraduate status. However, its website is less than up-front about what its writers will actually be doing, or why they will be paid so highly. This article explains exactly what Prospect Solution pays its writers for, and why no writer with the slightest sense of common decency should agree to write for the company.

Prospect Solution is a company that shows up time and again in the Adsense ads shown on this blog and anywhere else online where freelance writing is discussed or written about. The company maintains a consistent and high-profile marketing campaign, promising to pay its writers excellent fees for producing essays on their own specialist subject within a limited time period. But how can Prospect Solution afford such high fees, and what do they do with all these essays?

That's simple; the essays are sold on to (presumably well-off) undergraduates to pass off as their by handing in as part of their degree coursework. Prospect Solution and its writers (in addition to a number of similar UK companies, one of which is called Ivory Research) are literally enabling British students to fraudulently pass degree courses, and thereby undermining the very fabric of higher education. Such behaviour is clearly morally reprehensible, yet the company has thousands of writers on its books, and is, as previously mentioned, continually on the look out for more.

Prospect Solution doesn't clearly identify the nature of the work its writers are undertaking on its official website, which means freelance writers may sign up unwittingly, unaware of exactly what they will be doing. A quick trawl of the internet reveals this has already occurred, with forums displaying questions from recent, successful Prospect Solution applicants regarding what will become of their essays - and the horrified responses they post when they subsequently discover the truth from other Prospect Solution writers.

This means, not only is Prospect Solution enabling undergraduates to illegally obtain fraudulent degrees, it's also tricking writers into writing the essays. Such a company could hardly be described by anyone as respectable or professional.

Of course, desperate people - of whom there are many, especially in times of economic hardship - take desperate measures, and it is understandable, although not entirely forgiveable, that writers and graduates with serious financial problems would agree to undertake writing work such as this. However, for the companies providing the work, there really is no excuse. If one can successfully run a business selling one product, one can usually also do so with another product - preferably one that is ethically sound.

Anyone considering writing for Prospect Solutions, or already doing so, is advised to re-evaluate their options. Would you be happy if you discovered your doctor, teacher, lawyer, psychologist, financial adviser or MP (I thought I'd better mention them, since they cheat in every other capacity) had fraudulently obtained their degree?

Don't enable these people to cheat. Don't write for Prospect Solution, or any similar company - no matter what fee they are offering. Integrity is worth more than all the money in the world.

Demand Studios Opens its Doors to UK Freelance Writers

Demand Studios is a popular online service that enables thousands of American freelance writers to earn money writing for a living. Until recently UK writers weren't accepted at Demand Studios, but that has now changed, which is brilliant news for UK freelance writers.

Demand Studios provides work for freelance writers. Applicants must provide a professional CV and should ideally have English qualifications and freelance writing experience. The company has previously refused UK writers, but recently altered its policies - much to the delight of UK Associated Content writers, who were recently told their services were no longer required. Demand Studios offers the perfect alternative.

Demand Studios pays its writers twice weekly for submitted articles, and members are free to choose which topics they write about from a list of available titles. Once claimed, these titles are reserved exclusively for a period of seven days, within which time writers must have finished writing the article and submitted it to an editor for approval. Editors at demand Studio don't just check articles for spelling and grammar mistakes - they also check facts, so this is a venue for serious writers with specialist knowledge of particular areas, or those committed to conducting serious research.

At Demand Studios, each article commands a fee of anywhere between $3 and $15, depending on which type of article you choose to write. This could mean a half-reasonable wage for freelance writers who can create several articles per day in the higher paying categories.

There are also member forums to enable communication and support between Demand Studio members, and the editorial team claim to be around to help their writers, should they require any assistance. All in all it seems like a reasonable set-up for those new to freelance writing, and will certainly help build a beneficial portfolio.

If you sign up to write for Demand Studios please pop back and leave a comment to let us know what your experiences are.

Apply to Become A Freelance Writer for Demand Studios