
Ask HN: Where can I find high quality writing services? - atrust
I&#x27;m looking for someone to write high quality article&#x2F;blog post (about NYC). There are tons of companies I could go with, but I&#x27;m completely unfamiliar with this whole area. Any recommendations? My budget is 100-300$ per article.
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RomanH
I'd recommend checking out [https://scripted.com/](https://scripted.com/) and
[https://www.textbroker.com/](https://www.textbroker.com/) \- I've heard good
things about both. We're also launching a content delivery service over at
[http://www.camayak.com/](http://www.camayak.com/), but it's new so you'd be
an early customer for a beta service.

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smt88
I have a close friend who is in your price range, depending on the length of
the article. He's written for Business Insider, Cosmo, and Brooklyn Daily
Eagle (from NYC).

Contact me at smt88hn@gmail.com and I'll forward his info.

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vigneshrams
Check these out,

[http://conorth.co/](http://conorth.co/)
[https://collegecopywriters.com/](https://collegecopywriters.com/)

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rufusjones
You have to be kidding. And I mean full John McEnroe "You cannot be serious."

First of all $150 for a 750-word article would be a good payment. Assuming you
aren't asking for more words than that ("blog post" suggests no), you can have
your pick of people.

Second, evaluating writers is the simplest damned task in the world. Read
their frigging code.

Third, average reading speed is 200 words a minute, so you could read an
entire submission in less than five minutes. Practically speaking, you would
probably need less.

Elance and Odesk merged and are now called Upwork. If you posted the job
(number of articles, average length) and asked them to send you sample pieces
and an online portfolio, you would be overwhelmed.

Even if you insisted that they have a verified business address within 50
miles of Manhattan, you'd still have a fire hose to drink from.

I wouldn't entirely recommend Craigslist, but you can find a lot of people
there-- some of whom are very good and still struggling to make ends meet-- if
you don't mind swatting away the 8-balls who will apply (CL gives you a custom
email for replies, so you won't deal with them forever.)

Writers tend not to hang out there, but Behance or Dribble do have some.

Let me close by restating my opening. Some questions that get posted here are
difficult to answer; others have expectations are ridiculous. But the thing
every freelance writer wants most is a steady stream of assignments that lets
them make a pretty good income per sale.

Four posts a week at $150 would be $600, which is $15 an hour-- enough to pay
bills.

Your request is comparable to posting "I'm a supermodel who really enjoys
having sex with men with small penises and no social skills. Can anyone on HN
help me?" Your big problem would be people thinking you must be a scam,
because your request sounds too good to be true.

UPDATE: There are, by and large, two broad types of writers: extroverts who
promote themselves capably, but might or might not have equally good skills,
and introverts who lock themselves away and aren't great at self-promotion.

The first group is pretty easy to find, but often not worth the price. The
second group takes some hunting but can give you better results for less.

~~~
atrust
Well. I'm not kidding at all. I read a bunch of reviews as for the
Elance/Odesk/Upwork/Etc. Most of what I heard is "stay away from them if you
are looking for something really good". I also found a couple companies that
do (as per reviews) a relatively good job. But the prices are crazy ($300-500
per article). Some other companies say "30$ for 1000 words article". So I was
a bit confused about all of these costs.

~~~
garethsprice
What do you mean by "really good"? Spelt right and mildly engaging, or the
next EB White's "This is New York"?

First you'll find on Upwork or Textbroker no problem. Latter will be a long
search for a great writer who creates exactly the work you want.

Writing is like most other unregulated professional services in that costs
vary wildly, as does quality, and the two are not necessarily correlated.

Get samples, ask friends for recommendations, find blog posts you like and
e-mail the authors, give small easily completed sample tasks that grow into
big assignments and build a solid relationship with one vendor over time.

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foundersgrid
I'm the founder of CoNorth.co (thanks for the recommendation, vigneshrams!).
We work with many startups and our rates start from $150. We also offer a
money back guarantee. If you have any questions or would like further info,
you are more than welcome to email me directly: chris@conorth.co

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andrea_sdl
I dunno if it is within budget but checkout
[https://scripted.com/](https://scripted.com/)

I remember it was considered one of the highest quality services out there
(never used it personally, though).

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vigneshrams
Check these out,

[https://collegecopywriters.com/](https://collegecopywriters.com/)
[http://conorth.co/](http://conorth.co/)

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seanccox
I've been a writer and editor for six years, but I'm currently also a grad
student, so I'm always looking for work. My email address is in my profile.

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Mz
I posted something here, then deleted it to protect my privacy. I do freelance
work. You can email me for a copy of what I posted earlier.

Best of luck.

