I'm compiling what was said here so that you can see what the community is saying. Thanks, Marcy, for pointing out that this was all a whole lot and I probably would need help. That helped me step back and look at the bigger picture. I think what I'm looking for is a moonshot and the baby steps to get here. What percs out as the most useful will be implemented first. The rest can come as we need it.
One thing I'd love to suggest is a "Yelp"-style review section for freelancers to review companies they've worked for. It would probably need to be monitored closely, and folks should be careful about how they word their reviews (or remain anonymous) but I think it could be really valuable both for freelancers and small freelance managers like me, who depend upon positive word-of-mouth to attract new members.
I am most interested in opportunities with companies needed educational freelancers.
I like the idea of writer profiles and company profiles.
I don't feel a need to add more, but I understand if you want to grow. If you would like to add articles to aid in the job search of education writing career, that might be a productive addition.
Mainly, I rely on your job listings, so thank you!
I love the blog as it is
I would like a place where I could find online curriculum and educational writing jobs.
I'd be most interested in these resources: (x 3)
- guest blog posts with companies who hire freelancers
- interviews with companies who hire freelancers
- a writer page with short profiles of our freelancers
- a company page with short profiles of companies who hire freelancers
You may want to add how-to articles, with a call to readers to send successes. You may also want to include the international market, as that would open the door to the world. To promote the redesigned site, you may want to ask readers to add a link on their blogs and websites to your blog.
Help in moving my (and others') long-term expertise into new areas would be great!! Many of us are print people with invaluable expertise into kids at a variety of grade levels. Our ability to motivate and engage children with content that is on target for their age and ability levels is something that can be invaluable to newcomers who are developing APPS and home entertainment experiences.
...perhaps, you can have an occasional FREELANCE post of people who serve particular age groups or content areas? ...I wish your name had more “cache” with companies for I find that once I see your blog, I still have to reach someone I know within a company to see if they, are in fact, staffing or have already staffed for a given project through their own network of people.
Personally, I find that freelance work has declined these past ten years, so expansion into new areas (with people who do not know us by name or expertise!) would be one area that would be great.
Also, may trade people do not know educational publishing people and I, personally,would like to see some cross-pollination into trade educational products to the home: Workman, Sterling, National Geo.. Even Scholastic do trade materials that are as engaging and high-interest as many classroom products but the two industries (and the people) are different.
Content about how to work effectively with freelancers would be helpful too. Most of my clients provide clear specs and strong editorial support, but I’ve had a few that have had me wanting to bang my head against a wall and scream “I can’t give you what you want if you don’t tell me what you want.”
Your ideas are interesting, but for me, I'd like more information about resources other freelancers use. For example: How do other freelancers deal with estimated taxes? What to do about clients who don't pay, or pay very late? Do other freelancers use a bookkeeping app?
Also, just another idea that came to mind is to have some sort of freelancer meet-up. I am part of a similar email list for educational writers in the ESL space, and they recently organized an event, but it was based in England! The event had a few guest speakers, including a hiring manager from Macmillan and a tax professional to help freelancers understand tax rules. It would be great to have a similar meetup for educators. It was just a one-day conference called Freelancers day away.
Maybe an online 'event' featuring interested and experienced participants?
Do you know about jobs for correlators for textbooks? I'm subscribed to this blog hoping to find a gig for correlating textbooks.
Seeing the leads is the biggest thing for me. I didn't know there was a forum. The idea of blog posts or interviews with those hiring would interest me. Reading about other freelancers, maybe not so much. I would like to see posts about the business of freelancing and how you find leads.
With regard to your questions, personally, I'd love to see a writer page with short profiles, particularly if those included website links. I think it would be helpful to companies and perhaps allow writers with similar backgrounds to get in touch with each other to ask questions or share information. I think it would be great to also have a company page. This would let writers learn more about a company before they respond to an advertised opening.
I also think having interviews with people who are hiring writers would be of value since that would enable writers to (hopefully) better understand what these people want. Interviews with writers would work for me if the interview focused on how that person lands jobs, mistakes or challenges they had that could help others, and so forth. I don't know that I'd do more than skim an interview that just told me about that writer.
So, yes, the current format is effective. Normally, I can't say that I'd explore the newer, upcoming features, but because I feel such a loyalty to the blog and trust it, I actually kinda dig them. I look forward to the changes.
From a publisher's standpoint, I'm happy right now. I like receiving job postings and I like offering jobs.
I have noticed that a lot of postings/jobs come from listings on other sites. I would like to see more publishers listing directly with you. That means that they need to know about your work.More publishers with better and more frequent jobs listed on Writing for the Education Market would grow your community in a positive way.
I think that all of your suggestions are great, but perhaps they would be too many to manage.Do you have any help?
Gosh— I need t pay more attn . . .I wasn’t even aware of the discussion site!
As to how-to articles, they're similar to success stories in that they often address a particular challenge, in this case, in education writing/publishing. Whether you write and/or solicit readers for these, you may want to view recent job postings to discern common challenges. You can also check for outside-the-box challenges, which are more specialized and would thus be helped by how-to information.
I like the idea of a discussion group, but honestly, I don't take time to use it and it looks like others face the same dilemma. Perhaps keep it, knowing that use will be sporadic depending on participants' time. Or, maybe it's time to move that aspect to facebook, since people seem a bit more willing to take time (via mobile) to fool around and discuss there. Either way, if there's a way to make it mobile friendly, I think you might get more discussion.
I'd love to see more information from companies - interviews and/or profiles.
The job leads have been what I was most interested in. I love having it come right to my inbox. I like your idea of short profiles of both writers and companies who hire them.
I think focusing on getting more publishing and online companies to send leads to the blog directly is going to give us a lot of value. I am attending ISTE in Philadelphia this summer. I may try to connect with those companies there. Anyone here going to ISTE or live in Philly? I'd love to meet.
The writer profiles or database is looking like a great idea, too. It could be used by companies to reach out to freelancers, and it could be used by freelancers to connect with folks in their niche. (As if writing for the education market were not niche enough. Oy!)
Please continue sending thoughts and suggestions. I won't make any decisions until the weekend and your conversation is supremely helpful. It looks like I missed the feed for tonight, so you'll get this in your email tomorrow.
G'Night,
Laura Coulter
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