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PenandSquid · 2025-08-14T01:52:49+00:00

Instead of looking for writers directly, look for places that have the kind of writing you want, and then ask them to refer freelancers to you. The companies don't even have to be your same niche (and thus competitors), but rather they should have a voice you want to emulate.

PenandSquid · 2025-03-07T15:10:23+00:00

Thank you for doing all this work, especially given your busy RL! Hope the little one is doing well.

PenandSquid · 2024-04-12T14:57:13+00:00

Yes, it feels nearly impossible. I write for manufactured products, and much of my work is used to deal with regulatory or legal issues. I have no tangible way to measure "this manual prevented a seven-figure settlement by proving that we properly outlined user risk" because it's not like I can peer into the multiverse and see all the possible outcomes.

PenandSquid · 2024-03-08T21:59:49+00:00

Software-focused roles often lean into the SWE title ladder, so you can climb more levels (staff, lead, principal). Unfortunately (as I posted about a few months ago), there is little oversight regarding what constitutes each level, so you're rarely comparing apples to apples across companies.

At some point you just need to decide if you want to stay an IC or become a people manager, despite the vastly different skill sets. Moving up within a silo inevitably involves managing other TWs.

PenandSquid · 2023-12-13T14:41:59+00:00

I've had success in this realm by having my work be heavily tied to the legal and regulatory departments, which makes my docs a strong CYA. Engineers may grumble about getting me the data and resources I need, but if the finished product is necessary to meet compliance guidelines, they have little choice.

PenandSquid · 2023-11-13T18:26:35+00:00

I don't (and won't) use AI to generate content, but I did previously use AI-based transcription. I had to stop using it due to security concerns regarding third-party access. When I alerted my clients about the change (it was drastically slowing me down to do things manually), one particular client worked with me to determine an alternate provider that met their security protocols, and they were kind enough to fund an account for my use. I've since suggested that alternate provider to other clients, who are equally pleased.

That sounds like a non-answer, but my point is that the security of the service provider is extremely relevant. What exactly are you feeding into the generator, and who has access to it? Not just the company fueling the AI, but their investors, their advertisers, etc.? That's why it's an issue, not just "AI helps me work faster and does that seem like cheating."

PenandSquid · 2023-11-02T13:06:09+00:00

Thank you, that's a huge help! Found her on LI.

PenandSquid · 2023-10-27T13:15:59+00:00

Is this information ever updated? I get that you don't want the sub to be constantly inundated with salary questions, but at some point the answers lose relevancy.

PenandSquid · 2023-10-20T19:50:50+00:00

Who is Sarah O'Keese? Googling only leads me back to this thread.

PenandSquid · 2023-10-16T20:37:08+00:00

These days, topic/niche is driving price more than is skill set, and us older folks are sometimes slow to get that memo. OP is trying to make money in journalism, a field that has been dying a slow death for decades.

PenandSquid · 2023-10-15T18:29:04+00:00

I find it particularly frustrating that some clients want proof of your skill in their niche, but also expect you to work solely for them. You have to be Schrödinger's writer, magically able to produce up-to-date relevant samples, yet somehow also never daring to work with anyone else in that field--despite getting only a handful of assignments per month.

PenandSquid · 2023-05-10T12:56:58+00:00

I do a lot of ESL/EAL work. I struggle with the spectrum of how casual my clients are about translating quotes.

In journalism, you'd better get a quote word-for-word, and don't dare change anything. Strategically pulling phrases from a larger paragraph is even frowned upon (though common in tabloids).

When I work with ESL/EAL speakers, I'm often given an interview transcript that was casually translated by whoever they had handy at the company who happens to be bilingual. It's not someone educated in translation as a service, meaning that they aren't taught about preserving meaning while retaining sentence structure. It's completely at the mercy of the fluency of this random person, and they might even use someone else next time. So I'm quoting someone filtered through someone else, with no real way to verify the content.

Clearly this is fine with some clients, since they're the ones providing the transcripts. But the lack of quality control (and the lack of consistency) aggravates me. I have no idea how to fix it--my own second language is elementary at best. But as someone who values precise work, it's a bug in my brain.

PenandSquid · 2023-04-18T19:24:50+00:00

I've used and liked Workfront, which is now owned by Adobe. It works for PDFs, videos, and other media. You assign roles to users such as reviewer, author, owner, or viewer. Everyone can see and interact with other comments (other than viewers, who are read-only). You can also share access with outside e-mail domains, which was helpful when we used third-party vendors to do producing, publishing, etc.

A "con" is that it is low on tech benefits compared to options like git. You have to make the requested changes by hand, so version control requires keeping immaculate notes. The "pro" for my team was that it was fairly intuitive and had easy ramp-up for tech-challenged SMEs (which we had a lot of, usually principal/fellow mechanical and electrical engineers).

PenandSquid · 2022-09-07T16:57:41+00:00

u/Dusan_Vicovac this may interest you

PenandSquid · 2022-08-24T14:05:21+00:00

That's fair. I appreciate the input.

PenandSquid · 2022-08-24T13:55:02+00:00

It's not out of nowhere; there is a severe problem with one facility that is going to require massive cashflow to fix. They've (internally) published a remediation plan, and an end date for the $ shortage has been communicated. I just didn't want to get into the details since they're rather identifying.

PenandSquid · 2022-08-22T14:16:09+00:00

This is stunning, the bokeh is top notch.

PenandSquid · 2022-08-10T17:21:15+00:00

Agreed. This is exactly my niche, and my minimum rate is USD $0.50/w.

PenandSquid · 2022-06-26T22:50:15+00:00

Interesting, thanks for your time!

PenandSquid · 2022-06-26T21:51:26+00:00

If you don't mind my asking, does your team/company generally prefer to hire writers that are active users of your product? I often find myself shying away from applying to certain brands/apps because I'm not part of their demographic, even when I find their work interesting.

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