Friends, there are ghosts among us... Not the spooky, white sheet kind of ghosts, but the low-paid, desperate kind.
How many times are you on the internet in a typical week? How many Google searches do you make? How many articles do you read about the topics you've searched? I would hazard a guess that at least 80-90% of the population now researches and asks their questions on the net pretty often. Some people build up a trust with a particular author and follow their articles regularly.
I have some news that may shock you. Or it may not surprise you at all, considering the standards we have grown accustomed to as a society. That news is that chances are, the articles you read on the internet, are probably NOT written by the person whose name is attached to them!
Who wrote them? Freelance writers, that's who. Freelance writers who need the extra money and don't think about the consequences. Freelance writers...like me!
The consequence of being an "internet ghost" are discovered one day, when you are Googling something, you come across a cleverly written piece that makes you sit back and say, "that is a good article...sounds like something I would write myself! Must be a more good writers out there after all." Unfortunately, when you take a closer look, you realize that you DID write it, and someone else is taking the credit for it!
We don't think of that at the time however; all we think about is the $15, $5 or even $2 we will be getting in return for those 500 words that we can never take back or take as our own. Those 500 words will belong to someone else, and we won't even be able to use them as a reference.
I have written hundreds of these, and it makes me wonder how many so-called writers and authors out there have ever written a single line for themselves. If you are skeptical, Google "freelance writing jobs" and take a gander at how many websites there are devoted to the subject. Then have a look at the job postings - there are almost no employers that want
your name on the article.
The part that gets me the most about this is that when you come across those too-familiar words, and you look at the website they are on, usually you realize that you could have written this article yourself, put your name on it and they would have accepted it and published it!
But there are way too many freelancers out there who need the quick buck and are probably too stressed to think about anything other than the bill they can pay with the small amount they are getting paid to remain in the shadows.
I was one of those...once. Now have a job that has nothing to do with writing, but I still have that burning inside of me that only a writer can understand. So I blog...I don't get paid very much for it, but it's MINE! Someday, by the sweat of my brow (or the sweat of my fingers!) I will be able to pay my bills with my writing, and it will be harder to do this way, but I don't want to waste my time promoting other peoples' names anymore. It's my turn!
I don't mean to put down other writers who are ghost-writing...it's not a bad way to get experience, and like I said before, I did it for a few years. The point I want you to walk away with, is don't do it forever! Branch out...your writing deserves to have YOUR name attached to it!
