Asking for Samples on Writing Gigs?

[stevegrogan2015]

I realize this is a matter of personal preference, but I wanted to get a general idea of how some of you work.



I have had a couple people contact me in private messages because they are interested in hiring me for a writing gig. They will describe what it’s like…we figure out if we can reach an agreement on what payment would be like…and then they hit me with, "Great! Now could you send me some writing samples before I hire you?"



I don’t know about you, but it makes me feel like my time got wasted. Maybe they should ask for this up front?



Either that, or in my immediate response I could guide them to some samples. I play it safe so that I don’t have to worry too much about getting ripped off: I send them either to my blog or send them something that has already been published.



What do you folks do when asked for samples?

[willpower_hk]

Different buyers act differently. For me, if I contact the seller beforehand, I’ll certainly ask for writing samples in my first message, instead of asking about it after agreeing on something.

[maddisont]

Since you offer services to help people write their novels, I can certainly understand why they would want to see a sample of your writing. I would send them a small sample of something you’ve written, just so they can get an idea of your writing style.



Now, if they ask you to do free work, then I would politely tell them “no.” 🙂

[stevegrogan2015]

Reply to @maddisont: Right. I guess I just worry about plagiarism but, if it has already been published somewhere under MY name, then I have all the proof I need that it isn’t their work.

[maddisont]

Reply to @stevegrogan2015: Understandable, but it definitely helps if you give them a sample of something you’ve already published. Hopefully you’ll only have to deal with upstanding buyers, but we all know there’s scammers lurking out there.



I wish you the best of luck in searching for work though!

[emasonwrites]

I set up a weebly and posted some of my personal writing samples there, as well as some work that I’d done for a buyer that he decided he didn’t want to pay for, but I still thought was pretty good, so that if I send someone one of those samples and they try to steal it, it’s already posted online, I have the digital record to prove that I own the content, or at the very least, posted it first.

[Guest firedxupp]

I feel like I’ve made a mistake. I never would have thought of being selective about what samples I send out for fear of them being ripped off. Things I’ve already sent to other customers, and now I sent someone writing samples and they claimed that they didn’t pass copyscape and that my writing isn’t original. I explained that I’ve never plagiarized and that sometimes I don’t know what my customers intend to do with my work, but now I’m wondering if someone I sent a sample to might have stolen it.

[catwriter]

I send them links to the stuff I’ve written, or, if they want samples for video scripts, I send them link to a video made after my script. That way they can see my writing style and whether it fits their needs, and can’t steal anything.

[sincere18]

Reply to @stevegrogan2015: pick something you do not care about. Like always show one or two blog posts as a sample. Something that is published live somewhere, not a private sample.

[sincere18]

Reply to @firedxupp: don’t worry about it now, not much you can do about anything prior. But in general when you are dealing on a site where everyone is completely anonymous, you always have to have in the back of your mind that you have no idea what anyone is doing with anything.



Going forward I would select samples of things that are published live on the web somewhere.



As for wondering if someone you sent a sample to stole your work, it could be the other way around. The buyer was legit, they posted your article to wherever they were going to be posting it, and then people have copied it from them. So it works in all directions. There is nothing you can do about it. And depending on the nature of what you are writing, some things tend to get lifted and copied more than other things.

[sara1984]

I have two short samples in my gig image section. That’s as far as I’m willing to go, sample wise. You can see from them that I’m an English speaker, and you can get a feel for my writing style. None of these are actual articles, so I’m not worried about them being ripped off.

[steixeira]

I do translations and have been asked to do sample work as well. After translating a sample once and never hearing from the buyer again, I always request that they buy a gig first.

Perhaps you can do something similar and write a short sample text that is one gig worth.



No one has ever complained.

[steixeira]

.double