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How I Got Scammed Into Writing For Pennies
What I learned from a year I spent working for a content mill that paid me pennies for my writing
When I was sixteen, I was in desperate need of a job. Well, I suppose “desperate” is a little melodramatic — really, I just needed a job that would pay for the gas in my car, and my weekly coffee excursions. Unlike most kids my age, I couldn’t just grab an application from McDonald’s and start flipping burgers.
A birth defect in my feet caused me chronic pain and made it impossible for me to stand longer than thirty minutes at a time. Working eight-hour shifts on my feet at a fast-food restaurant was out of the question unless I wanted to end up in a wheelchair.
I had to get creative, so I started researching jobs I could do from the comfort of my own home.
I stumbled across many of the same work-from-home gigs that most people do — transcription, tutoring, social media manager — until I finally settled on freelance writer. I should clarify that I didn’t have any formal writing experience or education prior to this — my biggest writing achievement was the ten-page essay on Frankenstein that I had to complete for my English class. All I knew was that I liked writing and I got an A on that paper.
