In 2014, I published roughly 100 new blog posts about the freelance writing and blogging game here at Make a Living Writing. Whew! No wonder I’m tired.
But enough about me — the important question is: Which of those many posts did you like best?
Here’s my annual list of the posts I published in 2014 that got the most traffic. This is essentially a readers’ choice ranking — you voted with your clicks on which posts were most interesting.
These are ranked with #1 representing the new post that got the most traffic in 2014:
- 140 Websites That Pay Writers in 2014 – A reminder that the top thing I can do to help writers around here is provide job leads. More to come! (Note to folks still reading and linking to my older list of 100 markets — this one is more up to date!)
- 4 Reasons Why Grammar Police Make Terrible Writers by Linda Formichelli – We writers do like to pick at each others’ writing…when we could be doing something productive instead. I was blown away at how many comments this got!
- Can You Spot These 3 Different Freelance Writing Scams? – I wish I didn’t have to *do* posts like this anymore, but new writers keep entering the field, and new scams keep popping up. Gotta stay on this!
- What the Elance-oDesk Merger Means for Freelance Writers – Still an interesting story to follow. I gather it hasn’t been all roses for writers since the merger, particularly over on the oDesk side. But my concerns that many more mergers might follow, in a major shakeout of the whole online-bidding space, appear unfounded so far.
- I Quit My Job to Be a Freelance Writer: What Was I Thinking? by Teressa Campbell — Apparently, many writers identified with the sense of terror that can descend when you take the plunge into freelancing. As it happens, Teressa got an offer she says was too good to turn down, and she’s gone back to the day-job world.
- Bidding on Elance: Here’s How Easily Freelancers Can Get Screwed – This situation was an eye-opener for me — and I’m sorry to report that the problems with identity theft on mass bidding platforms are ongoing.
- Writing for Guardian Liberty Voice: 10 Writers’ Stories – I continue to hear from writers who’ve avoided a very low-pay scenario, thanks to finding this post — including many of the writers who initially defended GLV in the comments of this post. It was worth the time doing the many interviews that went into the post.
- The 4 Worst Places for Freelance Writers to Start – This primer on why content mills, bid sites, revenue-share offers and the like are to be avoided apparently struck a nerve. Hope this helps some writers avoid wasting time working for pennies.
- 37 Essential Freelance Writing Terms You Need to Know by Jennifer Roland – This was real public-service journalism, from my trusty guest post editor Jenn! There’s always more jargon we need to decipher in freelance writing.
- 5 Ways to Find Freelance Writing Jobs on Twitter (With Sample Tweets) – This update to my classic Twitter-tips post reminds me that writers want concrete examples of how to do stuff, not just generic advice.
For more popular posts from other years, check out the sidebar and you’ll see a few classics that continue to draw a crowd — and this best-of post from 2013.
What’s the best post about freelance writing or blogging you read last year? Leave a comment and link us to it.
