Question: Should I pay for market listings to get writing assignments?

Answer: Hi jb - On the whole, I don't think so... at least not as a usual thing. There are plenty of free resources available. Take a look at Of Paying Writing Markets, Writers Market Listings and Finding Writing Jobs for an overview of the writing market as a whole, and some lead sources.

I post jobs twice a week which I gather from a variety of sources - if you sign up for the newsletter, you'll get a notice of how many jobs are posted each time plus other information about the site.

If you do decide to pay for such a service, and even I test them once and awhile because they make it sound so easy, stay away from auction sites. The bidding there just drives down the price. Guru.com is one service that lets you bid but doesn't show how much you bid to other writers... I think that's the only responsible way to do it. They are a bit pricy and I don't suggest someone just getting started use them, but if you've got some decent credits it's worth a shot.

Another exception is the online version of Writer's Market. They update their market listings regularly and give you other tools that make their relatively small annual fee worthwhile if you're writing books or for magazines.

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