Freelance Writing Jobs

Does anybody know of any good websites for freelance writing jobs. I've come across a few but I'm not sure which to trust. i'm just trying to find a dependable way to earn some extra money.

Freelance writing of what?

(I don't think I know a freelance writer who would call it a "dependable" income...and the folks I know have spent years of hard work just to earn a meager and undependable living from it. In terms of invested time, 90% of writers would be better off flipping burgers.)

You might have some luck looking in the self promotion forum, for ideas on how to self promote as a freelance writer/blogger.

To be a freelance writer you need creds first then people come to you--read magazines that cover your interests and pay well. Pitch to them, work with them, get published and then maybe you'll get in. Even then, don't expect to automatically get a good steady income from the start. It'll take a while.

The other option is to get a job in the publishing industry, but expect crumbs out of that too, considering how the industry is suffering.

If you want to start freelancing, do what I did. Read some books about the publishing market, how to write queries/cover letters, formatting and just test the waters. Make mistakes. If your query is written well enough, editors look past the lack of credits. Plus, all that stuff about not making a query longer than one page is a hoax, just so long as you get your idea across. You'll find that freelancing is just as much about marketing as it is about the art.

And my last word of advice: be prepared to be patient. Hearing back from editors can be anywhere from a couple days to over a year. You'll get far more rejection letters than you will acceptances. The funny thing is, though, when I got my first rejection letter I was actually really happy to get it.

Mmm, there's also this site: http://www.textbroker.com/

It got quite a bit of buzz this summer on the freshman class facebook page for my college. You know, poor college English majors looking for some quick cash. My dad did some research into it and found these links:

from the writing side:
http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/01/20/an-insiders-view-of-textbrokercom/

Unknown:
http://www.searchengineoptimisation.org/textbroker-com-review/

From the client side:
http://www.wolf-howl.com/reviews/textbroker-com-review/

My dad and I never do writing stuff without the proper research to back it up. Anyway, the site has a couple of ways that it works, there's the general pool where writers grab articals, write them, and send them in or there's a special way where the client can contact you directly.

Personally I haven't signed up yet, I'll probably do that over the summer, just with college I didn't want to add paid papers to the mix. Especially with the new major switch.

It'd be good to get some other oppinions on the site as well.