Is Textbroker Worth It?

I have been a writer on Textbroker for 15 months, and have cashed out over $1700 from the site. This definitely sounds like it's worth it! But there are a couple of reservations.

First, the good parts:

• It is the one place where I can get paid for work in just two weeks, as long as the balance is over $10. There are two cash-out dates each month.
• There is usually a list of assignments to choose from
• You can set your own price for Direct Orders

Now, the not so good parts:

• The rates they pay for all but level 5 assignments are pretty low. Level 2 pays 0.7 cents a word, Level 3 is 1 cent, and Level 4 is 1.4 cents a word. You will often need to do quite a lot of research for an article, making these rates pretty awful. Level 5 is considered professional, and it pays a more reasonable 5 cents a word. Very few people make it to level 5.
• Occasionally the assignments will taper off to almost nothing.
• Some assignments are terrible. Clients don't always make it clear what they desire, or they may make unreasonable demands. Of course, you don't have to take those ones, but it doesn't inspire confidence in the venue.

My personal beef:
Until last week, I was a Level 5. Actually, there are very few assignments that are even available at that level, but when there was one that I could do, it was great! However, in February, they started sending me warnings about the use of commas. They sent me a reference to study the use of commas. Sigh. This is somewhat a stylistic thing, not a RULE. The editor for my book, North Country Cache, lectured me long and hard about using too many commas and made me change my style. I think TB wants all those commas back in.

But, it really doesn't matter now. The comma police have busted me back to a level 4. I don't know if I'll ever get my 5 rating back.

It is really hard to make a lot of money there. You will put in a lot of time. But you don't have to wait for weeks or months to sell the articles you write. You accept an article, write and revise it till the client is satisfied, and you get paid within a couple of weeks.

They occasionally stop accepting new authors for periods of time, but I see that they are allowing sign-ups now. Unless your English is really poor you can expect to begin at a Level 3.

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