Comments on: Suite101: A Freelance Writer’s Playground

By: Jenn

Jenn — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 04:55:02 +0000

Yep… I’m supposed to be interviewing him for my book (that particular interview keeps getting delayed because of my schedule). But speaking of that, I think I’ll add that to tomorrow’s worklist. :)

Jenn

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:58:04 +0000

yeah Ajax Garcia is something else when it comes to marketing. A true underground Gene Simmons. Go to his band’s music page at http://www.myspace.com/blownaparts

By: Jenn

Jenn — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 21:28:06 +0000

lol Hey now Danny… You know I’d never bribe anyone for a good plug. *devlish grin* I’m glad to see people are willing to share their positive experiences all around. Maybe we’ll get a few newbies because of it, joining the Suite ranks. :)

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 20:03:55 +0000

I’ve been a CW for about….twenty-four hours now, and everything looks great. I have high hopes for Suite and I think it will meet my expectations.

By: Danny Brown

Danny Brown — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 19:44:31 +0000

I have to agree wholeheartedly.

I’m the newly-acquired (who acquired who, Jenn?? hehe) Feature Writer for Indie Music at the site, and I’ve been nothing short of flabbergasted at the sway it has in the music industry.

I did my own little thing via my MySpace profile, like a Band of the Week feature, as I live and breathe music and any help I can give new bands, the better.

HOWEVER… since joing the Suite101 team, I have been put on the Media lists for both independent AND major labels; I have probably received more promo CD’s and pre-release copies of new albums than I can handle; and I have been given specialist Press Pass access to some of the hottest gigs in town, with full interview access afterwards.

This has led me to interview the likes of The 88, Sherwood, and many other well-respected names in the indie scene. You should also see some of the contacts I have made throughout the industry!

So yep, I doff my cap to Jenn and the rest of the Suite101 team for helping me achieve some things I would only have hoped for…

Danny

PS Hey Jenn, when do I get my 50 bucks? ;-)

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 14:30:25 +0000

I write about motorcycles/ATVs etc. at my (networked) blog at Under My Helmet. (undermyhelmet.com)

I signed on with Suite in Jan 07 as a Contributing Writer. I wrote an article or two about motorcycles, then moved up to Feature Writer for the motorcycles section. But I’ve also written for two other sections, football and cats, and am planning an article for a religion section.

My experience so far has been really good. It has been one of the deciding factors in me getting a freelance writer’s job for an on-line ATV magazine (signed the contract just yesterday as a matter of fact) My goal is to write for print magazines, and I’m certain my involvement with Suite will greatly accelerate that.

The freedom of writing in different sections at Suite is awesome, and the community is very tight even though there was a bit of controversy over the ability for people to write in other people’s sections. But I think that’s pretty much accepted now.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 11:39:53 +0000

I actually signed on as a Contributing Writer at the end of January. While my niche isn’t nearly as glam as Denise’s, I’ve found that being a writer for Suite has already had its perks. I write on mostly gardening topics, and I’ve already had two large nursery growers contact me, and provide me with not only catalogs, brochures, and even dvds of presentations given at conferences (which gave me a great insight into what’s “new” in the industry) but they’ve also given me story leads and provided names and contact info for any experts I might want to contact. I’ve been running my own gardening site for three years, and have been published in some smaller gardening magazines. I can easily say that working for Suite is kind of “fast-forwarding” my writing career. Highly recommended :)

By: Denise

Denise — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 05:11:13 +0000

I am going to whole heartedly agree with Jenn for this one.

Honestly, I was always a little reserved about Suite101. While the site seemed like it was a pretty rad place, I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of investing my time into a site that paid via ad clicks.

However, when an FW spot opened for a topic I was interested in AND wanted to gain more experience from, I decided to take the leap.

Boy, I’m glad I did.

I haven’t been working with Suite long, but already I’ve interviewed Ajax Garcia from The Napoleon Blownaparts AND received CD’s to review from a record label. How’s that for cool? I get to listen to music AND get paid for it… yep, pretty “suite” gig, if you ask me (pardon the pun ;)

As Jenn mentioned, you get to write about topics you enjoy and have the backing of a large company that cares about its writers. It’s awesome – I definitely plan to stick with Suite for the long haul.