Hey everyone!
Sorry this edition is a day late. I ended up under the weather after spending some time with relatives from out of town over Thanksgiving.
Nonetheless, we power on!
This week, I have something new and exciting to share with you.
I know that finding jobs is one of the hardest parts about being a freelance writer. So what if the jobs came to you?
Part of my mission with Ravenwood Writing Academy is to help you find success, so bringing the jobs to your inbox is exactly what I’m doing!
Each week, the newsletter will now feature several recent job postings, including freelance gigs, pitch requests directly from editors, and even some full-time jobs. Hopefully you can seize the opportunities!
If you do land a gig through one of the opportunities we share, I’d love to hear about it 😊
To your writing success,
🪶 Cody
P.S. Could you do me a favor? If someone you know would love this newsletter or the jobs I shared this week, can you forward the email to them? I’d really appreciate it!
(P.P.S. If you’re here because someone forwarded you this email, congrats, you have a cool friend! If you want more job postings and great freelance writing content, you can subscribe here: https://ravenwoodwriting.com/newsletter-landing.)
Freelance Bites
- The days of clocking in at a 9-5 job are long gone. Writing is one of the most popular side hustles for good reason—you can make great money! Better yet, Entrepreneur.com says, you can turn that side hustle into a full-time career. Here’s how (Entrepreneur).
- Speaking of writing, there are plenty of excellent reasons to publish your words online. From making your ideas discoverable to leveling up your communication skills, here are 25 reasons you should be writing online (Ness Labs).
- When you can measure the impact of your writing, you can charge more for it. Clients want to know you’ll deliver results when they invest in your services. HubSpot outlines some actionable ways you can start measuring your content’s worth and present for clients to understand (HubSpot).
- Your writing needs to sound human if you want to stand out from the deluge of AI writing tools out there. Adding some playfulness to your prose is a great way to make your writing more human (which I dive deeper into in this week’s Letter From My Desk below). In the meantime, check out this podcast episode from Jeannine Ouellette (LitHub).
Letters From My Desk
What Makes Great Writing ‘Un-Automatable’ and Why Can’t AI Learn?
Today’s best artificial intelligence (AI) systems can churn out thousands of words of content in minutes.
How are you, a human writer, supposed to compete with that?
If you’re like me, there isn’t enough caffeine in the world to keep up with that pace. Let’s be honest; no one alive could come close to writing as fast as AI.
But that’s only part of the story (literally).
As polished as automated writing may appear, it lacks an essential ingredient: humanity.
Sure, that sounds great on paper. We’d all love to believe that no companies are going to outsource their content writing to a faceless bot and hire us instead. While that isn’t reality, the future is also more hopeful than doomers would have you believe.
No, not all writing is going to be taken over by AI.
Because not all writing can be automated.
Human-first writing—writing infused with empathy, perspective, and personal connection—stands apart from AI-generated content in multitudinous ways.
If you also want to stand out, you need to learn how to write un-automatable content. Here’s how.
The Hallmarks of Human-First Writing
Elsewhere on the blog, we’ve explored ways you can market yourself as a human-first writer. This is a great strategy for winning over clients and showcasing your value in a hyper-competitive market.
But what does human-first writing look like?
There are a few key distinctions to look for.
1. Empathy and Connection
When you instruct an AI to write content that connects with the reader, it will certainly do its best. However, all it has to go on is words and algorithmic connections between them.
There’s no feeling behind it.
When we humans write, we bring a level of emotional awareness and sensitivity that AI simply can’t match. We put ourselves in the reader’s shoes and build an emotional bridge that fosters deeper understanding and trust.
This connection resonates with readers in a way that AI-generated writing doesn’t. It’s also a crucial reason why AI can’t be used to write all content.
Imagine writing a blog article aimed at cancer patients with tips for making the most of life in this dark time. Do you think readers would rather consume content about their most personal moment written by an AI, or by a human who knows what they’re going through because they did also?
Yeah, not close.
Any client worth their salt knows this too.
Cody’s Top Picks
This is the part where I share some of the content I’ve been enjoying lately. Hope you enjoy!
- 📖 Read “Totality” by Brandi Sperry. If you like chilling short fiction, this is for you. Brandi dives into an alternate universe where a total solar eclipse does more than block out the sun—it brings back haunting memories of past lives. One of my favorite stories of the year!
- 📺 Watch “Angel City” on HBO Max. I’m a big soccer fan and also love a good docuseries. Angel City takes you behind the scenes of LA’s pro women’s soccer team and explores the struggles and triumphs of competing for trophies (and attention) in one of the biggest sports markets in America.
- 🎧 Listen to “sLeepwALkeR” by The Pretty Wild. I love this band. They have epic breakdowns and some ultra catchy lines that keep me pumped through a workout or long writing sprint. “Choking on the dirt *cough cough* reaper fear me” … are you kidding me??
- 🧠 Remember (Quote): “Fitting in is a short-term strategy. Standing out pays off in the long run.”
— Seth Godin, author and marketing expert
Jobs For Writers:
1. David Pogge is looking for a freelance cannabis writer
- Freelancers needed to cover topics like “cannabis culture, accessories, products, science, legality, kratom, CBD, hemp, etc.”
- 💲 Pay Rate: Undisclosed, “competitive and negotiable”
- See the original job posting on LinkedIn
- Apply by sending your portfolio and a brief introduction to david@headquest.com.
2. Zoar Lewis is looking for a senior copywriter to join an in-house team
- They are looking for someone with a bachelor’s degree and 5+ years of experience to craft compelling copy for various media, follow and develop brand style guides, and collaborate with stakeholders.
- 💲 Pay Rate: Undisclosed (Includes benefits)
- See the original job posting on LinkedIn
- Apply on LinkedIn
3. Kelsey Mckeon needs a conversion copywriter for promotional copy
- Looking for a capable conversion copywriter to help with promotional copy to support Retool’s field marketing team, ad copy to support paid campaigns, and any other ad hoc copy as-needed.
- 💲 Pay Rate: Undisclosed
- See the original job posting on LinkedIn
- Apply by DM’ing Kelsey on LinkedIn
4. Freelance Addiction Recovery Writer at WebMD
- WebMD is currently looking for experienced freelance medical writers to contribute articles that are both scientifically sound and general audience-accessible for its affiliated content.
- Writer should have firsthand experience in addiction medicine or a background in healthcare.
- 💲 Pay Rate: Starts at $100 per 1,000-1,500 word article
- See the original job posting and apply at IB Publishing
5. Political Newsletter Writer @ The Lever
- The Lever is looking for an experienced newsletter writer/journalist to develop and author a bold new product for its daily email series. This is a remote full-time position.
- 💲 Pay Rate: $70,000-90,000 (with benefits)
- See the original job posting and apply at The Lever
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