Ninety-nine percent of authors don’t make money on their book projects, 99 percent of publishers lose money and 1,500 books are published every day, reports Clint Greenleaf. With those stats, why does anyone consider a career as a writer or editor?

Because even with those stats, it is possible to make a good living. Especially now, as the growing number of online publications means there are many writing and editing opportunities that go beyond traditional books, newspaper and magazines.

Could you consider writing or editing as a career?

Types of Writing and Editing Careers

Book authors need no explanation. However, unless you’re Malcolm Gladwell, Nora Roberts or James Patterson, don’t expect to earn a comfortable living as a fiction author. I’m not trying to crush your dreams; just don’t give up your day job. There are other types of books that need writing, too: ebooks, nonfiction, textbooks, etc. If you write these kinds of books on a regular basis, you can earn a decent living.

Business writers produce white papers, case studies, newsletters, web sites, brochures, ads and business plans.

Technical writers develop product documentation, training materials and assembly instructions.

Web content writers require a different writing style because people read online content differently than they do print. Writers in this area need to think about search engine optimization, readability, organization and structure. Bloggers can make a healthy living or do it as a part-time job; success depends on the publication’s popularity, products for sale, ads and sponsorship.

Copywriters work to promote a product, person, business or idea by choosing the right words, slogans and phrases to compel people to take the desired action. Their writing appears in ads, brochures and other promotional publications.

Proofreaders look for typos, punctuation mistakes, and grammatical errors in copy. Proofreading generally happens right before publishing and after the editor has done his or her job. They generally don’t rewrite sentences and restructure material like copyeditors.

Copyeditors go deeper than proofreaders do in reviewing the finished copy for spelling, punctuation, grammar and word usage errors. They also pay attention to the content for clarity and rewrite and restructure the copy as needed. If the content includes graphics, charts and captions, they ensure the content matches the visuals and captions.

Editing includes commenting on, approving, revising and rejecting writers’ content. Aside from editing for grammar and content, they also ensure the articles follow the publications’ style guidelines.

How to Qualify

Write. Write. Write. Read. Read. Read. Read books and blogs on writing. Practice writing often. Everyone can improve, even good writers. I recoil when I read the papers I wrote in college because of the stiff and formal writing style. A good writer accepts all feedback and makes changes as needed. Those who fight about every word or phrase will have a harder time surviving as a writer.

Anne Toole, television drama and games writer, got her start in television writing when she worked on a series of TV shows as an assistant. When the TV series needed a writer, she was there. “You don’t need a degree, but writing skills, gained through talent, hard work, school or mentoring are essential,” says Toole.

College writing takes a wholly different approach than professional writing and web writing. Study the writing you want to do and practice that style. A career as a writer or editor doesn’t require a related college degree. If you’d like to spiff up your skills, take a writing class at the local community college or online. Join online writing groups and subscribe to email newsletters that cover writing like AbsoluteWrite, Power Writing and Christina Katz’ Writers on the Rise and Get Known Groove. At WebWorkerDaily, we have plenty of tips on freelancing, writing and editing.

Writing and Editing Tools

The bare minimum is a computer with a word processor, like Word, and an Internet connection for submitting your work. Script writers use Final Draft to write and format scripts. Writers and editors rely on Excel, Visio, OneNote and mind-mapping tools for research, brainstorming and other writing-related tasks. References like dictionaries and thesauruses come in handy. Writers and editors also use applications for invoicing, time tracking and taxes. Those determined to work with a publication should grab a copy of “Writer’s Market.”

I could never live without my dual monitor setup; it really helps my productivity. I often have an article draft on one screen and the Internet or other app for referencing on the other.

Find Clients

Jennifer Escalona finds clients online. “When I blind query, I look on freelance job sites like craigslist, FreelanceJobOpenings, Indeed.com and many, many more. I ask for a testimonial and mention that I appreciate referrals. I also network with other freelancer writers, who often have great job leads,” says Escalona.

Many writers say they started landing clients on bidding sites like eLance, though others have complained of lowballing, or quoting low estimates. Keep in mind, too, that writers and editors value word-of-mouth marketing and social networking. Until you have built your portfolio, consider writing unpaid articles for a nonprofit, charity or blog that covers a topic of interest to you.

Are you considering a career in writing or editing?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks

Since launching in 1999, the company has worked to expand their offerings, integrating some features to create more than just a job site and more of a work tool. What interested me beyond the job marketplace is Elance’s concept of a Remote Work System with the goal of creating a remote workspace for freelance workers to provide them with additional incentive to continue using the site after the job match has been made. The features are meant to help service providers manage a part of their work through Elance and give buyer and service provider more ways to connect and transact business.

The areas Elance has been beefing up to create their “remote work system” include:

1. The Interview Process. Beyond matching up a buyer with a service provider with specific skills that meet their project needs, Elance offer an integrated chat function and a click-to-call function that allows the buyer to place a call to the provider anonymously and for free. Providers can also take “certification” tests via Elance to evaluate their level of expertise and ostensibly giving buyers more of an assurance of a provider’s skills.

2. The Payment System. Elance now offers an escrow account so that once a buyer and seller match up, the buyer can place the payment into an escrow account via Elance with the intent to assuage the provider’s mind that the money is there upon completion of the project. The payment still needs to be triggered by the buyer so even once a provider completes the job, there is no guarantee that they provider will be paid. However, Elance also offers dispute assistance for both buyers and providers.

3. Tracking Project Status. With a new status reporting system in place, buyers can set milestones for providers to meet, and providers can report on their status showing progress against milestones on a percentage basis. Elance recently implemented  a time tracking widget that a provider can apply to a deliverable or milestone, add notes for the buyer, and attach files. The time tracker can also cover units of work such as blog posts. Status reports can then be converted into invoices once work is complete.

The company says that while they are offering enhanced features to help the buyer and provider manage a portion of the project, their site is not necessarily a replacement for a more robust project management system like Basecamp. Like Basecamp, however, the new Elance features offer an archive of interactions and communications between buyer and provider which is especially invaluable for a provider who is working on multiple projects at once.

Out of curiosity, I did several searches to see what freelance opportunities fit my skillset, experience and interest. There were a good number of web site and blog content development jobs open for bid, however, I found too many that didn’t seem to add up in terms of pay.

For example, one blogging job had a budget of $500 but were looking for someone to craft 5 blog posts per week. The duration of the project wasn’t visible but after just a few months time, the pay per post for that job would be embarrassingly low.

Another blogging job was paying an hourly rate which seemed a little unusual for work that is more commonly paid by the unit i.e. on a per post basis. Another wanted 20 articles for less than $500. Maybe a good job for an inexperienced writer working up some portfolio pieces, but there is no way to slice $500 by 20 and get anything resembling decent pay.

So while I’m not convinced Elance contains a wealth of well-paying, high-quality writing jobs for established Web content developers (I can’t comment on the programming jobs since I’m not a programmer), it could be a good place for a novice to find their first jobs. Plus the site provides some extras to help  manage those jobs.

What has been your experience with Elance or other “bid” job sites?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• The Future of Work Platforms: An Overview
• Report: High-Impact Collaboration in the Enterprise

I have to say that my experience with two other apps – Evernote (still in limited beta) and Google Notebook – was quite different from the first two I tried. They didn’t work as well for me. Hey, I’ve got to be honest here but also should clarify my criteria for what “works well for me” means.

1. This is just my opinion.
2. I need things to be very intuitive.
3. Because I don’t read instructions.
4. Because my brain would explode if I did and starts to smoke when I try.

So in the name of saving my brain, I jump right into using an application and then see how often I use it. Does it become second nature to me? Or am I constantly having to think about using it and how to use it properly?

Here’s how the last week has gone using Evernote and Google Notebooks.

Evernote.com

I found that every time I opened my browser each morning and then tried to save a clip to Evernote, it asked me to log in. Yes, I checked “Remember Me.” Yes, I used the password storage feature in Firefox. This was a momentary blip as I saved clips.

What I do like about Evernote is that it uses a bookmarklet to facilitate clipping articles and blog posts to my account. Having a button at the top of my browser is just perfect – it is right there, where I can see it, access it and use it.

I can either highlight a portion of an article or post or clip and save the whole page. The options to do one or another is nice. Then I can either “Go to Notecards” or go back to the page I was viewing.

What I really like about Evernote is how they use a screen grab to show what I’ve clipped. I don’t know if it is a gender thing, but I’m really visual and I always use the Icon view in Mac and really prefer seeing a graphic or icon rather than text link.

Evernote’s marketing blurbs claim they can help you create notes, to-dos, brainstorms and reminders. You can also:

“…snap photos of anything from whiteboards to wine labels then email or sync them; clip web pages and have them stored and accessible in their entirety, even offline; write handwritten notes using digital ink or take snapshots of regular ink notes; record audio clips and memos to listen to later; Email or MMS notes from your cell phone to your personalized Evernote address.”

All I can say to all of those features is…say what?!? I am focused entirely on one capability – clipping web pages and storing them to access them later. That is my tickler file. I’m overwhelmed, even a little intimidated, by all the other features. But hey, that’s just me.

Google Notebook

While I can espouse my newfound love of Google Docs, I’m just not getting Google Notebook in the same way. The first thing that makes is harder for me to use is that the “button” you click to save a clip is on the bottom right hand corner of my browser. That position just isn’t intuitive for me.

Also, since I’m on a Mac with my menu of application icons across the bottom of my screen, anything I have to click at the bottom of my browser means I may accidentally click on Twhirl or Skype or another application in the menu. Kind of annoying.

At first, I was also confused about creating “notebooks” in Google Notebook – for some reason it seemed easier in Evernote. And while I love the plain vanilla text of Instapaper, for some reason seeing just text links in Google Notebook is a bit of a letdown after the elegant screen grabs of Evernote.

Big confession: While I was testing out Evernote and Google Notebook, I saved all the same clips to Instapaper every time.

Sometimes, the most basic apps work better for me than all the fancy, schmancy whiz bang apps out there. What about you?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks

Thesaurus: For 10 languages, Zoho Writer offers a Thesaurus option.  For those of us who do a high volume of online writing, this means no more having to have a Firefox tab with Thesaurus.com loaded.  Currently the Thesaurus supports English, Czech, German, Greek, French, Irish, Italian, Polish, Russian and Slovak; with plans to add new languages in the future.

Support for DocX files: With Office 2007, Microsoft introduced the OOXML file format for Word Documents.  Now Zoho Writer is capable of exporting Writer documents to the DocX format.  Soon the will also be able to import DocX for those of you who receive these types of files from colleagues.

Group Support:  Zoho Writer has always been a strong player in collaboration by allowing you to share your documents with colleagues.  With today’s updates, you can group your contacts.  This added capability will allow you to create a “Family” and “Co-Workers” group and share documents with each group accordingly.

There are a few other new features being introduced, refer to their blog for further details.

It is for all our benefit that Zoho has continues to innovate in the online office suite space.  Not only does this competition spur new features such as those listed above, but it serves as a motivating factor for Google to keep producing great features for their online suite.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• The Future of Work Platforms: An Overview
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks
• What Google’s Honeycomb Means for Apple and Microsoft