Professional vs. amateur writers

1. 61

   mel22posted 14 years ago

   Just wondering the actual percentage of people on HubPages who have a degree in Journalism or have worked outside the Free websites as a profession. Or even as grant writers. Has anyone worked at a major post like New York Times or Washington post? or write for their day job?
   
   Treat the post like a word game and state where or what credentials you've had.
   
   I'll start:
   
   Amateur, never wrote a thing in my life b4 !In fact i'd say Novice! NEXT!

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2. 83

   CMHypnoposted 14 years ago

   Very much an amateur!

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3. 61

   mel22posted 14 years ago

   Allright a contestant.. 63 hubs though i'd say thats pretty darn good! NEXT!

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4. 61

   mel22posted 14 years ago

   Just read your top chapter on Ballad of the Old Kingdom and it was pretty good. I'll have to bookmark it!

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      CMHypnoposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks mel22, glad that you enjoyed what you read of the Ballad of the Old Kingdom.  Need to find some more time to put into my vampires and werewolves!

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5. 88

   IzzyMposted 14 years ago

   I'm amateur but I try hard!

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   1. 61

      mel22posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I tried looking at your Spanish Garden blog but it shut me downnn.. must be that slow connection in Spain ya got.. just kiddin'. Anyway , saw the greenhouses on your hub that you sold.. fairly expensive, must've been a good payout for ya.. Glad 2 hear ! Might give me some motivation !!! I surely need it.

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      1. 88

         IzzyMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Don't know why it shut you down...it shouldn't have. It's a blogger site.
         Yes the greenhouses are expensive but I only sold one and the commission was very low. Not sold anything since but still getting clicks so who knows?
         It's just a pity Amazon don't sell conservatories LOL

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6. 80

   kirstenblogposted 14 years ago

   I am an amateur with ambition!

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   1. 61

      mel22posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      good way of putting it.. I'm starting to lose mine.. wondering if I even had that in the first place.

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7. 60

   LaViejaposted 14 years ago

   total amateur! Next...

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8. 0

   shazwellynposted 14 years ago

   To be amateur doesnt mean that one day you might not be professional... practice, practice, practice!  We all have to start somewhere.
   
   Writing is something that I love but you might label me as amateur x

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9. 61

   Greg Cremiaposted 14 years ago

   I have never been paid to write but I make a lot of money writing. So does that makes me a professional amateur or an amateur professional?

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10. 61

    mel22posted 14 years ago

    Good take on that!

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11. 59

    aniketgoreposted 14 years ago

    amateur

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12. 80

    Nera Woodsposted 14 years ago

    amateur

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13. 80

    thisisoliposted 14 years ago

    I have written for a few small newspapers in a columnist (Not reporter) respect. When I move to America I may also be doing writing for a newspaper in Texas.
    
    I have had work published in a few small magazines, from fiction to PC.
    
    I also write quite a lot online for others and myself, and do so full time!
    
    However, I have no degree, never really studied writing past the first year in a college (thats college in the UK, not university or American college)
    
    I realised at a very young age that I didn't want to work for other people, so started working towards that in high school, never really focused on school or college work, and never applied to university.
    
    In retrospect, a degree would have been quite helpful in a lot of respects, I kind of wish I had gone to university, if not for the education itself, but for the social aspect.
    
    I have however avidly read everything I could find on my area of expertise, and regard myself as a professional writer and SEO specialist, and have had a lot of people in the north of England contact me for SEO jobs via word of mouth.
    
    On the other hand, I still believe that there is a lot out there still to learn, I know the quality of my writing could be improved, and have often considered returning to university, or even college, to improve my expertise in certain areas.
    
    Maybe i am not truely an expert, or even a professional jsut yet, but give me another decade and I hope to be a big figure in the amrketting world (This will hopefully happen when I have enough organic residual income arriving to be able to focus on this aspect of my life!)

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14. 68

    Pearldiverposted 14 years ago

    I've written professionally for the BumbleTown News.... But the circulation was only 53 and 47 of them can't read! ... So... Yeah.... Well... I guess I'm Amateur

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15. 63

    emievilposted 14 years ago

    Amateur but trying my hand on academic writing for over one year now .

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16. 61

    C.V.Rajanposted 14 years ago

    May I call myself an amateur professional?!
    
    I write from India.
    
    I started writing in printed weeklies in my mother tongue Tamil decades ago. I have some 15 Tamil short stories published in popular Tamil weeklies those days.
    
    A couple of my English articles got published in "Business India" monthly some 2 decades ago.
    
    I have been a web-content writer in the past 3 years. I am a 5-star writer at Helium website where I have some 410 articles.
    
    4 of my articles have been sold (for decent money) in Helium marketplace (publishers selecting my article amidst 5 to 25 competing articles)

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    1. 61

       C.V.Rajanposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Forgot to add. I am a mechanical engineer.

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17. 0

    mtsi1098posted 14 years ago

    Amateur but I have written numeroues technical articles...

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18. 84

    DonnaCSmithposted 14 years ago

    I am a freelance writer and book author, working mostly with horse related publications. But, also write on other topics including NC travel and history, and have had some poetry published way back when. I have no writing degree, but an AAS degree in equine tech. Worked in the horse industry for over 30 years, now  retired - except for the writing.

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    1. 88

       IzzyMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Wow Donna, you and my man would get on like a house on fire if you both spoke the same language!
       He's a pofessional horse trainer/rider/teacher and has represented the US in the Olympics twice (so he tells me). He lived in Houston for 20 years yet never learned a word of English? He says he was only there two months out of each year due to working abroad.
       I'm not especially into horses but he talks of little else, LOL

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19. 65

    Has_aWayWithWordsposted 14 years ago

    I am an amateur writer, prior to writing online the closest thing I have done was writing some sales copy and some training manuals. I try to write what I know and I enjoy writing so it comes fairly easy and I wouldn't mind doing it professionally but I don't have a degree in journalism so that is not likely to happen.

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20. 54

    wrenfrost56posted 14 years ago

    Amateur.

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21. 85

    wychicposted 14 years ago

    I am not a journalist, and so will likely never get a degree in journalism. That said...I actually don't have a degree in anything, and if work keeps up the way it has for the last couple of years I'm not likely to get one anytime soon.
    
    That said, I am a professional writer because...well, it's my profession! I'm a full-time freelancer, I manage my own writing team in addition to doing my own writing, and I only write on these affiliate sites when there are no normal jobs lined up...or I just get really sick of writing what other people want me to write and need a break with something for ME.
    
    Am I an expert? Well, I wouldn't go that far...I'd say I have greater expertise than many in my field, but I hesitate to ever call myself an expert in anything because that's about the time something happens to demonstrate how much I don't know.

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22. 93

    Urbane Chaosposted 14 years ago

    I'm not a professional, by no means - but then again, I don't think many writers would admit to that.
    
    Still, I have gotten lucky.. I write a lot of historical articles here and there, plus I write a technical crap for small businesses (SOP's, Policy and procedures, etc - for business consulting), so that keeps my bills paid.  I've always hated working for other people, but I quickly found out that no matter what, you're always working for someone..
    
    One must do what one must in order to get by.

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