Examiner.com

It's been about a year and a half since I quit my job to be a full-time writer.

Is it easy? No. Freelance writing is feast or famine. The last couple of days I've had so much work that I'm writing from morning to night. But not every day is like the last couple of days.

I'm not bringing in tons of money from fiction, although I recently got a nibble to work on a project for close to 8 grand. If it pans out, I'm jumping on the opportunity - but it's fiction, not necessarily erotic fiction. You don't make much money from erotic fiction, at least I don't.

Most of my money comes from nonfiction freelance work, mainly ghostwriting. But unless you have enough steady gigs, you're constantly on the look out for more work. It's good when it comes in. When you're busy, that's when you really feel like a working freelance writer.

I make my money from online writing jobs and there are plenty of them. Some of them are a lot of fun, such as my new gig as the Chicago Lesbian Scene Examiner at Examiner.com.

I've chosen to writer for Examiner Monday through Friday about anything that would be of interest to lesbians in Chicago. Can you make a ton of money at Examiner? I'm sure most don't. But I make all of my money from various online opportunities, and Examiner is just one of them. Examiner pays with page views and my page views are good and consistently higher than the averages, so I'm on a good start. I do notice that Examiner pays higher in page views than Associated Content or Suite 101. (I quit Suite 101 when I got the gig at Examiner.) I'll get my first check in July, and then I'm confident that I'll get one every month after that. You have to have a minimum of $25 in earnings to receive a check.

Examiner is looking to fill all of its open slots. From the website:

"We're seeking people like you who have in-depth knowledge about a particular topic, a passion about that topic and a desire to share related insights with others."

I saw the opening for a Chicago Lesbian Scene Examiner, and sense I've been involved in Chicago's queer women's scene for at least 20 years, and I've got related writing experience, I knew I'd be a good candidate.

If you think you'd like to write for Examiner, I'd love it if you would use me as a reference.

Please go HERE. Be sure to give the name Jolie du Pre and the number - 11086.

On the bottom of the application it will say:

How did you hear about becoming an Examiner?

I was referred by an Examiner:

Find Your Examiner:

You can search for my name in three ways:

1. Name - Jolie du Pre
2. Title - Chicago Lesbian Scene Examiner
or
3. Number - 11086

Thanks!