Teacher Discussion Forums

[iLearner.eu]

I'm interested in attracting ELT authors for an internet project. The materials we need: exercises like:
He __ (be) a teacher. She __ (work) now

Level: Elementary - Advanced.
How much it might cost? Pay per 1800 characters? Pay per sentense? Can anyone give me a clue?

[jonmarks]

I've been a full-time ESL writer for the last three years, and part time for a few years before that.

The rate of pay depends on various factors.

1. How much experience does the writer have? A newbie will often be happy with the same hourly rate as they can earn teaching - the money is the same, and getting some writing credits on your resume is desirable.

2. How big is the organization?
If you're a small operation not making a huge amount of money yourselves it's reasonable to not to be paying top dollar. But for a big profitable company, the fees should reflect the revenues that will be generated by the work.

3. How skilled is the work? Writing exam practice material for IELTS requires more professional skill and experience than writing simple elementary gap-fill exercises, for example.

My advice is not to think too much about the word count, but to consider the factors above and decide how long it's likely to take.

As a general rule of thumb, an established ESL writer would usually be looking for around 250 US dollars a day minimum. That may sound quite a lot in comparison with teaching, but remember there's no holiday or sick pay, and time has to be spent finding the next job.