{"id":36422,"date":"2022-02-24T02:16:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T07:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/?p=36422"},"modified":"2022-02-24T11:41:18","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T16:41:18","slug":"freelance-writers-den-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/freelance-writers-den-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Freelance Writers Den Review. Is it Worth It? Our Honest Take"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Editor&#8217;s note: The Freelance Writers Den only opens for enrollment a few times each year. If you want to be notified when it opens, your best bet is to <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/go\/den\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"rank-math-link\">join the waiting list.<\/a> Enjoy this Freelance Writers Den Review!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Freelance Writers Den Review<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ll be honest: a huge part of the reason I became a writer was to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">avoid<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> networking. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019m an introvert and also one of those kids who, when tasked with group projects, made everyone else in the group give me their stuff so I could do it all myself. \u201cTeamwork\u201d and \u201ccollaboration\u201d don\u2019t have prominent places in my vocabulary.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But as I quickly learned (and as you know if you\u2019ve spent more than two seconds trying to freelance), this is not a business where you can go it alone. <\/span><b>Finding a writing community, or at least some reliable industry resources you can turn to, is a critical step to creating the kind of freelance career you\u2019re dreaming of. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And fortunately, there\u2019s an option that doesn\u2019t require leaving the house\u2014or even putting on pants.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s a breakdown of what I&#8217;ll cover in this review:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"#what\" class=\"rank-math-link\">What is the Freelance Writers Den?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#benefits\" class=\"rank-math-link\">What are the features \/ benefits?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#like\" class=\"rank-math-link\">What do I like about the Freelance Writers Den?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#not\" class=\"rank-math-link\">What do I not like about it?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#next\" class=\"rank-math-link\">Next Step<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is the Freelance Writers Den?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taking place entirely online, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/go\/den\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Freelance Writers Den<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the perfect place to find a resource-packed writing community, especially for socio-phobes like me. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But since its 1,100+ members come from all over the world, it\u2019s also helpful for bona fide extroverts, even if they <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">do<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> already have access to a real-life writing circle. Even the richest local writing community can\u2019t compete with global!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Den was founded in 2011 by Carol Tice, the \u201cDen Mother\u201d and mind behind the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.makealivingwriting.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make a Living Writing blog<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. She\u2019s been a successful freelancer for more than 15 years and today earns six figures doing it. She wanted to help other freelancers find real financial success as efficiently as possible\u2014and also to stop the influx of one-off <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how on earth do I do this?<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> emails she had in her inbox. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Membership to the Freelance Writers Den comes with a host of useful tools, content, and learning opportunities, which we\u2019ll dive into below. It costs $40 per month with no obligation\u2014which isn\u2019t crazy expensive, but isn\u2019t nothing, either.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So what do you get for your price of entry?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/freelance-writers-den-review-pin.jpg\" alt=\"Freelance Writers Den Review: &quot;The forums are an amazing way for a work-from-home writer to interface with other real, live people&quot; Writer Jamie Cattanach\" class=\"wp-image-38497\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/freelance-writers-den-review-pin.jpg 600w, https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/freelance-writers-den-review-pin-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"benefits\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What features &amp; benefits do you get as a Writers Den member?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For most of us, freelancing isn\u2019t exactly a get-rich-quick scheme\u2014so when we pony up for a writing resource, we want to know we\u2019re getting our money\u2019s worth.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s what the $40-per-month Freelance Writers Den Membership gets you.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Online community forums<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ever sit down to write a story (or pen a pitch, or start a blog, or\u2014you get it) and wish you had a friendly fellow freelancer whose shoulder you could tap to ask for advice, or even just commiserate? <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Freelance Writers Den forums are the next-best thing: an active, affable group of writers convening to swap tips, ask and answer questions, and share both challenges and success stories. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike even the most active real-life writers\u2019 group, the Den\u2019s forums are open for your musings 24\/7, and they\u2019re organized into helpful and relevant categories. Moderators and fellow members chime in with answers and help within hours. The collective wisdom of the group is tremendous.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> you\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/improve-your-writing-skills\/\" class=\"rank-math-link\">looking to amp up your marketing skills or ask a specific writing question\u2014or maybe you\u2019re just looking to meet more writers in your position<\/a>. Either way, there\u2019s a board for it, and a writer (or ten) on the other end waiting to connect. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Live and recorded resources<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Freelance Writers Den is first and foremost a community, and the ability to connect with other freelancers working to meet their goals is invaluable on a fundamental level. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But there\u2019s also a whole lot of expertise to be mined from that community, and it\u2019s available in the form of more than 300 hours of evergreen resources\u2014as well as an actively-updated calendar of live events.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><b>Bootcamps <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are essentially four-week-long ecourses, and your Writers Den membership gives you instant access to over two dozen of them. They\u2019re designed to help you get to the next step in your writing career no matter where you are on your journey, from finding your first-ever paid gig to breaking into business writing or building a better writer website and LinkedIn page. Each bootcamp comes complete with videos and engaging homework assignments, and the ones offered live on a monthly basis feature real-time Q-and-A calls to help you make the most of the effort you\u2019re putting into the course. They\u2019re also augmented by discussions in the forums so you can connect with other writers diving into the same topics, and get feedback from the experts dishing the details. (In other words, it\u2019s nothing like being yelled at by a Drill Instructor.)<\/span><\/b><\/li><li><b>Webinars and Podcasts <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are also offered by industry influencers on a regular basis, including a helpful \u201cAsk the Editor\u201d series which gives you an insider view of what, exactly, editors are looking for. You\u2019ll also learn to overcome fear, increase productivity, and figure out the business end\u2026not to mention, of course, honing the craft itself. <\/span><\/b><\/li><li><b>The Resource Library <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is where all this content lives once their livestream has passed, and it\u2019s packed with over 300 hours of content. So even if you can\u2019t make the scheduled events, you\u2019ve still got plenty of helpful goodies to wade through.<\/span><\/b><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Direct Referrals for Jobs \/ Gigs<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finding gigs is one of the hardest parts of freelancing, hands down. Finding <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">good <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gigs is even harder.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That fact is why I really appreciate the Den\u2019s built-in referral system. Writers are helping other writers find gigs with an attitude of abundance. And you won\u2019t find anything that pays less than $75 per post.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There&#8217;s no shortage of opportunities to scope out. You\u2019ll find both remote and on-site listings for copywriters, editors, content marketers and more, and along with regular old freelance gigs, there are also part-time, contract, and retainer positions.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s really just the start of what\u2019s available; as the helpful Orientation Guide puts it, the Den has \u201ca lot of nooks and crannies.\u201d Fortunately, you can easily keep tabs on it all with once-weekly newsletters that come out every Monday, getting you ready to tackle your week with strength and success.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"like\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What do I like about the Freelance Writers Den?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve been making a living as a freelancer for a while now, and only just learned about this resource. Which parts made me say, \u201cMan, I wish I\u2019d known about this earlier?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, I\u2019ll admit it: I\u2019m not really the ecourse type. I\u2019m midway through my third full year of freelancing, and I\u2019ve yet to find one I\u2019m willing to drop money on. (Of course, I was lucky enough to learn a lot of my freelancing skills through friendships with other writers, giving me a jump-start that not everyone gets. There\u2019s that networking thing again!)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But I know plenty of writers<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">adore ecourses\u2014and I have to say, a Den membership seems like a great way to access them. It offers both an active, rotating calendar of live events as well as scores of pre-recorded bootcamps, podcasts, and webinars, and you get into all of it for just $40 per month. That\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">way<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> less than the fees I usually see advertised on private ecourses.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What I <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">do<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> love about the Freelance Writers Den: the job board and the forums. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The gigs posted on the<\/span><b> job board<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are authentic, high-quality, and easy to filter, and I saw a few that hadn\u2019t already crossed my radar via the grapevine or my newsletters. It\u2019s nice to know they\u2019ve been pre-screened for non-crappiness, so I don\u2019t have to be quite as critical as I usually am while I\u2019m clicking through. No freelancer has time to work for peanuts, and we have even <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">less<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> time to scrounge around on the internet trying to figure out where the well-paid jobs are. So for me, the Den\u2019s job board is easily worth the price of entry all on its own.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The<\/span><b> forums <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are an amazing way for a work-from-home writer to interface with other real, live people\u2014who actually understand the unique challenges we face as freelancers and can help us find the resources, opportunities, and advice we need. I especially love the board dedicated to feedback and critiques, which allows you to get some gentle constructive criticism from other writers before you ship off your piece to an editor or potential client. Hey, better to hear it from a peer than a paying customer\u2014or to have it derail your pitch! <\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"not\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What do I not-so-like about the Freelance Writers Den?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t get me wrong, there\u2019s a lot to love about this community. The recorded content could keep you busy for months, and with a vibrant group of writers ready to chat in real time, you\u2019ve got other minds to bounce those new tips and tricks off of.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But no platform is perfect\u2014and if I had to pick a part of the Writers Den that could use improvement, I\u2019d say the user interface could be a little bit more intuitive. Those \u201cnooks and crannies\u201d Tice mentions are well-described; it\u2019s easy to get lost back here! And while the main parts of the site are helpfully listed as links in the site header, I constantly feel like I might be missing something as I click around.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rumor has it their team plans to address this in coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"next\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ready to sign up for the Freelance Writers Den?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So what\u2019s the catch? Well, <\/span><b>the Freelance Writers Den only opens its digital doors to the public twice a year.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want to be notified the next time it&#8217;s open for enrollment,&nbsp; your best bet is to <a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/go\/den\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"rank-math-link\">join the waiting list<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This is an updated version of a story that was previously published. We update our posts as often as possible to ensure they\u2019re useful for our readers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This post contains affiliate links. That means if you purchase through our links, you\u2019re supporting The Write Life \u2014 and we thank you for that!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Photo via apichon_tee\/&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/photos\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" class=\"rank-math-link\">Shutterstock<\/a>&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We asked one of our contributors to write a the Freelance Writers Den review. Here&#8217;s her take on the popular membership program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":272,"featured_media":36472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1447,1448,1252,1446,386],"class_list":["post-36422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-freelancing","tag-course-review","tag-freelance-writers-den","tag-networking-for-writers","tag-networking-online","tag-writing-tools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}