A bit of background – got my bachelors in Zoology and then started as an academic writer. But I quickly realised how exploitative this field was (I was expected to write around 3.5k words per day, but only paid peanuts for it), so I made a switch to content writing/marketing, albeit with some difficulty.
Things were going fine for me at the new company, but then the AI wave hit, and I lost my job (the company where I worked shut down in 2024 due to a lack of clients). By this point, I had amassed over 3 years of experience in writing, including academic and non-academic work.
This is when I tried freelance content writing to stay afloat. I didn’t use platforms like Fiverr or Upwork, and I mainly relied on places like Reddit or LinkedIn. My initial experience was horrible, since the first few clients I got scammed me with the payments. But I learned my lesson fast, and I started asking for advance or avoided submitting my work for free.
Eventually, with the help of my social and former professional circles, I got a couple clients who were reliable. For a few months, work was coming quite regularly. However, the work started to dry up quickly once 2025 rolled in. Presently, I have one client, but the work is very erratic right now. Like, I haven’t gotten any new work for quite a few weeks now.
I also applied to content writing roles on the side, but it didn’t help much. Never heard from most of the applications I sent out. The ones that did ghosted me after a couple rounds, or had very poor working conditions and/or low pay.
So, what should I do at this point? I am at my wits end, and judging by the way things are going, it very much seems like it might be over for me. Since I have no other skills to speak of, I have been thinking of upskilling, but I don’t know what I should consider for that. Most people I have spoken to have given me mixed responses, which has made me even more confused.
Please help me find the way. I am feeling very stressed and depressed. I have lost a lot of my sleep and appetite over all this, and I am afraid that I am starting to become suicidal at this point.
submitted by /u/ran-dom-throwaway [link] [comments]
A bit of background – got my bachelors in Zoology and then started as an academic writer. But I quickly realised how exploitative this field was (I was expected to write around 3.5k words per day, but only paid peanuts for it), so I made a switch to content writing/marketing, albeit with some difficulty.
Things were going fine for me at the new company, but then the AI wave hit, and I lost my job (the company where I worked shut down in 2024 due to a lack of clients). By this point, I had amassed over 3 years of experience in writing, including academic and non-academic work.
This is when I tried freelance content writing to stay afloat. I didn’t use platforms like Fiverr or Upwork, and I mainly relied on places like Reddit or LinkedIn. My initial experience was horrible, since the first few clients I got scammed me with the payments. But I learned my lesson fast, and I started asking for advance or avoided submitting my work for free.
Eventually, with the help of my social and former professional circles, I got a couple clients who were reliable. For a few months, work was coming quite regularly. However, the work started to dry up quickly once 2025 rolled in. Presently, I have one client, but the work is very erratic right now. Like, I haven’t gotten any new work for quite a few weeks now.
I also applied to content writing roles on the side, but it didn’t help much. Never heard from most of the applications I sent out. The ones that did ghosted me after a couple rounds, or had very poor working conditions and/or low pay.
So, what should I do at this point? I am at my wits end, and judging by the way things are going, it very much seems like it might be over for me. Since I have no other skills to speak of, I have been thinking of upskilling, but I don’t know what I should consider for that. Most people I have spoken to have given me mixed responses, which has made me even more confused.
Please help me find the way. I am feeling very stressed and depressed. I have lost a lot of my sleep and appetite over all this, and I am afraid that I am starting to become suicidal at this point.
submitted by /u/ran-dom-throwaway [link] [comments]
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