FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WriteLearnEarn (WLE) is the easiest way for freelance writers to sell their work. How do we do it? The answers are all here! (Or if they’re not… you can ask us what you want to know.)
What is WLE?
WLE is an article sales funnel available to freelance writers, giving them a simplified market for their work.
WLE pays writers guaranteed rates, by PayPal or Western Union. Our pay schedule is further down this page.
If you’ve heard of WLE Pro or WLE World, that’s us. We used to make minor distinctions between Pro and World, but now we just call them both WriteLearnEarn and treat everyone the same. It’s less confusing for you, the members!
How does the system work?
Please refer to this page for a detailed explanation of how the site works.
How much does it cost?
Absolutely nothing – WLE charges no fees. Our margins are already covered when we assign a quality score and associated price to your work.
There is one caveat: payment processors usually charge fees to send or receive money, and those fees come out of your balance. We can’t control PayPal or Western Union fees, no matter how much we like the idea.
How many articles can I sell?
How many can you write? Provided you keep submitting high-quality, saleable content, there is absolutely no limit to the number of articles you can sell through the WLE system.
No, really. We mean that. There is no limit.
How long does it take to sell articles?
This is the one part of the process over which we have no control: our clients decide for themselves when they want content, and what they want to buy.
We see both extremes of waiting time. An article can be submitted, accepted, reworked by our in-house writers, marketed and sold in a matter of a few days… or it can take months for the right client to see your work and decide they want it.
In general, popular topics sell faster – provided the content is interesting. Selling the 400th version of “What is SEO?” takes longer than selling something original and different.
All content remains on sale to our clients until one of three things happens: (a) it sells to a client, (b) you perform a quick sale (fast or instant) or (c) you delete it from our system.
What is a fast sale?
Fast sales are our investment in your work: we pay up-front for content that may never sell. You earn less, but you get the money faster and don’t have to cross your fingers that someone will buy your articles!
Originally, we wanted everyone to use the fast sale system, so the option was available on all articles in the marketplace. Unfortunately, a certain group of online earners abused the system, using it as a method to turn WLE into a cash dispenser for their low-quality crap.
This short-sighted approach to earning meant that WLE risked going bankrupt because of a bunch of selfish idiots. Consequently, the fast sale option is now only available to writers who earn the right to up-front payments.
The good news is that we have extended fast sales to allow payments up to 100% of full market value. In other words, if you’re really good, you can earn full price and get paid before your work sells!
The fast sale option starts at 20% of market price and appears, for eligible users, on content that has been in the marketplace for two weeks.
How can I get access to fast sales?
Eligibility for fast sales is based mostly on your ability to write saleable content. Quality and consistency count, of course, but marketplace sales are the biggest decider. We make the decision internally, and there are no fixed criteria – it’s as much a feel for how a writer works as the hard statistics.
Fast sale eligibility is handed out by the WLE Team. Asking for eligibility or whining about not having access will not affect our decision, nor make the fast sale option appear any quicker.
What is an instant sale?
Instant sales are up-front payments available to all writers. You earn a lot less than for marketplace or fast sales, but you get the money very quickly – quicker even than fast sales!
The instant sale option appears on all articles in the Marketplace with a Quality Score of 50 or more, once they have been in the Marketplace for 7 days. You can only request an instant sale once per article.
You can also ask for an instant sale when you submit articles: there’s a radio button on the submission form to choose a normal marketplace or an instant sale. Again, you can only request an instant sale once per article.
When you click the option or submit for instant sale, the WLE Team will make an investment decision. If they believe the content will sell, they will approve the payment and your account will be credited.
For articles rated on the old Q1-Q5 quality system, a minimum of Quality 3 is required for Instant Sales.
How can I get access to instant sales?
All active WLE Members have access to Instant Sales. The option appears automatically on your “My Articles” list.
What happens when my articles sell?
We buy all content with full rights: you transfer the copyright to us as if we were the original author and we can do whatever we want with the work. We then transfer those rights to our end client. We do this because most of our clients want unique, one-off articles rather than stuff that can be republished elsewhere.
Consequently, when you sell content, you may NOT use it anywhere else or you will be breaking copyright law and we (or our clients) will be very annoyed. This will result in losing your membership, forfeiting fees and potential legal action. So don’t do it.
How much do I get paid?
If your work sells in the marketplace, one of our clients bought it, so you will receive the market value for it. This is the best way to earn a lot of cash! We have already taken our cut for marketing and everything, so you receive the full amount listed in your article list. No fees, no hidden charges.
If you perform a fast or instant sale, we buy your work “on spec”, usually at a lower rate (depending on your earned reputation). It earns less because we’re taking a risk – the content might never sell and we’ll make a loss – but you get instant money to your WLE account. If you don’t want to wait for bigger rewards, a fast or instant sale is a great way to put money in your pocket quickly.
What happens when you reject my articles?
From our point of view, nothing: the content remains your property. If we rejected it because of quality concerns, you’re welcome to rewrite or edit it and submit it again; if the subject matter is not of interest to our clients, you can try to sell it somewhere else, publish it yourself or do whatever you want with it – it’s your content, after all.
When you edit rejected content, you’ll see our comments on the article editing page, so you can figure out what needs fixing. If it’s not clear enough or you’d like to discuss your writing, contact us. That’s why there’s the “Learn” part in WLE – we’re always happy to help!
What if I sell the content somewhere else?
You must remove the content from our marketplace or notify us immediately. We buy everything with full rights, so if you publish or offer the work elsewhere, our sale will put us in breach of copyright. This, in turn, will put you in legal trouble with us, when we reclaim damages.
Bear in mind that ANY offer of rights to a third party means you must remove the content. Even if you hand the article to someone who never uses it, you have given them the right to publish, so you must remove the work from our site.
How do I get paid?
We pay through PayPal or through Western Union (in cash, to a bank account or to a mobile number, depending on what works in your country).
As far as we know, we are the only article marketplace that accepts writers from non-PayPal countries. We’re also the only one who will pay you cash-in-hand, in over 200 countries. Check out the list of countries we work with.
Make sure you fill in your payment details on your My Money page, or we won’t be able to pay you!
We used to do direct domestic bank transfers for Nigerian writers, but when WLE’s African partner moved on to new projects, we switched to Western Union payments for our Nigerian friends.
How much do you pay?
Our standard rates depend on the quality of your work. Some clients ask for specific subjects and, in those cases, we may raise the price to encourage submissions. We accept submissions of any length (though long content over 1,500 words gets difficult to sell unless it’s very well researched). The current standard rates in USD are as follows:
- Quality Score 100: $15.00 per 500 words (3.0c per word)
- Quality Score 95: $12.00 per 500 words (2.4c per word)
- Quality Score 90: $10.00 per 500 words (2.0c per word)
- Quality Score 85: $9.50 per 500 words (1.9c per word)
- Quality Score 80: $9.00 per 500 words (1.8c per word)
- Quality Score 75: $8.50 per 500 words (1.7c per word)
- Quality Score 70: $8.00 per 500 words (1.6c per word)
- Quality Score 65: $7.50 per 500 words (1.5c per word)
- Quality Score 60: $7.00 per 500 words (1.4c per word)
- Quality Score 55: $5.00 per 500 words (1.0c per word)
- Quality Score 50: $4.50 per 500 words (0.9c per word)
All article prices are calculated per word, not per block of 100 words. So if you write 637 words, you get paid for 637 words. But remember, adding fluff and filler content to make your articles longer will affect their quality – keep it concise and valuable!
Why don’t you pay more?
Version 5 of WLE raised our payment rates by up to 50%. We would love to be able to pay you all the money we earn from your work, but we have costs. The site costs money to run, our in-house writers who rework your content cost money, support costs money and our admin team costs money. WLE actually gets the least amount in almost every case: you and the writer who reworks your content earn far more than we do!
What’s the payout level?
At present, the PayPal payout minimum is $5; the Western Union payout minimum is $20 (because they charge horrid fees).
PayPal payments are made automatically twice per month. We do a mid-month payment (usually around the 16th) and a start-of-month payment (usually a day or two into the following month).
Western Union payments are not automatic, because of the higher fees. Members who use WU may request a payout any time they have the minimum amount in their account. We try to process all WU payments within 24 hours.
How can I see my earnings?
Go to the My Money screen. From there, you can see your balance and lifetime earnings. You can also access a complete, detailed transaction list.
Can I refer other writers and earn more?
Yes, you can. Our referral program pays you 5% of any direct referral’s income, for life. That comes out of our cut, of course, so your referrals still earn the full amount for all the articles they sell. Please read the Referral Program page for details and terms before you send any new members.
You can refer members from any country to which we can make payments.
Can I write about anything?
Yes. The only limitations we enforce are:
- the content must be in English
- the content must be saleable
- the content must be (reasonably) evergreen
- the content must be interesting to our international client list
- the content should fit our guidelines
Bear in mind that the majority of our clients are in the top-tier advertising countries (USA, CA, EU, AU). If you’re not sure whether we accept a certain type of content, ask.
Should I use American or British English?
Either is fine, as long as you are consistent within the article. Don’t start by using British spellings and punctuation (“colour” and so on), then switch to American versions (“color” and so on) half-way through.
Will you help me write better?
We used to provide one-to-one coaching through the basic WLE system, but so few people were interested in improving their writing that we shut it down. However, the new quality rating system is designed to provide general feedback to help you improve your quality ratings.
The comments you receive on your rated work are twofold: our editors mark certain issues as guidelines – the ones that are used to “score” the article and provide the final rating – and may also include notes to help you figure out how to produce better content.
I have a complaint. Who should I write to?
Send it to the usual Admin address. They’ll make sure it gets to Spike, the owner/operator of WLE.