I’ve placed a Craigslist ad seeking writers and I am overwhelmed with replies, but most of them are terrible or not right for my needs. How can I find some good writers? I know they are out there. But they aren’t replying to my ad that’s for sure.

Ahh, the search for a decent writer. It’s not easy to find a diamond among all the lumps of coal, but one thing is certain; many editors don’t help themselves out toomuch because they post calls for writers that are vague or ill-defined.

For starters–advertise for good writers in the places good writers gather. If you hang out a job ad on Craigslist, you’re going to attract a lot of newcomers, wanna-bes and just plain lame writers. Not all writers who search Craigslist ads for jobs are poor writers, but the ratio is extremely skewed.

Try posting your call for writers in a much more targeted way–put an ad online in the really good freelance writing sites and avoid places that cater solely to new writers. You can also try seeking writers on your city’s job board websites or subject-specific sites related to your publication’s audience.

Those who have already performed their first hunt for freelancers know why that is. If you’ve never hunted for a decent freelance writer, you couldn’t possibly be prepared for the onslaught of inappropriate responses to your “writer wanted” ad, but trust us when we say you’ll get about 90% unusable responses.

NewOf those ten percent, the ones you actually want to work with will make up probably five percent or less. That’s why you want to hang on to the GOOD responses–who wants to deal with that other 90% again if they don’t have to?