Hi everyone!
My name is Courtney, and I have been writing off and on for IM since 2011. I am making it more of a permanent thing now, because it is a great source of extra income.

Currently, I am enrolled in my local Community College's business program. My major is Administrative Assisting, which will help me to get a job as a receptionist or virtually any office position. Besides attending school, I have also begun the process of becoming an ordained pastor. Right now, I am an LMC (Local Ministerial Candidate) through my denomination's conference. This means that I have made it official that I feel the call to become ordained. This is a very long process that will take several years to complete, but it is a journey that I am willing to take, as God is my biggest passion. When I do eventually become ordained, I plan on being a Youth Pastor, because that is where my strongest passions reside.

I also really love horses. While I do not have a horse of my own, I plan on owning one some day. I am a girl who was raised in a big city, but really--I am a country girl at heart. :) Whenever I get the chance to ride a horse (which is rare), I cherish that moment.

Finally, one extra piece of information about me: I own and operate my own Christian blog. This blog has been operated since late 2011. I am the sole owner of the website, and I update the content on a monthly basis. My site has been viewed all over the world. In fact, it has even reached certain parts of Africa--specifically Zambia and Zimbabwe. If you would like to view this website, this is the URL: http://www.thewordoftruthblog.com

Writing is one of the biggest passions of mine, and I intend to do it for as long as I am able!

Thanks for reading,
Courtney S.

Hi, I'm Jackie and stumbled on the Interact system a few years ago. So glad I did because it's the best writing platforms out there. 

Hi Everyone!

I'm Tami McVey, and I've been a freelance writer for about four years now. Although I'm Mom to two sons, I'm a new empty-nester and trying to find some work/life balance that allows me to figure out who I am without a kiddo attached to my hip! LOL

I'm pretty active in social media, and I run a food blog for fun. I work for many private clients in the marketing industry, and run blogs for several of them as well.

I'm from Northern Ontario, Canada so when I'm not up to my eyeballs in content writing, and I'm not in the kitchen creating something new for my blog, I'm usually outdoors fishing, camping or just enjoying some fresh air.

I've been with Zerys for several months now, and after a couple of growing pains I'm finding my seat here very comfortable and enjoying it a lot. I'm looking forward to getting to know more of you better! :)

Well, this is just adorable. I noticed from the beginning that Zerys admins are uncommonly friendly and personable, but it wasn't until cruising these forums for the first time last night and today that I realized how very community-oriented this site is and how legitimately involved with everything the admins really are!

I'm Emerald, and I dabbled in journalism throughout teenagerhood and during my first stint in community college, but then I went full-time into health care; I started in body art, then worked as an office manager and lead vet assistant for a tiny busy animal hospital for a couple of years, and now I run my own practice doing massage therapy (and the occasional body piercing to stay in practice -- it's like minor surgery! It rules!) but mostly subletting to other therapists. I'm returning to college this summer for a business degree, and plan to become an osteopathic physician and expand my health offices into a full-service interdisciplinary clinic.

I got back into writing because I'm heavily involved with Denver's local music scene, primarily heavy metal and punk. (My favorite band of all time is Bad Religion; my favorite metal band is Overkill. Thrash for life!) My friends in various bands started founding this-magazine-and-that-website-and-this-other-project, and I still know no reason why my new crowd of metal band friends just decided I must be a good writer, knowing none of my history with it, but a few months ago I got invited to participate with absolutely everything under the sun out of nowhere. The more concert or album reviews I wrote, the more people would ask for, and I accidentally tumbled into being invited to write a monthly newsletter for one of our local venues. Essentially, writing steamrollered itself back into my life -- and I must say, it goes very well with owning a new small business and needing to pad that early income. :P

I count myself very fortunate that Zerys was one of my first Google hits when I got desperate for paid work during the holiday season, which was excruciatingly slow for my practice. Establishing an account and getting initial approval was painless, and all but one of my first few jobs were for that enormous property management client with all the apartments and the 150-200 word pieces; they asked to add me as a favorite writer after just a few five-star ratings and now my work on here is almost exclusively for them. I've had five-star ratings from them for all but one of soon-to-be 100 articles, and they're friendly and accommodating and I love it. I have many friends who are talented writers and need a gig, and I've been recommending Zerys left and right. Thanks for the great concept and for treating writers so well!

(Oh yeah, and I am owned by a cattle dog mix who's perfect in every way, a pyrenees mix who's mostly perfect, and two Siamese/Himalayan-ish mixes who are perfect if you ask them.)

Hello,
My name is Jeff though on Zerys I usually use my initials, JG. I'm introducing myself primarily to rid myself of the newbie forum tag. I don't remember how long ago I joined Zerys but I've come to sorely regret the fact that I didn't really pay it much attention or start writing here until exactly one month ago. I've had 20 articles accepted with no rejections and one revision in that time, and right now 7 in queue. Of those only two were rated less than four stars and the majority are five's. The jobs are getting easier and the money is increasing so yes, I am kicking myself for not getting started sooner. As of this week I reached 5 star writer status and am looking forward to doing many more assignments for Zerys. I love the format and the structure and feel very comfortable here. With a few exceptions the clients seem to genuinely respect the writers and appreciate what we do for them, not true of many other freelance sites. Additionally, I've yet to find a site that offers the variety of assignments this one does and is capable of providing such a steady stream of income.

So now that I've posted, perhaps I'll be able to drop the newbie tag. All the best to you.

Hey everyone!  I've been writing my whole life it seems.  I have primarily written stories as a means to express my writing and until this year never really pursued being a published writer.  Zerys has been a great outlet for me to keep my thoughts fresh and the writing flow steady.  It's also been nice to be able to not write when I am not able.  I have a 28 year old who has severe seizures and over the last year has deteriorated substantially.  There have been times when writing was just not possible and although I have taken some hits on some missed deadlines, I am grateful that I have had the ability to continue to write.  I just got my first book published and so appreciate all the work I am able to do as a writer.  

Hi,

My name is David and I am brand new here. I am a writer and blogger in the publishing industry who felt that he wanted to take another step towards making writing his full time career. I am hoping to make some wonderful client - freelancer relationships as well as improve my writing and get to know a lot of other talented writing.

I hope everyone has a good day. :-)

Hello everybody, I'm Flora but you can call me Twinkle. I'm a freelance writer from the united states and I'm currently unemployed. I feel excited to start off in the competitive writing world and I hope I stick around for a long time. Lets see, I have a sister that I like to show my work too so she can spot any mistakes, I like to play the computer game Minecraft, I write for the sake of writing something awesome for others to see and I'm a competitive forum post-by-play roleplayer. : D

I love writing fictional stories and I'm currently in the middle of writing an EBook for an EBook download company for about 6.00 dollars. I would have sold it by now but I'm a perfectionist and I'm taking my time with it's publishing. I can't re-edit the manuscript when I submit it, so I want it to be as perfect as I can get it to be before I set it up for download.

Hi,

I am Padmanabhan, a retired executive from a central government organization, Writing is my passion. I am a basic graduate in Mathematics and scored 97% in my major subject.I have coaching students of various levels in mathematics for the past 24 years. I have been writing for the past 10 years. I am a newbie to IM

Hello,

My name's Kim Walters and I'm brand new here...like hours new. :) I have high hopes for this board and I hope to see similar results to some of you I've been reading about in the forum. I'm started out at 3 though, with no jobs to see. However, after reading I see it can take a long time to see a job posted. I look forward to getting to know the other writers here in the forum. :)

Can anyone log in on Zerys right now? I'm getting the message 'specified cast is not valid' and it won't let me in! Is anyone else having this trouble? Please help.

Thanks,

Laura

Hello, my name is Anne, and I love to write. 

My turn, I suppose.

[/quote] Are those fun hippies still keeping the commune on Christmas Island? I heard they were being run off and a new bridge was going out there to accommodate more hotels and tourist income, but I'm not sure it was a reliable source. A few of the guys on the Trail, coming back up the East Coast after the Valentine's Day Gathering in Ocala, 3-4 years ago, maybe 5?[/quote]

 

Christmas Tree Island belongs to the feds, and always has. It’s managed under the auspices of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). All the companies that’ve believed they owned it at one time or another, that’ve attempted to develop it, that’ve attempted to have it annexed by the city, and that’ve paid property taxes, have all been wildly misinformed.

 

It is thus entirely different from adjacent spoil pile Tank Island, which was sold off -- as an anchorage -- by the government in the ’80s, and is now owned by Westin Key West Resort & Marina, through a number of shell entities.

 

Let’s not glamorize the trespassers who live out there, suggesting their lifestyles defend some Last Remaining Slice of Olde Key West, or whatever. More derelict and abandoned vessels than can be counted litter the mooring around Christmas Tree Island, which is owned by BLM. It’s a squalid, revolting disgrace. Most occupied boats are used by live-aboards who don’t contract with the pump-out boats, so they’re simply discharging their human waste into the channel. Loggerheads, which are threatened, and Green Turtles, which are endangered, have been documented as nesting on the beaches; they don’t exactly benefit from encountering raw sewage. Nor do they do well on beaches heaped with trash and derelict vessels.

 

The ghost ships also leak pollutants and scatter debris as they disintegrate, and they scar the sea grass when they drag their nasty little cinderblock anchors around during storms. Few of these trash boats even have lights, so they’re a hazard to navigation, too.

 

I know a number of people who work normal jobs in Key West, who ride their dinghies in every day and moor at Schooner Wharf, Harbor Walk and the Bight. They’re aware that, three or four years ago, yet another putative owner paid a work crew of almost 20 to haul away garbage and debris. The effort ended up taking three weeks. It produced several tons of trash, which took over 100 boat trips to remove. This did not please FWC, and it didn’t please responsible residents who use the mooring fields as affordable housing.

 

Hey everyone,

Hi Everyone!  My name is Joyce Anthony and I'm from Western Pennsylvania-right on the Lake. I can't remember a time when I didn't write.  I joined Zerys about a year ago.  Before that, I wrote here and there but never on a site specifically made for content writing.  I've published one book (fiction) and numerous personal essays and articles.  Once I went on disability, I needed to increase my income on a regular basis so thought I better get serious and sign on somewhere the work was steady.  

Hi, everyone. I am Ronda. I live on a farm in central Missouri with my husband and our many animals. I am a retired library media specialist and my husband is a retired research specialist. We try to be as self reliant as possible. We raise chickens and turkeys for meat and eggs. We have 3 barn cats for rodent control. We keep a Jersey cow that I hand milk every morning. South Poll cattle provide grass fed and finished beef, which we raise without hormones or antibiotics. We have an orchard where we raise 28 varieties of peaches, sweet and sour cherries, several varieties of Asian pears, apples, blueberries and pecans. We sell at several local farmers' markets.
I started here the last of May 2014. I read everyday and enjoy writing about many different subjects. I like doing research and find myself jumping on the computer to find the answers to questions that come up in conversations. My favorite subject in school was English. I felt privileged to be invited to be a part of the advanced composition class in my high school. My husband thinks I am crazy because he always hated his English classes and could not wait for a time when he did not have to write. He sometimes sits and reads over my shoulder as I write here and just shakes his head.
I like to accept an assignment, read all the instructions, visit any websites listed and reread the instructions before starting to write. I write a first draft and then leave it for a while. I really like to have time to sleep on it before rereading the instructions, visiting the websites, proofreading and making any corrections before submitting.

Hello One and All! And since it is that time of the year, Merry Christmas to you and your family and may 2015 be the best year you have ever had.

Hello, I'm new and got accepted in as a 4 star writer today! I've been writing content since 2011 and have a couple of websites going so I am not new to the game.

I really like the interface here and am looking forward to working with a few clients. I was able to snag 2 short articles today to start out with and I hope the clients enjoy what I wrote. Nothing too fancy but the topics were different for me which is always a good thing!

Hope to see ya'll around, I should be here and there learning the ropes each day a little. If I find that I'm a good fit and maintain a good rating I'm sure this will work out well for me.

Have a productive rest of your week!

My first one was $1.40, I believe, and I totally peed a little with excitement. The site's legit... even better is that you've figured out much more quickly than most that the emails aren't worth nearly as much as that golden refresh button. :-)

$2.80. I bet we were all doing those apartment things, eh? My #2 job was an HVAC, though, and I don't think I ever got paid less than ten bucks per after that.

Hello Everyone!

My name is Jennifer and I am new to the professional writing field. I have been writing most of my life, but this is my first step towards a career in it. I have worked in a variety of fields in the last fifteen years. I look forward to drawing upon my experience to create quality work. :-) I'm excited to be working with and learning from all of you.

Hi everyone!

Well, mama, you  may not talk like that often but your comment about the "gin money" made me laugh out loud.

Don't we all....

Welcome to Zerys. I'm an American and, from previous forum perusing, I see that our UK friends have a tougher time here because the system is automatically slanted in favor of American writers. That being said, I took an article about "house extensions in Dublin" yesterday - after it was sitting on the open job board for a while - and am keeping my fingers crossed that they don't reject it as the result of my boorish, stateside approach.

Point being: there are UK-ish clients out there (ask Zoe for tips, she's a UK regular around here) and the Zerys peeps have been working hard to drum up more business from all parts of the globe.

There's hope for your Happy Hour yet...

I agree that "The Dublin fella is ***top notch***" and that is for the completely unbiased reason that he just added me as a Favorite Writer ;-)

Hello! (Hellooo) (Helloooo)*voice echos on the walls.

I am Lizzy and I have never been happier to be part of a forum like this. I really like the look of the whole platform and from the previous replies I have read on this post, I know I will get my first job .(Fingers tightly crossed).  In fact, my fingers are crossed the whole time I am not hitting the refresh button (Brooke, 2015)

Just reading the views gives a stranger the warmest of welcomes...Thank You guys. Write On!

Yes! Welcome, Lizzy. And thank you for bringing this particular thread back on track as an 'Introduce Yourself" space - we're prone to tangents here.

Also, thank you for writing something. I was beginning to think the forum, like Nietzsche's God, was dead.

In almost five years of writing for Zerys, I don't think there has ever been such long, silent spells on the forum. I guess everyone had a really really amazing summer...?!?!?

Anyway, do continue to hit "refresh," and a really crappy paying job will come your way. And you'll write the work because you need it. And then you'll increase your star-rating...and then better and better paying jobs will come along - - and then you'll increase your star-rating and your earning rate even further...

And so it goes...

Welcome, David - nice to meet a fellow writer and traveler!

I'm Joe and I've been a writer since highschool. Now I'm on a really cool forum and ready to take whatever jobs I can get! (Student loans won't pay themselves, sadly!)

Thanks! I'm still waiting for that first project to show up, but I know it can take some time!

Ciao, Megan! The work will come, but I'll say some small prayers to the writing gods as well. I so want to do the Benoni Art Route one day. Some of the artists are amazing!

Hi Megan,

I thought I was the only one not getting any work!? I am living in Germany at the moment so maybe it's because I'm asleep when the jobs go up! I hadn't considered that before but it makes sense now!

I think some long nights may be ahead of me - I'll let you know if it makes a difference.

Nice to see that everyone is friendly here too. It's quite unique, I believe!

 Until next time, tschüss!

Hi my name is Donna. I just got accepted to Zerys this morning so I'm really excited and probably a bit confused. I live in Smyrna, GA. Other than the strange name, Julia Roberts is from here and the new stadium for the Atlanta Braves will be up and, unfortunately, dedicated in April. Due to the traffics we have now I have no clue how it's going to run smoothly. 😤 I am a proud mom to 5 adult kids. We're originally from NJ so the older ones still live there and the twins live in GA. All of them are over 21, I started when I was a kid myself. 😂 As I said, I'm excited but a bit confused with the jobs listed on my site. I'm happy they're there but, I have no knowledge of the topics and nor did I list them on topics I know about? I guess I'll figure it out as the days go by. As far as my profession, I'm a fine artist, interior designer, and write just about anything I can write about. I've written 3 short stories that were published and as most of us, I'm always writing drafts. It's good to be here, and I'd love to meet other newbies as well as long time writers who know this site very well. God Bless and thank you! Donna

It slows down and then things get busy.... Hang in there!! Chris~~

Hi Donna (I also grew up in NJ), Georgia, and Bruce. Nice to meet you. I wish you lots of luck here - I've enjoyed it, have great clients, and stay busy.

Hi Donna - Sorry for the accident, but hope everyone is alright. Yes, lots of IT jobs. I knew NOTHING about IT when I started here and now it's probably a quarter to a third of my work. Same for inbound marketing. If you're seeing those jobs, take one and give it a shot. The more you write them, the more you learn and unless they are super technical, the more proficient you become in the topic. I found that doing some on-my-dime research helped me get more work.

I have a Master of Philosophy in English (literary theory) and in my MPhil I coined the term informationist science fiction.I am professionally published as an analytic philosopher of information (esoteric)

Hi all

Hi Tracey,

Always nice to see our long-time writers pop up in the forums! We appreciate all of you writers, too!

Thanks for the kind words.

Hi Darren,

Welcome!

As a new writer, you are correct that you will only see jobs on the New Clients Job Board. It can take a little while for new writers to see work that matches their profile, but I encourage you to take any that you do see that you feel capable of writing.

After you have completed work approved by clients, they can directly assign you more work, or put jobs on a Favorite Writers Job Board that you have access to. Those are the "other"jobs you see the writers talking about, and that is the goal - to get ongoing work from clients.

I recommend you click around the forums and especially check out the FAQ sections - there is a lot of great information there!

We have a great group of writers here - glad to have you aboard!

Hi! I am Monica and I joined the site a couple of years ago, did some articles and. . . life happened. I made a couple of posts back then, which were cleared out when the forum purge happened. So, I thought I would take a moment to introduce myself, as directed by the post title. ;)

Hi Monica and Robert - Nice to meet you!

Hi all,
It is great to be part of Zerys. I was dormant for a while, but I hope to start seeing jobs on my platform soon.
Hanging in there with the rest of the newbies.

Hello back Nancy and Monica!

New to freelance writing but thought I might give it a go, not much on my job board at the moment but am hopeful that will change sooner than latter.

Hello All,

hi people, am Flozy new here and i hope someone can show me how things go around.looking forward to learn and have great time with other writers......

hi sir

Hi everyone,

My name is Gillian, and I hail from South Africa. I've spent my entire literate life dabbling with writing in various forms. For whatever reason I've worked in nearly every field except writing. But last year I was retrenched and had a long hard think about where I was and what I wanted my life to be, and came to some crucial realizations:
1. If I ever have to reconcile another month's worth of accounts again, I will probably go completely mad. ("Good with numbers" does not mean I enjoy bookkeeping!)
2. All I want to do is write stories and research weird and wonderful things.
3. People actually get paid to write stories and research weird and wonderful things.
4. What on earth have I been wasting my time for??

And so, I begin a new chapter in my life (pun definitely intended), where I attempt to raise my child, write all day, and try and earn enough money to pay my bills, and possibly even finish the eight or so novels that have been rattling around my head for the last fifteen years.
I suppose one silver lining of working in every other field except writing, is that I now have a huge database of experience to fall back on, whether in the fields of policing, security, or Law, all the way up to teaching, parenting, and the Arts.

Hi Jacklyn,

Hi All,

I'm Sayantan. I started my career with a Big Four services firm, but left to pursue freelancing on a full-time basis. I'm new here and am looking forward to creating lasting relationship with clients and learning along the way.

I hope to start my blog soon and can't wait to get in the thick of things.

I look forward to interacting with all of you.

Thanks