I spent last night and this morning putting together a few writing samples for a bid on a project for the Department of Labor. One of my contacts told me about the project on Sunday, and the bids are due today. The RFP asked for three sample articles, each 600-1200 words in length, on the following subjects:
- on-the-job safety
- off-the-job safety
- general mining topics
What I don't know about mining could fill several large bodies of water, and given the short turn-around time I opted to write one article that blended all three subjects, and supplement that with two well-researched articles from my portfolio. For the freshly-written article, I decided to write about Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, since it is fairly common among miners (a.k.a. general mining topics). I gave an overview of COPD, then discussed how it is diagnosed and treated, and what to do to reduce exacerbations (a.k.a. off-the-job safety), as well as ways to reduce risks of exposure in the workplace (a.k.a. on-the-job safety).
It's probably a long shot considering it's government work and they're sticklers for following the rules (in theory, anyway)--but I figured it was worth a try. If I get the project, it will be fairly steady work through the end of September.
How often do you go for the long shot project? Has it ever paid off?
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3 comments:
ewww, none of the three choices appeals to me at all. *grin*
Me either, but the project is writing for the Mine Safety and Health Administration's quarterly bulletin--so that explains the topics!
This is why I couldn't do freelancing for long - when asked to do an article on something for which I had no interest, I would begin to have a trapped feeling! I did restaurant reviews for a while, and that was fun.
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