What Process did you Go through to Find a Quality Writer?

In all seriousness I just go to the Warrior for Hire section and pick out someone. If they don't suck, I keep using them until they drop off contact. Rinse and repeat.

I I am a writer myself and I get work this way so I commend somacorellc for the idea. There are lots of experienced writers in the Warrior for Hire section.

There are lots of bidding sites such as vworker, elance and odesk.
You can also run your own ad on Craigslist.org and/or Gumtree.com

That should be enough to get you going.

I hire several good looking candidates from outsourcing websites and then just try them out and give re-peat orders to the best performing writers. Over time you end up with a pretty good crew of content writers.

Assumption - quality has a price. When you start out to find a quality writer, the best thing to assume is that a writer who charges 3 cents per word is better than one who charges 1 cent. On the other hand you might not be ready to spend 3 cents per word on articles. Decide on your budget first and look for writers accordingly. If your budget is 2 cents per word look at writers who charge 1 and 2 cents per word. Remember it is just an assumption - a writer charging 1 cent may be equally good if not better than a 2-cent writer. The trick is to find someone who writes well and charges less than what his/her writing is worth.

I have found that there are no hidden or untapped sources, only hidden talent born through need and an eagerness to succeed. A good writer today may be a six-figure internet marketer tomorrow. If you spot him/her today it is your luck and you can use those articles to boost the popularity of your site with visitors and in turn, Google.

Places where article writers hang out are the same places where website owners look for them - namely this Forum, oDesk, Elance, Fiverr and various sites where you can order articles but may not have to deal with an individual writer.

Of course the better option is to choose a writer who suits your requirements and works according to your liking.

The best process that you can follow is:

1. Look around in current content ads for good writers on the Forum. A good writer will be evident from his/her style of writing a response to an ad. Stay away from agencies that mass-produce articles through outsourced writers of their own. If you're paying 1 cent per word to an agency you can be sure that the writer who writes your article must be paid (much) less.

Once you identify good candidates ask for samples and go through them looking for grammatical or other errors. If the sample contains errors do not consider the writer. If the sample looks good, place an order. Remember that the first order is the beginning of the real test. When the article is sent to you also make a note of the turnaround time and professionalism reflected in the email. Once the writer passes the first test successfully start giving consecutive orders and continue your observation. The writer could be a few minor errors but ensure that they are corrected and see that they are not repeated again by the writer. If you find everything to your satisfaction after a week or two you can consider yourself as having found a good writer.

2. If you are unable to find anyone to your liking through existing ads, post an ad of your own on the Forum or at oDesk or Elance. Fiverr has some good writers too though you may need to restrict yourself to considering the ones who have good feedback. Go through the same steps for testing out the writers as listed above.

Finding an article writer to outsource to is just the beginning rather than an end. You must train and guide the writer to suit your style of writing for your vistitors on the type of site you have.

You may also have to test several writers at the same time so as to save time and also to have a backup in case the one that you select backs out at the last minute. It may be prudent to spread out your article outsourcing as a risk mitigation strategy.

I have been able to retain a good writer for Amazon product reviews for some of my sites. I had to train her to follow a certain style that I use for reviews but it was well worth it. If you need a few Amazon reviews done feel free to PM me and I can help you out with references:-).