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We first wrote about the irascible scribbler known as the Craigslist Curmudgeon in March. The Curmudgeon is a sort of online vigilante, exposing those who advertise for writers in the writing/editing section of Craigslist but offer no pay, piddling in-kind compensation, or a dubious remuneration plan. These attempts at luring desperate writers into such unrewarding exchanges he dubs "assery," a term yet to find its way into the dictionary, though the century is still young... Anyway, we asked the Curmudgeon, with some trepidation, a few questions over email:

So you're a professional writer, we assume?

Yes I am. I recently made the switch to freelancing full time.

What prompted you to start the page?

Because Craigslist is free and doesn't seem to have too many rules and regulations, it's an assery magnet. Anyone can post a job, even if no job exists... Plus they allow job ads for people who don't want to pay their workers. I've seen it getting worse over the years and I know I can't do anything to stop it. But I can educate people and show some of the newer writers how silly some of these requests are. Hopefully by doing it in a way that makes people laugh it shows how ridiculous many of these ads and requests are.

All right. Where'd you get the term "assery" from?

Assery: The practice of being an ass. I made it up in honor of a past employer.

What's the most ridiculous attempt at exploiting writers you've seen thus far?

It's the cheap web content/SEO (search engine optimization) people. They ask for 1,000 words and pay something like $2.50. The article has to be researched and run through Copyscape and there's always this long list of requirements for this $2.00 article. Assery at its finest. Read the full profile...