A Guide to Academic Writing in Kenya [PDF]

Academic writing is essentially the writing of academic papers in college, high school, or university. Instructors, teachers, and professors usually give students tasks to write essays and do assignments on various topics. However, due to busy schedules or failure to master the English language, some students usually pay people to do the assignments for them. In western countries, especially UK, USA, and Australia, students pay writers to do their homework. Most academic writers are from third-world countries, particularly in Africa and Asia.

Academic writing as a business opportunity is common in Kenya. In this book, I will provide a comprehensive guide on how you can pursue academic writing as a career or side hustle to give you extra income. The topics I will address are: how to start, types of academic papers, principles of writing, planning, the writing process, how to avoid plagiarism, and referencing styles.

How to Start Academic Writing in Kenya

I will probably tell you how I started academic writing. Well, I was in my final year on campus when my friend introduced me to academic writing. I went online and searched “academic writing jobs in Kenya.” On the top list, I saw companies such as Academia-Research, Uvocop, Writerbay, and Freelancer.com. However, I chose to look for an advertisement by a Kenyan, for Kenyans.

What I am trying to say is that if you need to write academic papers for a pay, you should first look for someone in Kenya who has a constant flow of orders. This is because this person will not only give you jobs but also guide you through the writing process as a mentor. You better learn through someone, and then you grow slowly until you are able to apply or buy your own account. If a Kenyan employer (who owns an account) hires you, you will first gain the skills needed for you to grow in the industry.

Who is an Account Owner and who is the writer?

Usually, there are two types of writers. The first one is the employer type – those who own accounts. When I say account, I mean a website with a pool of many customers. They hire writers and open an account for a qualified writer, who then gets access to jobs (orders) posted by customers. The company takes a chunk of the income and the account owner (employer) gets a smaller amount (mostly $3-10). The account owner then hires writers to do the jobs and then checks the quality of the job and submits online. The account owner (employer) sometimes writes for himself or herself when writers are not available.

Begin as a writer, not an employer

If you are interested in academic writing, you should first start writing for someone who has an account. The employer will be your trainer and mentor. This is where I messed as a writer. I applied for an account in the first few weeks of my writing. I got the account but it was closed in 2 weeks because I could not deliver quality work. I then went back to write for other people who gave me all the guidance I needed to navigate through the huddles of academic writing. After 1 year, I applied for another account, which still pays bills until the time I was writing this guide.

In a nutshell, first, identify a mentor – a writer who owns an account. He can be your employer or just trainer/mentor. Write as the writer, not an account owner until you are familiar with all the aspects of academic writing; that is until you deliver quality work consistently. From there, you can now graduate and buy or apply for an account.

How to get an account

Once you are confident of your writing skills, you can now proceed to acquire an account. There are two ways in which you can own an account:

Buy an Account

One way of getting an academic writing account in Kenya by buying one. You may see this as an ethical dilemma, but come to think of it, you need the money. After all, ghostwriting in itself is a form of aiding cheating among students. Do not worry, get an account and do a clean job.

So you may be asking yourself, where do I buy an academic writing account in Kenya? There are several avenues. First, you identify a person who has a writing account ask for connections until you get an account that is clean. Secondly, you can go to the web and search online. There are very resourceful Academic writing groups on Facebook where writers buy and sell accounts. You can also ask to be directed to an academic writing account seller in Nairobi.

Just make sure you get the right deal. There are dubious account sellers who sell accounts with problems. Some of the common problems you can get with a writing account include:

Identity issues: make sure you can reach the owner of the account you are buying. When you start writing it may reach a time when the admin of the account requires you to send a copy of your ID card, photo, and other details. If you cannot get the owner to help you verify the account details, your account will be closed and you lose everything.
Warnings and limitations: some accounts have multiple warnings, restrictions, and all manners of red flags due to poor quality done by the original owner. Others may have already been put on hold or probation. Make sure you look through the account you want to buy to ensure that there is no warning or limitation of any kind.
Bidding Account: There are two types of academic writing accounts: bidding and take accounts. Bidding accounts are those that require you to bid or apply for a job. This way, you compete with many writers for the available jobs. In this case, newbies in the industry find it difficult to get orders in the face of multiple veterans in the industry. Take accounts gives you a limited number of orders to take without bidding. This is the real deal. If you can get an account with at least one take per day, go for it.
Too exorbitant prices: some account owners sell the accounts at unjustifiably high prices compared to the deal they get. Make sure you get the right price range by doing a little research and asking around before buying an account. If possible, buy an account from an original owner rather than brokers who hike the prices significantly.
Poor Ratings: Every account has a rating system. Choose an account that has a high rating. Some accounts have ratings out of 10, others out of 100. Go for accounts with at least 8.5/10 or 85%. The rating shows that the owner of the account was delivering high quality, so it has low risks compared with accounts that have low ratings of say 6/10 or 60%. Anything below 50% or 5/10 is a NO, DON’T buy!

List of Writing Accounts

Here, we give you a list of top academic writing accounts, which you may consider creating an account or buy. The list is shown below, click on them and begin your application process.

Bluecorp
Uvocorp
Academia Research
Writerbay
EssayShark
EssayPro
4Writers
Writerslabs
Writers.PH
Edusson
Kenya Writers
Studypool
Writedom
Quality Writers

NOTE: We do not buy or sell accounts, and we do not encourage people to sell or buy writing accounts. If you can, apply for an account and go through all the necessary steps required.

When applying for an account, you are required to do an online English test, write a short essay, and do a test on various referencing styles. So, you need to familiarize yourself with these issues.

If you get an account, you will start with the lowest point. Some accounts require you to start with probation, where you will write a few orders before being given full access to orders. Then you go to junior level, followed by senior, advanced, premium level, etc. Each account has a career progression system based on your rating and the number of orders completed.

Write for Someone

This is the most recommended point to start as an academic writer. You can write for an employer who has an account either to earn an extra income or as an avenue into the academic writing profession. Many of us are doing academic writing full-time, but we had to start somewhere. Have a direct connection with an experienced academic writer to give you light jobs in the beginning and help you grow slow. You can find academic writing jobs advertised by account owners on Facebook and posters.

SEE Full Guide to Academic Writing in Kenya PDF