No I'm not and no I don't!

You're reading an article on the Internet, and you suddenly find yourself starring in a hypothetical situation you could never imagine thinking to yourself. You think, "What in the name of Pete?" And then you think, "Wait a minute. I'd never do that, and I never say 'What in the name of Pete!'"

Somewhere along the way, many of us were taught a completely useless and annoying literary device: putting the reader into a hypothetical situation in a clumsy attempt to "draw them in." I see an exhausting number of articles online that start this way, particularly when I'm rating Helium articles.

"You're sitting in a restaurant, and you see..."

Uh, no I'm not, and no I don't. This sort of thing doesn't pull me in and engage me; it just annoys me and puts me on the defensive. In fact, if anything, I'm less likely to want to keep reading to see what the article has to say. Even if it's prefaced with "Picture it..." it's still hackneyed and a little insulting. I don't like being given directives before I've even read the story.

Don't do it. Don't try to force your reader into being the star of a hypothetical situation. It's not clever, and it's not engaging. Find another way to open your article.

Why write for online content sites?

Sorry to those of you who commented on my last post that I haven't responded--I've been out of town and didn't have internet (*gasp* the torture!). A couple of the commenters questioned the usefulness of writing for online content sites, so I thought I'd use it as an excuse to make a new post.

Why write for online sites instead of magazines? Well, I would never, ever recommend these sites INSTEAD of magazines, but as a supplement. The print publishing world is agonizingly slow, between the query process and waiting for payment. I have published articles in about 10 different magazines, but I'm having a hard time keeping a high and steady income that way. That is mostly my fault for not sending enough queries, but the print world is struggling in today's economy...magazines are going under or downsizing. I don't mean to sound negative about the industry or anyone's ability to make a living that way--many people do. I'm just saying, it's frustrating and slow.

Online content sites, like Helium, Associated Content, Suite101, etc, offer quick gratification--your article is posted either immediately or within a few days. With Associated Content, you often get a small up-front payment in addition to the performance pay they all give. It is a paltry, paltry amount, but it's something, and with some effort you can keep a steady stream of these paltry payments coming in. I know of one person who makes a decent income doing just Associated Content. The other perk to these sites is they offer residual income...the right pieces can potentially earn more than print work. It's also nice to get that extra money every month--money you can earn without doing any extra effort. The above-mentioned lady makes several hundred dollars a month just in residuals, and I think she breaks $1,000 during the holiday season thanks to her seasonal articles.

No, online content sites are not a good way to make a great living. However, they are a good supplement to the more lucrative print publishing.

Associated Content vs Helium vs Suite101 vs Examiner vs Ehow

While I did not do any kind of official challenge to compare the various content sites I wrote for, I thought it would be valuable to compare the results of each one. I did not set out this month with the intention of doing this; I just tried to increase my production so I can eventually have a decent level of residual income. A week or so ago, I thought it would be interesting to see a comparison at the end of each month, so I am going to start doing that. This is pretty unscientific, because there are a lot of variables. Topic selection could have a big influence on the outcome.

[actual results removed due to a couple of the sites' policies that payments not be disclosed. Sorry!]

From the results, it is clear that Suite101 is the biggest earner per article this month, despite the lack of up-front payments.

However, I should note that Associated Content has had some indexing issues--articles are either not getting to the search engines or they are getting there but getting delisted. Associated Content claims there is no problem, but MANY content producers insist there is. Some have technical ways to show it that are over my head, but everyone is seeing a decrease in performance. For April and May, my performance pay was over $9, and it dropped by $3 in June--with 15 additional articles. There is clearly something rotten in the state of...Associated Content! However, even with an additional $3 in performance pay, AC would still be behind Suite101 in per-article earnings.

Examiner.com came in third. They pay .01 per page view, which is not bad. I think my topic selection and keywording there need work, because my views are pretty poor. I get the most views on days I post an article, probably because I post the link everywhere.

Helium and eHow are neck and neck. Helium at least has up-fronts, but I can't deny that eHow articles perform pretty well. Lots of views and decent revenue share, it seems. I don't know how much effort I want to put in there, but it would be nice to build up enough articles to meet pay-out ($10) every month. However, is it worth putting effort into a site that has the same structure as Suite101? Why not just put my how-to articles there? I may end up doing that.

I should also point out that the sample size is pretty small, so that adds to the unscientificness of this.

I also write for Demand Studios, but not very often so I didn't bother including them. I'm probably spending too much time on online content and not enough querying magazines!

TWIN TRINITY MEDIA ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF ELEMENTS OF THE SOUL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Twin Trinity Media / Accentuate Services
michy@twintrinitymedia.com
TWIN TRINITY MEDIA ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF ELEMENTS OF THE SOUL

TEXAS, USA - July 3, 2009 Twin Trinity Media, part of the Accentuate FAMILY of Author
Services, announces the Accentuate Writers Anthology Elements of the Soul has gone to print and will be released late this summer. The collection of short stories and poems is a compilation of the winners of the Accentuate Writers Short Story Anthology and Poetry Contest that took place in 2008. Writers braved tough competition to vie for a place in the anthology, a royalty contract, cash and merchandise prizes.

The stories and poems in Elements of the Soul were written on four themes: Fire & Ice, Winds of Change, April Showers and Summer Heat. Contestants' submissions were judged on use of theme, adherence to submission guidelines and quality of the story and writing. In addition to the contest winners' stories, two authors were included in the anthology as Editor's Picks and received royalty contracts.

The Accentuate Writers Short Story Anthology and Poetry Contest, now in its second year, gives writers an opportunity to obtain critiques, a chance to win cash and merchandise prizes, and a publishing contract. Anyone is eligible to enter the contests for a small fee, but only the best work rises to the top and is included in the Accentuate Writers Anthology.

The managing editor for Twin Trinity Media and owner of Accentuate Services, Michelle L Devon, says, "I have been honored to watch the contests grow and the writers grow along with them. The stories are getting better and the competition is fierce. I'm proud to play a small part in helping make writing dreams come true with these contests and anthologies. It's very exciting and humbling."

Authors for Elements of the Soul include: Steven Thor Gunnin, Jennifer Walker, Rissa Watkins, Lindsay Maddox, George Kramer, Lucinda Gunnin, Jo Brielyn, M. Lori Motley, Susan Sosbe and Laurie Darroch-Meekis. The anthology also features talented poets to fill in the pages between stories with wonderful imagery and substance. Michelle L Devon, author of In a Perfect World and The Path: A Series on Redemption and Sensual Awakening, who is a contributing author to other anthologies herself,
edited the book and contributed to the foreword.

Elements of the Soul is currently available at a special pre-order price of $13.00, which includes shipping and handling, taxes and a specially made bookmark. Orders can be placed at http://anthologies.accentuatewritersforum.com/index.php/component/content/article/3-newsflash/47-preorder-elements.

Accentuate Services has been in business for over fourteen years and is dedicated to providing services to authors, from publishing consulting to editing and writing coaching. Other ventures that are part of the Accentuate FAMILY of Author Services include Unsent Letters, Recipes & Recovery, Erotic Anthologies, and the Accentuate Writers Forum, with other projects in the works. Visit the website at www.AccentuateServices.com.

###
Twin Trinity Media / Accentuate Services
c/o: Michelle L Devon
1305 E. 36th Street
Odessa, TX 79762
Toll-Free: 866.641.8130
Michy@twintrinitymedia.com
http://www.accentuateservices.com
This press release may be copied, shared, distributed and/or posted on any electronic or print source provided the content is not altered in any way. Live links on electronic versions is appreciated.

Accentuate Writers Anthology is finally going to print!

I posted last year when first I came in second and then first place in the Accentuate Writers short story contests. The anthology of winners is finally going to print, and they are taking pre-orders now! Please support these very talented writers and the great lady who gave them this publishing contract by ordering your copy today! You will get to read some GREAT stories.

My new venture!

Thanks to Beth Sandland, one of my heroes and mentors, I am now the new owner of PacNWHorse.com! If you are a horse lover, please check it out and help me fill up the site with great content and great people...register for free, post a blog post or two about your life with horses, post on the forum, post an ad. I want to make this an awesome resource that everyone in the Pacific Northwest will turn to!

Pleased with Suite101

I am really glad I went back to writing for Suite101. While some of their style guidelines irritate me (like only being able to write in third person), they are not hard to work around. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Summer Sizzles writer's challenge gave me a lot of good ideas--those articles are getting between 10 and 40 hits per day. Even though the challenge is over, I'm still writing summer articles just because they perform so well.

Suite101 vs Associated Content

With 30 articles on Suite101, I am getting more hits and more revenue per day, on average, than I get on Associated Content with 117 articles. It was the summer articles that put me over the top on Suite101. For the month of June, I have earned more in revenue share on Suite101 than on Associated Content (with a bit over a quarter of the articles).

The big difference is that Associated Content gives up-front payment, and Suite101 does not. Now, AC does not always give up-fronts, and when they do it's only a few dollars. Most of mine are $4.xx with a few that are $3.xx. I rarely get less than $3, but I sometimes do.

Associated Content only requires $1.50 in revenue to get a pay-out each month. Suite101 requires $10. It took me about six months to hit it the first time with just seven articles. I almost reached the second one in three months with the addition of a few more, but I will get it this month with plenty left over--and if my revenue keeps up, I should reach it every month from now on.

Another nice thing about Suite101 is that they have higher standards--Associated Content has very low standards. Not everyone is approved to write for Suite101, and they have to adhere to the style guidelines. Suite101 also provides a lot of education on titling, keywording, adding photos, etc., to enhance your articles.

At this point, I am still writing for both. I would like to reach the point where each of my content sites gives me a nice little paycheck every month. The thought of getting an extra $100 or $200 per month without putting out additional work is very enticing!

PS...Visit my Suite101 and Associated Content pages to read my articles!