This 'n That

[Everhelpville]

I've been hanging around, slipping about, peeking around corners, and peering in doors. I've visited forums, read complaints and perused articles in an effort to get a feel for CC and the authors here. So if any of the powers that be find themselves interested in the experience and impressions of a newbie, read on. I'm serving up thoughts, opinions, and observations with a generous dollop of whining.

First, some good stuff. It's a new experience for me to participate in a community of others who enjoy arranging words. It's been interesting! I came here on a whim in an idle moment, having only recently explored the possibility of writing for monetary gain. And while CC doesn't lend itself to the type of writing I most enjoy and am drawn to, I've hung around. I just submitted my first article.

It was a public request regarding travel. The very last thing I'd choose to torture myself with is a piece on a distant place I've never been to, have no interest in, and know nothing about. The research alone was grueling, and it was clear from the moment I sat down at the keyboard that it would never pay off in terms of time invested. I was a slave to that thing every spare moment for a solid week. I came to despise it!

So why did I spend insane amounts of time trying to discern exact locations, exact names of said locations, and wrestle with conflicting descriptions of the same darned places? Or sit surrounded by printed copies, crumpled and tossed to the floor? Struggle with a thing I felt no connection to? All on a gamble, no less? I have no good answer. But the relief that came with clicking submit almost made it worthwhile.

Which brings me to my first whine. I filled out the submission form as deliberately and carefully as I could, checked everything, crossed my fingers, closed my eyes, clicked. An "Uh Oh" message appeared telling me I didn't have an amount in the usage box. So I checked. The amount I put in the usage box was staring up at me. I was at such a whimpering, frustrated loss! I could have strangled my own mother.

Instead, I wrote a hysterical sniveling SOS to support. The response was so mercifully prompt, and I was so intensely and tearfully grateful for it that it crossed my mind to propose marriage. Until I actually read support's response which told me to remove any dollar signs I might have put in the usage box. Remove dollar signs? Who knew? Particularly when alongside the usage box you see this example: $USD.

I was already a ten on the stress-o-meter due to the fact that I wasn't sure if the article could even be reviewed before the deadline on that particular request came and went. So I would like to humbly suggest that, if possible, CC remove or modify what appears to be needless and frustrating road blocks; and refrain from putting the well being of good mothers everywhere at risk.

Also, I've read many pleas from writers directed at the editor here to point out precisely what error(s) led to the rejection of their article. Where's my grammar mistake, my convoluted sentencing, my punctuation errors? Underline them. Justify your cold-hearted self. Am I the only one who finds those requests (and the occasional indignant demand) simply appalling? And you guys are so kind with your mini writing lessons!

My guess is that the editor doesn't plow far past that first misspelled word or missing comma. If he's reading a bumpy paragraph with no redeeming quality, why should he waste time reading another one? Insisting that an editor assume responsibility for the improvement of your writing is to confuse an editor with your mommy or the good teacher. Unless I'm mistaken and this is an online writing class, I'd be kicking you to the curb.

Not that I'm a whiz at the mechanics of writing. When you're sticking your writing under the mattress, you don't hear the bed bugs complaining about punctuation. So I was darned rusty. I had to include a crash course in grammar, spelling and punctuation during my recent week of article writing. But if it comes back rejected, you won't hear my sassy mouth complaining to Ed. I'll know who to blame and what to do.

You may not hear from my sassy mouth anyway, because posting on the forums is often another exercise in frustration. I see a message which tells me I've successfully logged in, but then I'm promptly returned to the log in page. I log in again, get the same good girl message, then the log in page again. This either doesn't happen at all, or it happens repeatedly during the same log in attempt. Is it the site? My computer? Me?

More whining: I can't imagine there are many here who could write an article on colostrum, smoking clones, solar energy, or aluminum towers without a bit of research. And when you consider CC's percentage and then factor in the time involved in research and writing, that $10 offer per 400 to 1000 words is enough to make you spew your coffee from one end of your keyboard to the other. Am I missing something pertinent?

Another thing. I wanted to peruse the quality of writing here and also see if the subjects I might comfortably cover without research were already on the site in large numbers. (Well, I was also out of good reading material.) And every second or third article I perused on CC contained errors. But even minor errors, and they are minor, stand out like spinach in the teeth of a web site. Particularly this web site.

I realize the powers that be aren't just picking lint out of their belly buttons. It's probably an overworked and under loved issue. But am I safe in assuming someone at CC cares about errors? If so, how does one go about pointing out said errors to caring person? I hauled in an armload of books yesterday, so doubt I'll be reading articles again anytime soon. But someone else might. And, after all, what if company comes?

I should read this over for proper punctuation, etc., but I'm not going to. So I hope your plow was nearby!

Wait! I get to end this on a positive note! I just learned that my article was accepted.

[Amy W]

Congrats on the acceptance! Nothing beats getting that first acceptance e-mail - except getting that first sold e-mail!

I can't help you with the computer problems - did you try clicking on the box that keeps you signed in? Is it something with your computer's cookies? (I don't really know what computer cookies are, I just know my computer deletes them.)

I think everyone here shares in your frustration over the low prices for long articles. I would never write a thousand words for $10. I wouldn't write 500 words for $10. This is why I think there needs to be some kind of union for writers - screenwriters have one, why not Internet writers? If we ban together and collectively demand the pay we deserve, we'll all be better off. Off my soapbox now.

My first article took me two weeks to write, and it was only 400 words or so. I'm a very slow writer, and a very slow editor, so I've learned to speed up my research - hard to do, since I actually love doing research. I've written quite a few travel articles, and my trick is to go to the official travel site of the region you're writing about. I never bother with third-party sites, since I can't verify if the information is true or not, and most of the info is outdated anyway. So just say you're writing about London, just Google "London official tourism", and you'll be sent to the city's official tourism site. All the information and links you need in one site. The same idea works for every article. For environmental articles, head to the EPA website. For tax articles, head to the IRS website. I find it also helps to use a search engine from the country you're writing about. If you're searching for England sites, go to google.co.uk. Canadian is google.ca. I think Australian is google.au. And I'm pretty sure Denmark is google.dk. I could go on, but I'll spare you!

And don't worry about losing on your gamble. Even if the buyer who made the public request doesn't purchase your article, someone else will, it's just a matter of time. Patience pays off here!

[eek]

Congrats on your first acceptance, and welcome to CC.
I'm not sure, but I think you could send a message to another author through their profile page. I know I would appreciate a kind note from a fellow writer here - I would hate to let an article sell with a glaring mistake. But I've never had the courage to contact anyone else about an error, not knowing if others would be glad or offended.

emma

[HayleyWriter]

Emma,

I've contacted a couple of authors about errors - usually spotted in the short summary. Each time, the author has responded with a lovely email of "Gee, thanks, I appreciate it and I have fixed it now." We are all professional writers here and know that errors can easily slip through. I think the authors are grateful to have constructive comments to help look even more professional to the customers. I'd rather a friendly fellow author made the comment and I had a chance to fix the error than to sell an article and have it published with the error, or worse, not sell it because of a typo in the short summary. I've made several close friends by using the CC email system to contact authors. I've also sent congratulatory notes when I notice particular sales, especially if it is an author's first sale. We can afford to be friendly and helpful to each other here, unlike some other sites where competition between authors is rife because most of write on different topics anyway.

Everhelpville,

Many authors do not write for those low requests, or choose to put decent prices on the articles anyway. Remember that the $10-$20 is a default price, and the customer may be willing to pay more for a lengthier, in-depth, and well-written article that suits their needs. You could write the article and price it at a decent price. If the original requestor does not purchase the article, someone else may.

I've sold some articles on the day of acceptance (which is always a lovely surprise), but many of my articles have sold two or three months after being accepted on the site. Building up a decent portfolio of articles is the way to get continual sales here. I haven't actually written much for the past month, but still made $400 in sales for June and have sold some articles in July too - mostly from articles written in March, April, and May. I do need to get writing again if I want to sell articles in August though!

Congratulations on your acceptance. I am sure it will be the first of many here for you. Once you sort out the computer problems, (I have not had the log in problems myself, so I don't think it can be a site issue), I'm sure you will find CC much less frustrating and more fun. Good luck here,

Kind regards,

Hayley

[Everhelpville]

Eek, Emma, Hayley...thank you so much! Your responses have been helpful.

That $10 is simply inconceivable and, no, I didn't realize it was a default price. I will happily ignore it!

Thanks again. And since I had no idea I was being so wordy in my last post, I'm going to rein in and shut up.