Advice For the Online Writer: Switch Farms If the Hay Is Rotten
By Zach3000, 1st Feb 2012 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutWritingTips
Are you new to online writing? Have you ran into some difficulty trying to get published? Read about how to overcome minor difficulties related to website changes with online publishers that don't care about the writers. Learn how to take charge of your online writing future.
- Introduction
- The House Always Wins
- New Year, New Rules
- Find the Best Mud
- Rotting Hay Makes a Sad Horse
- More Resources For the Online Writer
Introduction
If you maintain one ore more online writing portfolios, then you understand how frustrating it can be when one of your main publishers change up the process, or just make the process of publishing articles harder.
I have personally experienced such frustrations with one of my online portfolios, and will share in more detail how I am dealing with this minor setback.
Also, be sure to read my most last Wikinut article on how not to get discouraged by page views, but rather use them as a tool to help you succeed.
The House Always Wins
A gambling man eventually realizes that if the games are rigged, the house always wins.
If you are an online writer, and see that you are not being treated fairly, chances are the website will not suddenly change for the better.
If a publisher is not treating the writer fairly to begin with, there is no point in staying faithful to that website.
One important tip to remember when starting an online writing portfolio is to make sure that you can retain the rights to your work, or that you are being fairly compensated for your writing.
New Year, New Rules
I started writing for Yahoo! Voices in 2010, and 2011 was a fairly good year for me on the online writing website, winning several awards, and getting published on three major websites.
Toward the end of 2011, I noticed the publishing policies get stricter, about the same time that Yahoo! brought ABC News on board as their major source of news.
Since Dec. 2011, I have submitted four articles to be published, and they have either been declined or rejected. Also, the period it takes for the editor to review the article has increased to "up to two weeks."
This setback has been a minor frustration, although it has allowed me to publish more on other writing websites, such as Wikinut.
To be honest, I feel more free, and less inhibited to publish on Wikinut, anyways.
Find the Best Mud
Rather than focus on these setbacks, I am going to use this as an opportunity to build other portfolios.
I am not going to wallow in my sorrows, like a pig at a mud-hole.
While it is not easy, the online writer should identify when it is the best time to find a better place to write and display his work. If you are serious about writing, you will not let minor frustrations keep you from what you enjoy doing.
Rotting Hay Makes a Sad Horse
If the hay is rotten where you are at, by all means, find yourself some good hay!
If the online writing website is not helpful in advancing your writing goals, find a new platform to write for.
Just make sure there is enough hay, if you decide to switch feeding bins. You don't want to be the new guy on the block and ruffle feathers. First impressions are very important.
Tip: Always submit a high-quality article to give a really good first impression.
More Resources For the Online Writer
If you are a freelance writer, and wish to learn more about online writing, continue reading on the subject.
Provided below are six more Wikinut articles that will boost your knowledge and give you the confidence to succeed:
- Tools Needed to Become a Freelance Writer & Make Money
- Building Your Online Writing Portfolio & How to Get More Page Views
- The Problem With Online Writing Jobs & Tips That Pay
- The Secret to 18,000 Page Views on Only One Article
- The Problem With Diversifying Your Online Writing Portfolio
- Get Paid to Write Professionally Without Falling in Failure
Comments
1st Feb 2012 (#)
Well said. There are enough choices out there for any writer to find the one that suits their style of writing best.
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1st Feb 2012 (#)
very useful information
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1st Feb 2012 (#)
I tried writing for Yahoo Voices as well but you're right they take too long to respond. Anyway, people in my region do not get paid so why bother.
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1st Feb 2012 (#)
good advice. Thank you for sharing.:)
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1st Feb 2012 (#)
Interesting article to say the least. I think that most web sites revise their terms of use, privacy policies, publishing guidelines, and so forth as they mature. As a part of their maturation process, their policies usually become stricter, especially the submission requirements and that is not always a bad thing. I have been with most of the online sites that I write almost from the first day that they went live on the Internet and every one of them have evolved and their publishing standards have all changed significantly and that is to be expected.
Whether a writer learns to adapt to those changes and continues to write for a site, supplying the kind of article that they need and want depends to a great deal on why the writer writes in the first place. Writers who write professionally and write for the money, see writing as a job and the site editors as their bosses. The boss has a right to tell their employee what to write and how to write it. Some other writers write simply because it allows them to express their on whatever interests them or on whatever they feel strongly about. these writers are not writing to earn a living. When a website changes so the site no longer provides them with their soapbox, they move on, which is what they need to do. Unfortunately, too many of the latter writer, denigrate the site instead of just moving on. What far too many writers fail to recognize is that people who operate online content sites is operating them for the money the site earns them, it is a business, and as business men or women, they need to provide their customers/clients/advertisers with what they want and need.
Wikinut is unique in the sense that it is still pretty much wide open as to what a writer can publish on the site.Most sites are more focused on the types of articles that they publish. Just as magazine publishers cater to different groups of readers and subscribers so do website publishers. People who are into the DIY thing buy The Family Handyman magazine or This Old House magazine because the articles in them cater to their interests. It is unlike lt these same people would buy Redbook or Ladies Home Journal. Magazine publishers succeed by providing their readers with what they are looking for. So do web publishers.
All I am saying here is that, yes if a web site no longer meets your needs as a writer, move to another web site, but don't blame the old site for changing. Change is part of life.
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1st Feb 2012 (#)
Thank you for your comments
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3rd Feb 2012 (#)
Well said...
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5th Feb 2012 (#)
Thank you, Zach. I value your advice and I am printing out your page.
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1st Mar 2012 (#)
Nice work Farmer Zach.
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