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Monday, July 20, 2009

A Couple of Newbie Tips

Tip #1 - If you read any information on the content you are writing, you must cite your source or you'll risk having the article declined. Even after all my time on AC, I received a decline notice the other day because I inadvertently included my sources in the "Resources" section instead of at the end of my article like the guidelines stipulate. Write that one up at a big Homer Simpson, "Doh!" for me. I knew better. I must've been super tired. In other words, at the end of your articles, write like so:

Sources: (then proceed to link up your sources here)

Tip #2 - It is unlikely you'll make enough money to live off of just by writing for AC. Look around to write for other sites. Having said this, you can make the most out of your content by offering them to AC as non-exclusive. I've made this mistake so trust me. There's not much difference in the amount of upfront payment that AC will offer you compared to the money you can make by offering the same article (maybe tweeked a little) to another site. Don't limit your options! Offer as non-exclusive!

Thank you. That's all I have for today.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Pulled Article - Update

I got an unexpected notice a few minutes ago about my original pulled sweeps article. AC republished it and sent me a note of apologies. However, since most of the sweeps listed in the article were null and void now, having been originally published a month ago, I decided to go ahead and take down the article myself, as it was a display only article, before I was able to obtain page views. I didn't want my readers to be reading up on sweeps that they couldn't enter at this point in time.

I appreciate the time the AC staff put in to finding out about the situation, but again, I got no definitive answer as to why it was pulled in the first place, just a "We apologize." And I'm glad that my inquiry did not lead to the other contributor's articles being pulled. I'm also glad that there weren't very many page views initially associated with it because my old page views from the article were not restored when the article republished.

Thank you, AC, for responding to my inquiry and taking the time to look into it for me and I'm sorry that I had to pull the article myself after you guys taking the time to republish it for me. I meant no disrespect in doing so, but I didn't want my readers thinking this was something current when it wasn't.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Associated Content Month End Review

Welcome to the official month end review for my Associated Content writing. This month will mark my fifth completed month with AC. Here's how the stats look so far: My average daily page views are 248 views a day. That's up 27 from last month. My page view bonus earnings are only a few cents shy of a dollar higher then last month. Even though it's not that much, it's still higher and I take pride in that. I published 23 articles this month. That was higher then my goal of at least 20. There are some writers that can accomplish hundreds of articles in one month. Just imagine the page views and upfronts for that!

In any case, the real money came from upfront offers this month. While upfront offers are considered low by most writers' standards, Associated Content is probably the second highest paying site there is when it comes to paying upfront for content articles. I was paid upfront for 12 of the 23 articles this month and pulled in a nice chunk of change for them.

As far as July is concerned, I'm going to be doing something different. I was considering an experiment in page views but I have to abandon that idea for now in favor of something less then monetary. I need to finish the first draft of my novel. Anyone who has been reading my Touch of Fiction blog knows I've been feverishly trying to sell one of my novels and also know that I've been slowly (very slowly) making headway with a new novel I'm writing. I've decided to slack on AC this month in order to focus my attention on my novel. I will be writing a few articles and blog posts here and there as the time and inspiration strike but it won't be near the 20 something count this month. I'm choosing to make my fiction a priority at this time. Creative writers will understand this need.

I also need to update a current situation. Associated Content wrote me back about my DO article that had been pulled last month and about the similar articles other sources told me about. (Please note that if you ever have to contact AC about an article, yours or anyone else's, it's not enough to provide a link. You have to put in the title as well.) I provided them with additional information and they said they would get back to me. I applaud their efforts to find the solution to problems such as this.

What are your goals for July?