Posts
I can't say that I am surprised by this since many ehow writers and bloggers had been predicting these changes for months. According to ehow's blogpost:
The biggest benefits of this transition are 1) a better publishing system for our writers, 2) writer empowerment to make more money, and 3) that we are all able to raise eHow's article quality, benefitting writers and consumers alike.
After reading the Migration FAQ's, it sounds like some writers will be automatically approved and some will have to apply to Demand Studios. I looked at the application but have not decided if I will bother to apply. I'm not a professional writer and have no resume to submit. My ehow articles and my 2 blogs are the extent of my current writing experience, unless I could dig up some "A" papers from college to throw in for good luck. I'm a stay at home mom who likes to write about her interests and experiences and learn new things. I was hoping to use ehow to supplement my monthly household income whenever I had some free time to put my thoughts into words. Is there a place at Demand Studios for someone like me? Is there a place at Demand Studios for someone like you? Will you submit the application if you haven't been preapproved yet and if accepted what payment option would you choose? What do you think about these changes and your future with ehow/Demand Studios? Will you stick around and keep writing or move on?
Note: If you'd like to be added to my friend list in the left sidebar, just leave a comment and follow or subscribe to this blog. Then send a note on ehow to bestmommy asking me to add your ehow profile link to the list. Hope to hear from you! There's always room for one more!
This sucks and what sucks more is the fact that they deleted 10 of my articles before I could save them. I wish everyone luck.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI received an approval letter from eHow today. I wondered what it was all about. I am pasting it below to share with all of you, but first want to say that I quit eHow after UK fiasco. I removed all articles, but kept my profile. I haven't even tried submitting anything new and visit my profile about once a month if lucky. SO, I was very surprised to see this letter. Read it. It sounds like they are choosing writers for approval based on their past performance, quantity and quality of articles. This letter is way off on the total number of articles (I had almost 70) and I only had two ever come back as not accepted immediately...so the figures aren't quite right. Anyhow, below is the approval letter I received. I won't be taking advantage of this "wonderful" opportunity :)
Ink Spot
Important Announcement
Demand Studios is now the exclusive writing platform for eHow.com.
Hi cheriekuranko,
Today, we are announcing that Demand Studios is now the exclusive platform for writing new articles for eHow.com. Congratulations, you have automatically been accepted into Demand Studios. This change will not impact any of your existing articles or payments currently affiliated with the Writer Compensation Program (WCP). Demand Studios gives eHow.com’s writers a more robust publishing platform including copy editors, quality assurance and a number of great, new resources for the writer community. We are committed to providing a quality experience and are excited for you to get started.
How does this impact you?
Demand Studios has a rigorous writer admission process to ensure quality. Writers, like you, were pre-approved, because of your excellent track record. Quality is paramount, and our criteria for accepting eHow.com writers into Demand Studios were based on writer activity level and moderation history. By the end of March 2010, you should have published five or more articles, of which at least 80 percent were accepted. Also, you must have been a member of the WCP. Having written 28 articles with a 89% acceptance rate, you should be proud of yourself for being pre-approved.
We are migrating thousands of writers on eHow.com over the next few weeks. We appreciate your patience and will notify you via email when you can begin writing for Demand Studios. In the meantime, it’s business as usual, and you can continue to publish on eHow.com.
What are the benefits?
Demand Studios now offers the benefits you are accustomed to on eHow.com, with added flexibility. You can suggest your own titles and write articles that pay monthly on a residual basis. In addition you can select assignments that pay upfront. The combination of these options gives you the opportunity to make more money. You choose what articles you write and how you get paid.
Next Steps:
Continue to write using eHow.com's publishing tools and watch for an email notification from us regarding your transition into Demand Studios.
For additional questions, please visit the FAQ or email us at writers@ehow.com.
Thank you,
The eHow Team
Tammy, sorry to hear about your article loss. Be sure to save whatever they left untouched so you'll have the opportunity to move them elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteFarmboots,
Thanks for posting your acceptance letter. Congratulations on your 89% score! Unfortunately, the email I received from ehow this morning was not such good news. My acceptance rate was only 73%. I published 41 articles but only 30 remain.
Anyone else want to share any good news or bad?
Hi- I received an automatic acceptance letter & I intend to continue writing & hope to take advantage of the opportunity to earn additional income. Thanks for your kind offer to link my profile here - it's Moomettesgram
ReplyDeleteCindi,
ReplyDeleteGood for you! Best of luck at Demand Studios-thinking about applying but fearful of rejection.
Maybe I'll see you there someday, if I get up the nerve to submit the application.
I'm pre-approved with 100% of 20 articles. I plan to keep going and see how this works out.
ReplyDeleteHi bestmommy, maybe you can try wikihow.com, it's kind of like wikipedia but it's all how-to. If you post an article that is also on your blog, you can link to your blog as a "source" and if the page ranks well you might get more traffic. That's what I do...my goal is to work on an article that gets featured on the home page and on their facebook fan page.
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Angie! Best of luck and please come back and comment once you get your feet wet at DS.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
Thanks for the tip on wikihow--getting traffic to my blogs is the ultimate goal so I will be checking into that site.
I have only written maybe 20 articles - but it still brought in about $5-8 a month (Starbucks money!) I did not receive an invitation to DS nor they anyone delete any of my articles. This is all so confusing to me - wondering if I should pull my articles off eHow to post elsewhere or just leave them be?
ReplyDeleteAny suggestions?
Hi Kristen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting and commenting. Even if you did not get approved as a DS writer your articles can stay on ehow and continue to earn that Starbucks money (love the description, btw) You should have backup copies saved to your computer just in case they decide to sweep some at a later date. I've got 30 articles that I'm going to leave on ehow and watch the earnings over the next few months. If I see any drastic decline I'll probably move them to infobarrel, which is where I've moved several other ehow rejects. What name do you write under at ehow? I'd love to read your work and add your profile link to this blog.
Good to know - being such a novice at this I wasn't sure exactly what to do. I'll for sure back up my copies and we'll see what happens with them. I never expect anything really so whatever I get is always a pleasant surprise!
ReplyDeleteMy profile name is MulberryGirl. I mostly have recipes over there.
Not to take over your comments - just got my preapproval email..guess I'm in!
ReplyDeleteJust check my stats and it said I had written 58 articles with a 91% acceptance rate. I can live with that and it gives me an incentive to sharpen the pencil some more!
ReplyDeleteCongrats Kristen and Cindi~best of luck to you! Keep us posted with future comments when things get rolling at Demand Studios.
ReplyDeleteeHow is going to lose out in the long run.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of what eHow says, it is the members that generated clicks on the ads at eHow and without members on the site, ad revenue will decrease.
Also, since page views are used for ranking, without the members going to eHow to write, read the forums, etc, eHow's PR will fall.
I STILL THINK that the community at eHow will close.
ReplyDeleteI predicted it on the eHow forum and they banned me.
Also, since page views are used for ranking, without the members going to eHow to write, read the forums, etc, eHow's PR will fall and the revenue will fall too.
I got my DS acceptance letter and have started to make a profile. I find three things attractive: 1) I can continue to write on topics of my own choosing, which will join my existing eHow articles and presumably continue to earn passive income. (I have not submitted a new article since the beginning of February, but March marked the first time my earnings topped $5!) 2) I can write some of their topics and get paid immediately, which I really need at the moment. 3) I should eventually be able to write for other related sites using the same interface. I hope that includes the option of writing both for immediate pay and for future passive income.
ReplyDeleteTwo things I don't like: 1) They retain the copyright. I'm not sure what practical difference it makes, but I don't like it. 2) More serious, they have taken away the writers' ability to revise articles after they're published. If I find a mistake, new information, or just a better way to express things, all I can do is "suggest" changes.
One thing I'm ambivalent about: when I claim one of their topics, I get a one-time payment on acceptance. No matter how well the article succeeds with their readership, I'll never get a cent more. I'm ambivalent about that, because it means I don't have to spend any time promoting those articles.
jsbst18--I think you're wrong about one thing. One of my first eHow friends told me that most of the clicks do not come from members, but from outsiders. Whatever else happens, ad revenue should not suffer.
As far as the eHow community closing, you could be right. There will be a new community of DS writers that will presumably behave as all other content site communities behave. I hope that will keep the PR up.
I do not have any faith that management will be any more helpful than it was before. So when they say the publishing interface will be better, I sure hope they're right!
I started a series of articles that require photographs. It's hard enough writing out the examples and getting good pictures of them without it being nearly impossible to get them on the site and looking good. I still have four titles to finish.
David, (allpurposeguru)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insight...it's a lot to think about and will not be an easy decision for some.
I'm with you on not liking the fact that it will be nearly impossible to edit once published. I used to go back to my ehow articles quite frequently to add photos and other info to improve them. Best of luck to you, wherever you write.
Hi jbst18,
ReplyDeleteI think you're right about many clicks coming from members, or at least newer members who haven't found out yet that clicking was a no-no. Since ehow was so vague about how money was earned and stated that it was based on the quality and usefulness of the articles I had no idea when I first joined that the ads were the cash generators. I thought it had something to do with number of views, comments, recommendations etc, which is what they lead you to believe by allowing us to use those features. I've learned a lot from ehow and how ad revenue works which helped me get going with my blogs so I'm thankful for that.