My Ezine Articles Prize Mug Arrived Today

Here's my prize for writing the winning caption in the Ezine Articles latest caption contest. Pretty cool! Although, I would have loved it even more if my name had been included on the mug too.

I don't even remember how I stumbled upon this contest but it was an easy one to enter and I was so surprised to find out I had won. I'm curious if anyone else has entered any writing contests online. Please share any contest experiences you may have had on ehow or any other sites. Have you ever won any contests and if so what was your prize?
 


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!

I Won an Ezine Articles Caption Contest!

Hope you all are doing well in your writing efforts with or without ehow/demand studios. I just wanted to share some exciting news.

I found out last night that a cartoon caption I submitted to an Ezine Articles contest was chosen as the winner. I'm told I will be receiving a mug with the cartoon and my caption printed on it. Check it out at Give this Cartoon a Caption.

The mug won't pay any bills but I'll enjoy using it knowing that my writing was recognized and appreciated and I think that's pretty cool!

I've never submitted anything to them other than this caption and from what I understand they do not pay writers for their articles. So basically writer's submit content for FREE in order to get more traffic to their other businesses, blogs, products etc. Can anyone comment on Ezine Articles? Have you used this site and if so have you seen any benefits to publishing there?

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Make More Money by Linking to Your Ehow Articles from Redgage

Although the WCP has been cancelled and we can no longer submit new articles to ehow, I'm still interested in driving traffic to my article library and getting the most out of what I've already published. I've joined Redgage to help me do that.

Some of you may already use Redgage and I'd love to get some feedback on your experience with the site. So far it's been really fun and easy to work with. A little slow at times but no major bugs or frustrations like we were dealing with at ehow.  Let me know if you're already there and send me a friend request so we can view each other's content.

Anyway, if you're not using Redgage yet, you might want to check it out to see how it could benefit your articles that remain on ehow and new things you publish to DS or other sites. They allow you to post photos, links to your own content or any other site, videos, documents and blogs.

Since DS will not accept our photos anymore this would be a good place to post them. I've posted links to my ehow, triond and infobarrel articles, photos and videos too. I need to work on my Xomba links next.

Here's my profile page if you're curious to see how it works. They also pay you for page views and if any of your content is chosen to be featured on their homepage you get a bonus. Payment is made by Visa Debit Card when you reach the minimum of $25 so there's no need for an Adsense account if you don't already have one.

I've run into many ehow friends at Redgage and hope to see you there as well. If you'd like to try Redgage please mention that you were referred by "bestmommy" when you create your account. Best of luck with DS or wherever you find yourself writing.

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!

Deadline Looms for Ehow Writers to Tie up Lose Ends

According to ehow, midnight tonight April 13th, is the cutoff for publishing any new articles that are lingering in your drafts. The forums are abuzz with writers complaining about the "greasy mechanic" and pics that won't show up and the same old publishing issues that have haunted us for months. Time is running out and ehow is sticking to that deadline as frustrated writers do their best to publish and keep their sanity and tempers in check. I'm done worrying about ehow at the moment and have no drafts to try to push through before the doors close forever. I've decided to back away from the publishing tool and ride this out as a concerned observer trying to remain stress-free but still feeling the frustration of my ehow friends in the forums, here, and on other blogs.

Many are begging for an extension to get those articles completed before ehow switches to the DS format mainly because of the fact that we will no longer be able to use our own photos. This is particularly troubling to those who publish crafting type "how to's" since chances are, they will not be able to find suitable photo's in the DS catalog to illustrate their article steps properly. In my opinion, writers who use their own personal photos are more credible and show that the project is real, not just an idea they brainstormed and were forced to choose the best pic from a limited pool of options. If the new pic restrictions are squashing your creativity and doing an injustice to your articles then try posting to another site like Infobarrel where you'll have more control over your work. Granted, the traffic on that site is not as strong as ehow's but many ehow writers have already signed on and have high hopes of future growth.

Best of luck and success to all in the days ahead! Stay in touch and let us know where we can find you and your articles in the future.



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!

DS Veteran Writer Contacting eHow Writers to Solicit Ebook Sales

With change comes opportunity and I can see how the eHow/Demand Studios metamorphosis will open doors for ebook sellers to grab another share of the freelance writing marketplace. Just curious what any of you might know about this ebook that I've been twice solicited to purchase.

One month before the WCP cancelation announcement was released on April 5th I had received a message in my ehow inbox from Kent Ninomiya about applying to Demand Studios and getting his ebook to help with the process of applying and learning how to be successful at DS. I dismissed it rather quickly and had no intentions of purchasing it. Here's the first email he sent on March 4th-

If you are writing for eHow you should definitely check out Demand Studios. They pay writers up front for articles that appear on eHow and other sites. Have you ever noticed how some eHow articles are User Submitted and others are by Contributing Writers? The Contributing Writers are paid by Demand Studios to write those articles. They are not picking up pennies in revenue share. I am the FEATURED CREATOR on the DemandStudios.com website. I reveal my secrets on how to get accepted to Demand Studios and make big money on their site. I invite you to take a look at DemandStudioSecrets.com.
Thanks!
Kent

And then the second message arrived after the announcement went public on April 5th-

Did you get the email about eHow canceling their writer compensation program? All writers must now be a member of Demand Studios to write for eHow. Check this out to learn the truth about Demand Studios.

DemandStudioSecrets.com

Is it coincidence that he would send out info about his book one month prior to the cancellation of the WCP or did he know this change was in the works and wanted to plant the DS seed early and then come back to close the sale when people were confused, frustrated, and annoyed with ehow?

I am in no way recommending this ebook since I have not read it, but was wondering if any of you have done so and if you've benefitted at all from the info it contains. Since I was not preapproved as a DS writer, I am considering applying and this book does intrique me as it claims to reveal the "secrets" of how to get approved the first time. However, I bet if I looked hard enough I'd find the same "secrets" on a blog or forum somewhere.

I'm not sure if I should admire Kent for jumping on this opportunity to push sales of his book at a time when guidance is truly needed, or should I view him as the hawk circling above the vulnerable field mice below? Cheese, anyone?

What are your thoughts? Can anyone critique this ebook?




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The End of The Writer's Compensation Program

After months of UK related controversy and various publishing bugs, Ehow has announced that it has ended the Writer's Compensation Program as of today, April 5th 2010. If you sign into your account you will notice that you cannot write any new articles but your old articles still exist and can be edited. You will now be required to apply to Demand Studios if you wish to continue to write for ehow. However, there is no guarantee that you will be accepted. If accepted, you will have the option of choosing either an upfront payment or recurring monthly compensation as you've been receiving all along. For all the details go to their most recent blog and video post.

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!

Saying Something Nice About eHow

It's been too long since I've updated this blog and I truly apologize for that. You might say I've been practicing the old rule of not saying anything at all if I can't say anything nice, I guess. My intention was for this to be an encouraging place where ehow writers could trade info about their experiences and hopefully learn from one another and get more exposure to their profiles and articles on the site. I'm sorry to see that is not happening for the most part at the current time.

Ehow has a lot of things to work on if they want to regain the trust of their WCP writers, meaning the writers like myself and probably most of you who follow this blog. We've signed up for the Writers Compensation Plan where ehow pays a percentage of ad revenue generated from our articles. This pay plan differs from the articles submitted by Contributing Writers who are paid a flat fee per article, which I've read to be around $15 each.

I've received .50 of extra compensation based on an unknown formula that ehow used to determine how much income may have been lost due to our articles being published on the UK site. I've read in the forums that the extra compensation was very minimal for most. Since I don't make payout every month I wasn't expecting much so I guess 50 cents is better than nothing, although I believe the actual lost income is higher.

Back to the WCP versus the CW. There is definitely obvious favoritism shown toward the Contributing Writers. Contributing Writers don't seem to have any problems getting their articles published while we are struggling on a daily basis to outsmart the bugs and greasy mechanic that so often appears after hitting the submit button. I'd like to take his wrench and....well, you get the picture. And that's one of the biggest problems right now, getting the picture to stick when I submit articles.

I've found some welcome solutions in the forums that have helped me get several new articles posted. I'm not happy with them as they are, since the pics are lacking but I just wanted to get them out there and will go back to add pics when that glitch is fixed.

How to Not Be Fooled on April Fool's Day
How to Use All the Cereal in the Box
How to Make Your Own Friends and Family Olympics
How to Make Fast and Easy Apricot Walnut Spread

One person that has been extremely helpful in posting publishing workaround tips, words of ehow wisdom and general good humor is Shirley Philbrick. If you're not familiar with her check out her articles and helpful forum comments. Does this qualify as saying something "nice" about ehow? Although, ehow as a company/website has been lacking greatly in communication and responsiveness to it's members' concerns, the ehow community has some inspiring members that are true assets to the site.

The question now is, when will the pic glitch be fixed and how will we know when it is fixed. Wouldn't it be wonderful if ehow sent out emails to notify us when bugs are fixed and encouraged us all to come back to the site and try again to post new articles? I'm getting the feeling that the WCP peeps are not very welcome anymore. It seems like ehow is trying their hardest to make it so difficult to add articles, setting us up for failure and hoping we'll just give up and walk away.

So what do you think? Were you happy with your extra UK compensation? Do you still feel welcome on the site or frustrated and defeated?