Comments on: Freelancers, do not write for content aggregators

By: Michelle V. Rafter

Michelle V. Rafter — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:48:21 +0000

Deborah: Thanks for sharing your story, it’s good to hear from people who’ve been through the system.

MVR

By: Deborah

Deborah — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:02:33 +0000

I just had to add my comment on this discussion. I started out on Helium and left due to the system changes they made. I had articles that were #2 out of 200+ for over two years. When they made the “rating star compensation rule” not only did my well-written articles get “bumped” a far cry away from their long-standing positions but I lost my silver creative writing badge and a hard-earned rating star. After that I despised Helium for its inefficient and incorrect rating system and left permanently. I am now a moderately successful freelance writer. I am doing projects for both corporate and private clients and earning residually through sites such as Suite101. I think this is a statement. Go for the real opportunities. Ignore companies that pay crumbs and stick to things you know will earn decent money for you.

By: Barbara Whitlock

Barbara Whitlock — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:42:21 +0000

Helium’s User Agreements specifically states that you grant Helium non-exclusive use rights for content you submit to the regular site and exclusive rights to content in Marketplace. This is something all writers agree upon registering for Helium.

Those who violate the User Agreement can be banned from the site. If someone has put up an inappropriate name on Helium, we would change this to something more appropriate.

Helium does not violate copyright, as you always retain copyright for your work on the site.

I’m sorry you were banned from Helium, but it might be more fair to specify what you were banned for. Many writers are banned for plagiarism, inappropriate content, substandard content or behavior that violates the norms for respectful community dialogue.

Barbara

By: allpointswest

allpointswest — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:44:45 +0000

Hi Tim

A wise article indeed, I will add a further point, Helium will not delete your work from the site if you ask them and they seem to have the power to lock you out, use another name for your work, leaving you without access to it and with any money (albeit small)
garnered, well, they keep that too. They are on a daily basis controvening personal copyright law, but that does not seem to bother them, a search across the internet will find many writers who have fallen foul of this. I would not reccommend Helium under any circumstance!

By: Freelance tribes « WordCount – Freelancing in the Digital Age

Freelance tribes « WordCount – Freelancing in the Digital Age — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:52:48 +0000

[...] have covered the New York Times’ decision to have columnists teach online classes, writing for content aggregators and hyperlocal [...]

By: Cyn Lee

Cyn Lee — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:29:53 +0000

Writing for Helium may not add up to a full time paycheck for some, however it certainly is a good way to get a few bills paid every month. You get out of it, what you put in. If you have talent, it equals $$$$$.
If you seek talent, you’ll find it a non-financial learning experience. That alone may be worth it.

By: 10 things J.K. Rowling taught me about writing « WordCount – Freelancing in the Digital Age

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:17:09 +0000

[...] may explain why many beginning writers flock sell themselves short by working for a pittance for less-than stellar publishers and websites. Could someone replicate Rowling’s rise to author stardom given what it takes to get a book [...]

By: The Renegade Writer Blog » Blog Archive » A New Term: Writer Mills

The Renegade Writer Blog » Blog Archive » A New Term: Writer Mills — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:01:10 +0000

[...] Michelle Rafter’s WordCount blog, Tim Beyers writes “Freelancers. do not write for content aggregators.” As a counterpoint on the same blog, Barbara Whitlock, Helium’s new member outreach manager, [...]

By: Was I Wrong About Helium? « The Social Writer

Was I Wrong About Helium? « The Social Writer — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:58:13 +0000

[...] I wrong to tell my fellow freelancers to not write for content aggregators? Recently, I sold a reprint of an article that I first wrote for Helium to Hope Clark for her [...]

By: Allie

Allie — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:41:49 +0000

Ms. Whitlock,
I did read the entire discussion above. But all the pretty words about “freelancing” for Helium don’t change the fact that the math doesn’t work. For five years, I’ve supported myself as a freelancer, working for real clients who actually pay respectable rates, none of which pay my bills alone. But together, they do.

The math suggests that even working full-time hours writing for Helium not only wouldn’t pay all my bills, it probably wouldn’t even pay one-tenth of, say, my electric bill. Forget the mortgage.

In order for “freelancing” for Helium to be part of the mix for a writer, the rest of that writer’s clients would have to pay very high rates to subsidize the pretty much free work for Helium. My point was that if Helium can afford to hire people full time with benefits, but still chooses to pay its writers in pennies and vague promises about how it will all pay off years down the road, Helium is treating its writers very unfairly.

Allie