Best Writing Contest Yet!

Hello, Malamar. Yes, it seems to be a common occurrence that articles do better as the contest ends but, as you say, as long as they're earning something, that's the main thing. Mind you, it would be great to earn a decent prize, but I enjoy writing and I enjoy my time on Helium and MyLot, so everything's fine. I just hoped to encourage a few more people to try out the contests.

Nope, no contests for this chickie, no way. Although I was lucky enough to get second place in one of the contests, the stress of the up and down swings in my writing score, and the unbelievable see-sawing of the contest scores was just too much for me. Man, you can go from the top of the board to off the board in the blink of an eye! Check a few hours later, and you are back on again, and it becomes a race against time (and a prayer or two for the contest to end). I'll just sit back rating and writing, and leave the contests to you braver souls - LOL

Hello, Kitty, and thanks for your good wishes. Articles move up through the rating process, and that's anonymous, so whether I move into a prize place is in the hands of the raters. I'm just really happy to see my name high up on the leader board, but thanks for the offer.

Hello my friend I know what you mean number 5 says alot about your writing, I do wish you luck and please keep us posted when the winner is announced Good luck again

Hello, Ladym. Yes. it is annoying when you see your score plummet. I've gone down 3 places overnight, so it doesn't look as if I'll win anything. On the positive side, the articles are earning already, and with New Year not far away, they should get lots of page views and therefore more earnings over the next few weeks. Have you got your 5 rating stars? If you have, you'll get a $3 rating bonus each month, which will help you to cashout. If you spend at least 15 minutes a day rating through December, you should get your 5 rating stars by the end of the month.

Hello, Ronnyb. I find Helium a very good site, and certainly a good training ground for writers, so it's well worth investigating. There's always something interesting to write to, and the last week or so I've written about 10 articles for Helium, which means I've been neglecting MyLot a bit, but you can't be in two places at once, can you?

As I said in the intro, I've never found a contest before with so many interesting titles. Thanks for your good wishes. It's always worth checking out the contest and marketplace titles, as if you deliver the goods, you can earn quite a few dollars.

As I tell everyone, I am not a professional writer. AC made my dreams come true by making me feel like a "real" writer, but I can tell the quality of the articles are totally different. LOL I changed some of my writing, but the real "you"(in this case me) somehow shows through.

Oh, come on now. I think it does. Every once in a while your picture comes up on my fans page and I have a feeling that is the real you too. I think you are much more than what you are here. You are also much more than your articles. However, the me that comes out in mine isn't always good. LOL My articles are friendly and conversations. Sometimes the writing is too plain, but if I would try the big words it just wouldn't read right. LOL That's just me.

Hello, Kelly. This particular contest has titles like 'How to keep your New Year resolutions' and 'Hosting a New Year party on a budget.' I found it really easy to write to, as it's more opinions they're looking for. I find that articles about frugal living and feeding a family on a budget always attract lots of page views and therefore earnings, and my recipes and cookery articles always do well. I suffer from 3 types of arthritis, and, like Trensue, I find that articles I write to health titles do well. Debate articles always seem to attract a lot of writers, giving you chance to rise through the ranks and increase your writing score, and there's bound to be a debate on something you feel strongly about and can argue your case well. Travel articles always seem to earn well. My best earning article on Helium, which consistently earns more than anything else each month, is an article on the best places to retire in Europe. Although the article has been '3 of 3' since it was written, it's earned about 15% of all the money I've earned there. As I have over 200 articles on Helium, that's pretty good going. My advice would be write to as many different topics as you can, so you can get a clear idea of what attracts readers and performs well. Don't give up on Helium. It takes time to find your own niche, but once you do, you'll earn a nice residual income each month.

I may find it easier to write about something within the topic of health as I have epilepsy and asthma. Therefore I would be able to write about either of them as a first hand account and not just have to do lots of research on them. I will try and write something in the next week hopefully and get in posted. Can you recommend any other topics that are profitable?

Hello, Art. Congratulations on your win, and commiserations on the 4th. Any placement is better than that! I don't understand the vagaries of the contests, as everyone says the same thing - the articles do better after the end of the contest. I wonder if this is because during the contest there is intensive rating, so a wider section of the Helium community are looking at your articles? After the contest, they just become regular articles and pop up for rating as and when, which may be why the rankings are more in line with your usual article rankings. Just a thought - I really have no idea. Helium moves in mysterious ways, its wonders to perform!