Featured Contributor Position
By jswindell10
@jswindell10 (417)
United States
December 28, 2009 4:31pm CST
I see a few of these are coming up. I got notification to apply for one of the categories recently but not really sure what it is they want or how this would benefit the writer (besides a byline).
Has anyone applied or been accepted for this position? What was the outcome?
Thanks.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@babostwick (2036)
• United States
30 Dec 09
I've thought about giving it a shot to see what could happen. Maybe then I could get myself back to being a little more involved. I've been putting a lot more attention on Helium. I guess I'll just have to see what happens and hope for the best on that. If I can get it, then great. If not, at least I tried. I'd do it if it could give more motivation and maybe write a lot more there.
1 person likes this
@babostwick (2036)
• United States
30 Dec 09
I can understand that. They've done some work and I like the upfront feature a lot there. With AC, it's come down to which site will I put more time into. I try to write on Helium as much as possible. I suppose I'm going to try to get to be a featured writer in something. It might be able to get me back to writing some more. I'm only 4 away from 150. A lot has to do with what sites am I going to write on and of course the upfront offers not there. I know it doesn't mean much but if they give me a payment upfront for it, I'd take it.
1 person likes this
@jswindell10 (417)
• United States
30 Dec 09
I read up on Helium around 2006/2007 and I wasn't impressed. There were folks on AC boards saying that their Helium articles got like 500 views and they received 0,09 as pay. HUH?
I've gone back since and I see they've upgraded but I haven't made a submission yet.
I stopped (or maybe slowed down) my AC submissions due to the fact that they are not as generous as they once were and there are content mills that pay a little bit better. When I got my rejection (Featured Entertainment - which they solicited me for), I wondered what I could have done better but at this point, it's about paying bills.
Love residuals but I like upfront pay as well.
1 person likes this
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
28 Dec 09
AC is doing a new way of featuring writers. They have started this program to choose writers they will give specific assignments to for partner calls. So if you write all beauty articles and you submitted to be a featured beauty contributor you would get first shot at partner calls and you will also be featured on the beauty category page. The application is a couple of questions about your knowledge and use of the category you are applying for. They also ask for examples of your work. It should benefit the people that are chosen for featured contributors, but the ones that write in the categories who do not get featured will not get the same opportunity at high paying calls.
1 person likes this
@AnythngArt (3302)
• United States
7 Jan 10
MommaJ, are you a featured contributor? What channel do your parenting articles fall under?
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
7 Jan 10
Most of the parenting articles fall under lifestyle category. The funny thing is they have sent me emails to apply for all the featured contributor work and it seems I am not qualified for the ones I did apply for. Which is really funny. They were looking for people with more experience in certain areas, I guess.
1 person likes this
@AnythngArt (3302)
• United States
7 Jan 10
I just applied for the one in the Travel category. Not sure if I will be selected, but I figured it was worth a shot. I am not sure how they decide who they want. The only real advantage I see with getting the spot is that you have a chance at better upfront payment for your articles. The rest is just icing on the cake, so to speak.
The main thing is that this year I want to write more. If I do that, I will consider it to be a successful year. This first week is not panning out too well, but maybe I need to rev myself up a little.
I divide my time between Helium and AC. I like the freedom of AC (to write what I want), but I make more money from Helium, and at the end of the day, that matters.
Good luck with your writing. How long did it take for you to find out the status of your application?
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
7 Jan 10
Anything, you should submit the same article to both places. There is different readers at each place. As for the search engines picking up one article before the other they will at least be picked up.
Besides, if you submit to both you can make more money. Your articles are great. Try for upfront on AC, then put them on Helium. Maybe it will work out better for you.
1 person likes this
@AnythngArt (3302)
• United States
7 Jan 10
I will post it here if I am selected. I hate to say it, but I am not optimistic about my chances. I think there will be a lot of people applying, and they probably give first priority to people with a 10 rating and a lot of page views. I made a lot of improvement last year, but I am far from the stratosphere that some of those AC writers have achieved.
I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that I get lucky!
@jswindell10 (417)
• United States
7 Jan 10
It took about 2-3 weeks to get an answer. They judge by article views, number of unique articles and your current rating. Mine is a high 6, meaning that it will probably reach 7 by the end of this year based on my avg. views without additional submissions. I think I've submitted around 50 articles since 2006.
I'm (still) kind of confused because they approached me about applying specifically to the Entertainment category. I could see if there was an incentive such as upfront pay or an automatic '10' rating :)) but based on the response here, I would just have access to calls similar to that of other mills that pay upfront or more residuals.
Hopefully, if it works out for you can fill us in every so often as to whether this is something to strive for.
1 person likes this
@oscar6 (1938)
• United States
17 Jun 11
I have not applied however it would probably be worth your time. You should give it a try. You would probably get a lot more traffic to your articles. Associated content usually puts featured contributors on the front page so you would get a ton of views on whatever article they put there. I would def try for the position if you think you can make it. :)
