Helium listened to the writers!

Hello, Mandy. If you have four stars, you have the writing skills to write for MP, so go for it. Today, there are titles for all the channels, so I'm sure there'll be something for you to write to. Normal articles where there are a lot of page views, such as Health and Fitness, Computers and Personal Finance should still be worth writing, particularly if it's a 'hot' topic. Give it time, and don't give up on Helium until the new system has had a chance to prove itself.

I will give it a try, nothing gained nothing lost!! I'm also thinking about poutting someof my Helium articles on Bukisa, I believe that you can put any (not MP) ones on both!

I hope that you don't mind but I've copied your idea of putting your Helium pages on my profile on here!! I'm trying hard to get as many views as I can now with this change of payment debacle!

Hello, Sue. Don't worry about being rejected - you won't be alone, although I'm hoping after the controversy this week that those grading the articles will use a little common sense. Lots of 5 star writers had articles written in their normal style rejected, and we didn't like it. It's not that we were arrogant about and expected to get articles accepted just because we had 5 stars, but when you have hundreds of articles on Helium, you know what people enjoy reading, and that's how you develop your writing. Just remember never to use first person - including 'we' or 'us' - and don't pepper the articles with 'you' and 'your.' Editing needs to be tight, as articles could be rejected for too many typos, or poor spelling and grammar. I don't think that will be a problem for you, though - we just need to check more thoroughly before submitting. I tend to read my articles out loud, and then you pick up phrases and sentences that could be improved. Good luck with the new system, and don't give up on Helium just yet. Some of the veterans have told me that each policy change so far has resulted in writers earning more, so fingers crossed!

Not to point fingers at anyone (and certainly not you, as I don't remember reading any of your articles before!) but I have read plenty of articles on Helium from members with 5 stars that were full of appalling errors, or were written very unprofessionally. Since the raters on Helium are not professional editors, it is easy for a terrible article to be rated higher than a superior one. I see it all the time.

Hello, Rebecca. Yes, you're quite right, and this is another bone of contention. If Helium truly wish to raise the standard, they must employ professional editors. Of course, the rating system doesn't help in its present form. People will just skim through without reading the articles properly, and even rate an article over another because one of their friends wrote it! Rating is supposed to be anonymous, but it's fairly easy to find out who wrote what. I have no problem with an article being rejected for being not good enough, or if someone else gets a better rating than me, but when the 'better' ones are obviously not up to standard, you wonder what's happening.

Hello, Mommaj. It's not that I'm particularly enthusiastic about the change, but I am pleased that Helium has reversed the decision not to allow 2nd person POV, and that there are more titles available on MP. I don't think it will mean more money for most of us, but, as a European writer, I can't earn on AC, so my options are limited. I have to make the best of it, and hope it works out.

Hello, Divalounger. Since the initial problems, all my articles have either been purchased or transitioned for credit, so I'm getting upfront payments, but not as much as before. I don't earn a lot from residuals - I average just over $2 a day, and I have over 1000 articles at Helium. Helium is still the best paying site for writers, so I'm sticking it out. I'll just have to produce more articles to make up the shortfall, and hope that, as Helium said, the new Marketplace titles will perform well for page views.

Hello, Hestylim. I think Helium are raising their writing standards, which is a good thing, as there are lots of content sites with frankly dreadful articles. If the quality is there, it's still possible to earn on Helium. If you're struggling with your writing, you can ask for a mentor at Helium to point you in the right direction and get you earning again.

Hello, Arioch. I had 3 of my 5 articles rejected and two transitioned. However, it was a bit confusing, because first I got a message saying all 5 had transitioned, then more saying 3 had been deleted. I've been with Helium for over 3 years, and only ever had 4 articles deleted. Now 3 have gone in one day! Helium needs to sort this mess out - and quickly. I'm a 5 starred writer, with lots of positive feedback, and 2 of the 3 articles were at number 1 when MP closed, yet they're deleted? Has my writing ability taken a dive south in a single week?

I added one of my "deleted" articles to the rest so i will be interested to see how it ends up ranking in a few days. I think this deleted/rejected article email should be rewritten I mean you can just post the artcle afterwards for no upfront payment if you want and the rejection explaination is very vague. Plus one of my articles seems to have been written to a title that has never appeared at all!

Currently it is sitting at number one under "tips for using snow chains" though lets give it a few more days.