Thousands of emails were sent out to writers at the Helium
Publishing website to inform us that the site would be closing down by December
15, 2014. As surprising as this might have been if it occurred in the site’s
early days, it was not surprising to hundreds of writers who abandoned the ship
long ago. Most writers did not join the site to earn their first million. They
joined because it provided a fun atmosphere for people who enjoyed writing.
Many friendships were formed during the seven year period
the site was open. Those friendships moved to social networking sites after
leaving Helium’s iron fisted moderators and ever changing TOS rules. Some of us
clung to the site even when it was obvious that things were not going to change.
Most people know me as someone who would rather remain optimistic in the face
of all evidence to the contrary. Yup, that was me, cheerleader number one for
the Helium site.
The problems with Helium started a couple of years ago when
RR Donnelley purchased the site. Changes started immediately, which may not
have been a problem since Helium writers were already used to seeing some
changes. These changes were different though. Terms of service were changed to
include an exclusivity clause for one year after the material was published.
Residual earnings dropped and writers were told that it was because Google didn’t
like Helium.
Writers began to question what the heck was going on with
the site. There was a time that writers could visit the forums, get friendly
advice and make new friends. Then the moderators came along. That wasn’t always
a bad thing, but it got bad. Moderators began giving stock answers to every
question. The answer always seemed to be the same, even if you said for them
not to say that because you already knew that much.
Then the worst of all things happened. Writers were being
locked out of the forums for stating their opinions if they went against
anything Helium did. Some of those writers were completely blocked from the
site, barring them from even being able to collect money they had earned. I
understand the feeling of being blocked out of the discussion boards because it
happened to me as well.
The first few years were a lot of fun. Contests were
frequent, more earning opportunities were available and people were generally
happy to be there. A moderator recently said that she would rather be a
cheerleader for Helium than to come away from the experience bitter,
disillusioned and angry. Personally, disillusionment is a good thing in this
case. It made many of us more aware of the mistakes we made along our journey
of online writing. The bitterness and anger simply do not exist though. Writers
are more concerned about having to reach the threshold of $25 before being able
to collect money they earned.
If Helium believes that keeping any amount of a writer’s
money is alright, they are sadly mistaken. Even if they did have a legal right
to do so, it is unethical and unfair to those who worked hard to earn it. The
potential for Helium to take more than a million dollars away from the writers
is very possible. Although it might only be a few dollars, as stated by a
moderator, it can collectively make the RR Donnelley powers that be rich once
the site is closed permanently.
Are the writers sorry that they wrote for the site? In most
postings about the subject, there are no regrets that they found the site and
made wonderful friendships that will carry them through the rest of their
lives. No regrets about the learning curve about online writing. No regrets
about being a part of the site when it was owned by a small group of people
with a vision. No regrets that the site is now closing for good. Thanks for the
memories, Helium. It’s past time to close that chapter in our writing lives.
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