Content mills, menopause and men in my rear-view mirror

“When one door closes, another opens” so they say. What happens when two doors close completely and a third one is almost there? I guess that three doors are waiting to be opened, or possibly windows. First the announcement that Helium would be closing in December. That was a huge thing for me because, in my viewpoint, they were the place that I started writing online articles and the place that I felt most at home when it was a start-up. It was also that place that eventually proved to me that business was sometimes shady business in that writing world. I wasn’t sorry to see it go.

Next up was an announcement that Yahoo Voices, which started as Associated Content, would be closing their doors at the end of July. I’m so glad they decided to do it swiftly rather than making us wait for months and months before closing and so very happy that writers do not have to reach a “threshold” in order to get the earnings that they made through their writing. Unlike the Helium closing, this one doesn’t leave me with a bitter taste in my mouth. It was fun to write for in the early days but, it had run its course.

Most of the writers who started out on content sites appear to echo the same opinions. The sites, though good in their time, were no longer the route that they wanted to take anyway. Many have moved on to writing novels full-time or are looking for work outside of the home (or have already found it). Unfortunately, it’s not always as easy to find a job after taking off to write for over seven years.

Yahoo also once ran the Geocities Websites where people could make their own webpages just for fun. It was indeed fun and each person in my family had their own Geocities site. Yahoo closed that down without very much warning and most everyone lost their pages. I’m glad to see they have learned a lesson from that and are allowing everyone to download what they have on Voices. It’s been a fun run and though I probably should, I do not regret giving it a go and writing for the sites. It was one of the best learning experiences of my life and I met so many great friends and writers because of it. I was also given the opportunity to complete and have published my first novel, Danny’s Grace. That was somewhat of a coup for me.

Though I know very little about a very lot, I know one thing for sure. My life and what happens next is in God’s hands and that’s something to be very happy about. With content mills, menopause, and men in my rearview mirror, I’m not looking back. ONWARD AND UPWARD!

Blog Vs. Content Mills: Putting the power and creativity back into the writer's hands

If there is one thing that I learned from content sites, it is that I never want to write for one again. That’s not to say that I will never write another article, but it won’t be for places like Helium. Instead, I have chosen to write my own blog. Here are the reasons why.

TOS (Terms of Service)- Unlike content mills, my terms of service will never change for myself. I will not be required to give the rights to my work for any amount of time to anyone else, EVER. Writers got dizzy on the merry-go-round of changing TOS at Helium.

Standards- Standards, in Helium-speak, is how many words you write and, well, that’s about it. Those were constantly changing as well and to be honest, scraping out and extra 250 words because the standard changed is just not what most writers are willing to do. Doing so usually means a lot of extra work and it doesn’t pay a nickel more than you already made on it; that’s to say, if you made any money on it to start with.

Special Algorithms- I don’t know what an algorithm is and I don’t want to know. That’s what Helium and other sites often refer to when they try to convince us that there is some special formula writers should use when writing. The problem with that is, they want you to write something that does not naturally fit but make it sound natural. Enough said. My idea of algorithm is that I like to write on subjects that I enjoy writing about, just like most other writers, and Google can find me or not. It’s whatever.

Topics- Helium spent so much time trying to figure out the algorithms that they put out titles that didn’t make sense half the time. Other times, the titles were so basic that writers had to wonder how dumb the reader would have to be to actually read something so mundane. The thing is I don’t like to write about how to open a checking account. In fact, that’s easy enough to find out when you go to the bank. I like to write about other things that hold interest for me. Somewhere out there, there is a geeky, weird person who likes to read about old, abandoned buildings and stars of the seventies. It does not make a ton of money, but they are fun to research and write. Topics like child abuse aren’t bad either and I get to choose them when I want.

Editing Rights- The single worst problem for writers on Helium was the fact that they were not allowed to edit their work. Don’t think the article should be out there anymore? Too bad. Missed a comma? Too bad. If you leap it, you might be able to get that edit in. With a blog, writers have the power to edit or remove any article they feel no longer fits and they don’t have to ask anyone’s permission to do it.

Writing is meant to be done with your tongue sticking out with anticipation

It’s all about control over our own work. It may be harder to get cash rolling in when a blog is used instead of a writing site, but I believe the effort could be well worth it. Another thing I learned from writing sites is that it takes time to build up viewership. When the viewership rises, so do the earnings and that is something that can last a very long time. It might even take thousands of blogs before any real money begins to come in. I don’t know yet because the journey has just started with me. I’m not going to give up just yet though. I remember seeing a few pennies in my Helium account and getting excited when I did it as a hobby. Those pennies eventually turned into dollars and the truth is, I never got rich, but it did provide an extra boost to my income. The difference between then and now is that I have complete control over it and for writers, that is the best and only thing that matters. I see slow growth right now and that means that it is working.

Helium needed a little less talk and a lot more action- What happens to all those articles I wrote?

Helium needed a "Little Less Talk and a Lot more Action"

As one of my once favorite writing sites prepares for final shutdown in December, many members are taking the time to delete their articles in order to free themselves from a site they once held dear. The delete process is slow because each article must be deleted one by one. That’s not a bad thing for people with a couple hundred articles on the site. In fact, most of the people that I have heard from have already completely obliterated their Helium cache of articles.

Unfortunately, I was not one of the smarter writers when it came to Helium. I hung on to the site far longer than I should have and truly believed that things would get better. I, and probably most of the people that I have talked to, probably would have stayed at Helium for an eternity if it had stayed the way it was when it was a start-up company that was fun to write for. Like everything else in life, that wasn’t to be. Everything changes with time and in business, that usually means corporate changes that can destroy the family-like atmosphere.

No worries though. I am not writing this today to mourn the loss of a site I once held dear or to say how sad I am at its demise. Quite the opposite, I am ecstatic over the news because it means a prayer that I have been saying for well over a year has finally come to pass. I thought the site would be here forever, tormenting me with the fact that I had written tons of articles that should never have been written. God is good, and that is all I can say about that.

As I slowly delete these articles, whether good or bad, I have to laugh at how absolutely ridiculous some of the titles are. There are the titles extolling the virtues of Helium as a writing site. Yes, I can see your eyes rolling, but I take no offense. My eyes are rolling as well. Then there were the “What is” articles. Those are really cute because I’m pretty sure everyone knows what the internet is and why they shop online. It is doubtful that anybody could get any use out of such articles. I can only say that I am sorry for writing them.

There were some articles that I found fun and possibly useful. For instance, “Who is the sexiest man in country music” made me smile when I read back through it. Yes, of course I chose Toby Keith. Who else would it be? Though I would make some changes to that article today, including the title, it was written at a time when I was slightly saner and slightly more secretive that I was writing at an online article site. In any case, those articles are now safely tucked away in my personal information and deleted from the site. Thus the reason for this blog today.

After I have completed downloading the few articles that I find somewhat interesting and reflect the reasons why I enjoyed Helium when I first joined, I will load some of those articles on this blog. There was a time of greater innocence in online writing and I preferred it that way. All the “How to” articles and “What is” articles did net me some cash along the way and that is all they are good for now, cash long ago spent. Helium helped me revive my love for writing and then helped deflate my ideals for the craft. If I am going to write, I’d much rather do it for the love of doing it and because I feel passionately about the thing I am writing. I am not sorry for the journey because I learned invaluable lessons from it. I thank God for answering my prayer about getting my articles and name off that site, even if it did mean getting everyone else’s off too. And what I have left are good memories, fun friends and a few meaningful or fun articles. I have published book as well. (Not because Helium published it, but because I met someone on the site who was a publisher). It’s been an interesting ride and now it is time to move ONWARD AND UPWARD.

Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin and a lawsuit for copyright infringement- Oh My!

Stairway to Heaven

Taurus

Stairway to Heaven- I love that song- Four generations of people have loved that song. You can’t think of Led Zeppelin without thinking of the song. It was recorded 43 years ago and has been wildly popular ever since. No doubt that the song made the band millions of dollars through the years. It is surprising to learn that another band says that Zeppelin stole the opening chords of the song from one of their songs.

The controversy was sparked when Zeppelin decided that they would release a re-mastered version of the song. A lawsuit was filed to stop the re-master until the case was heard in court. Lawyers for a guitarist in the band Spirit are suing for copyright infringement. The guitarist is now dead; however, his survivors have decided to bring the suit up. The lawyers contend that the group brought up the infringement in an interview the guitarist did in 1997. Other than that mention, there was no public dispute about it and fans had no clue that ill feelings were brewing behind the scenes.

I don’t know what irks me more right now. Despite the fact that I would rather it not be true, the beginning of Stairway to Heaven does sound eerily like the song by Spirit. Spirit recorded the song in 1968 and Zeppelin released Stairway to Heaven in 1971. That irritates me to no end for many reasons, but we’ll get to that in a minute. The other thing that irritates me about it is that all of a sudden, after 43 years of silence about it and after four decades and generations falling in love with the song, someone decides to get their dander up about it. Don’t you think it would have been really cool if you had done something about it at the time instead of waiting until now?

As for stealing someone else’s work, whether an opening riff or an entire song, it is just pure laziness. No artists should have to worry that another artist is going to rip him off, especially those who already have millions of dollars in their bank accounts. Give credit where credit is due. Actually, that credit is one of the things the lawyers are asking for on the re-release. That shouldn’t be such a hard thing for Zeppelin to do and it is the right thing for them to do if the allegations are true.

What is really bothersome is that it was never brought up before and now is not the time to tarnish the song with a lawsuit. I’m not so worried about the name of the band being tarnished. They didn’t build their name on a squeaky clean image, after all. The song is a different story because it means many things to many people and, well, I don’t know, just leave it alone now! The time would have been 43 years ago.

Maybe I simply don’t want to believe that Zeppelin ripped anyone off… Never-mind… of course it could have happened, it happens all the time with artists, even if it is one of the lowest and most disgusting things an artist can do. The truth is I just don’t want to hear about it at this late hour. Let sleeping dogs lie and move on.

I doubt that a single soul ever thought that any of the members of Led Zeppelin were innocent little boys. Things happened and more things happened and then John Bonham died and then nothing else happened for decades. I doubt wagging a finger at them will make them feel bad about any of the music that they did, including the opening riff from Stairway to Heaven. Robert Plant is credited with writing the lyrics while Jimmy Page is credited with writing the music.

A number or rumors followed the release of the song including one that said if you played the song backwards, it had a satanic message. Robert Plant noted in interviews that while they were writing the song, he just started writing the words and when he read them back he jumped up, apparently surprised that it came from him. People said that it was because Page and Plant sold their soul to the devil in exchange for Stairway to Heaven. Indeed, they may have, but not in the way that many people thought. Maybe setting the record straight now would release them from their contract with the devil? That is, if they really did steal it.

Luke 8:17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.

A Helium Shutdown -- Karma at it's best

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.

Launch Day for Danny's Grace

It is an exciting day for me today. It is the day that part of my dream comes true. My first novel will be released to the public for purchase. So far, the process has been a gratifying one, not because it was easy, but, because it was a difficult one. There are no words to express the gratitude I feel towards Rocking Horse Publishing.

Robin Tidwell, founder of RHP, has been a wonderful source of help and encouragement. Had she not prodded me on for so many months when I first started re-writing the original draft, Danny’s Grace would never have been written. Simply put, Rocking Horse Publishing believes in its authors, and the feeling is mutual. Robin is an author as well. Her books include Reduced, Reused, and Recycled.

It was fortunate for me that several people were given the opportunity to read Danny’s Grace before publication. The first was Raymond Alexander Kukkee, the author of Morgidoo’s Christmas Carol. He gave a delightful overview of Danny’s Grace as well as a 5-star rating. I will carry those stars in my heart for a long time to come.

Katie Lea Yates was the next reviewer. She was also kind enough to give me an interview. Katie’s review of Danny’s Grace gave an excellent description of what the book is about. She describes it so well that I think she should have written the book description for the back of the book. The interview was fun to do with her, and it is an opportunity that I am very thankful for.

Becky Kreienkamp was the next reviewer. She is the editor for Rocking Horse Publishing and I thought that she might be inclined to give me lower ratings simply because she is the one who had to see all the mistakes that I made while writing the book. I was delightfully surprised to see that she did not hold my comma errors against me. She not only fixed the mistakes, but she gave Danny’s Grace the proverbial thumbs up.

Debbie Manber Kupfer gave me an interview that was both fun and interesting. She is the author of P.A.W.S. which is offered through Rocking Horse Publishing. Thank you, Debbie, for such a fun interview. I look forward to growing as an author with you and the rest of the Rocking Horse Publishing family.

Last, but definitely not least, I would like to thank Shannon Yarbrough for the amazing cover that he put together for the book. I was blown away when I saw it and he deserves super kudos for it.

Danny’s Grace is now available for Kindle at Amazon for purchase. For those who have not pre-ordered- autographed copies can still be purchased via the “Buy Now” button below. I hope you enjoy reading Danny’s Grace as much as I enjoyed writing it.