Has anybody written for Associated Content?

[PoetryMom]

Has anybody written for Associated Content? I read a positive review about the site for writers, but I wanted to get more feedback. How is the hiring process? How is the pay? How is the atmosphere? Any good or bad experiences? Would love any input.

[evies_mom]

Originally Posted by PoetryMom

Has anybody written for Associated Content? I read a positive review about the site for writers, but I wanted to get more feedback. How is the hiring process? How is the pay? How is the atmosphere? Any good or bad experiences? Would love any input.

We used to have a fairly active thread here and several writers at AC.

I started out there, and I give it credit for giving me an initial boost to my self-confidence. Other than that, I honestly have a hard time voicing positives about the company. Please understand that is not disrespect towards the writers there, my concern is for the company.

I wrote for them 2 years ago for a period of 2 months, so bear in mind that my info is dated to that time. Things could have easily changed since then.

At that time, there really was no "hiring" process. AC publishes absolutely anything, so in that aspect it's easy. If you give exclusive rights to AC they may pay you an upfront lump, and then you get an additional rate of $1.50 per 1000 page views. I personally have found other places to be much, much more profitable and you don't have to give your rights up to get higher payment. That for me is the big thing; I don't like the idea of consistently giving away my rights to my work.

I wasn't really keen on the social atmosphere. I found the forums to be a big popularity contest with a few dominant personalities that seemed more likely to tear writers down then to build any sense of camaraderie. Again, that was 2 years ago. Things could have changed.

There certainly are some amazing writers over there, but sadly the fact that AC publishes anything wears down the credibility of the entire group. I've spoken with several publishers in other areas and consistently they have negative things to say about AC, but not about some other e-zines.

On a personal level, I was rather disgusted with some of their '"calls for content" at that time. I found them to be bordering on the kind of stuff you'd read in a tabloid. I was put off by some of the calls the day after Heath Ledger died, speculating on drugs before any clear results were formed. Turned out some of the articles published during that time got pulled for libel. There was another stink with one on miscarriage in relation to another star's loss. I am just not comfortable being associated with that, additionally AC often winds up printing a ton of plagiarism. People just copy and paste stuff, and it seems no one is policing that at all.

Am I glad that I started writing at AC? Sure. It was a great place for me to get my feet wet, and begin to learn about the nuances for writing for the web. Am I glad that I left before I vested a lot of time into the place? Yes. I strongly believe that there are other web publishers out there that will better educate and support their writers, as well as being well-respected. AC was a stepping stone for me.

Again, nothing against the majority of writers there and things may have improved since I published there, but I just don't think that AC is interested in much more than their bottom dollar.

[PoetryMom]

Wow! Thanks Evie's mom. I was looking for just that - a place to start. I know a lot of mom's here write for Suite 101, but they seem a little bit above my reach, as I don't know much about writing for the web. I need a place where I can learn the ropes and make a little cash while I'm at it. I don't want to throw my hard work just anywhere, though...and I certainly wouldn't want to write for some sort of tabloid!

I totally appreciate your input.

[evies_mom]

Believe me, when I started at Suite I had little clue about keywording and SEO. That's what made Suite appealling to me, you actually work with an editor who has a face and a name. The editor will teach you the rest.

Don't sell yourself out. If you can write well, that's what matters. Additionally, I know of many people who applied to Suite more than once, so if you do apply and don't get it, you can try again.

If it helps, I'd be willing to look at one of your pieces and give you a few tips for web-writing in general and tips specific to Suite's house style. I am going away to Atlanta for a conference tomorrow night, so it might not be until a few days. I'd love to help you, if you are interested.

[Drummer's Wife]

I also used to write for AC; but it's been over a year since I submitted anything. (well, except for a silly piece about visiting Santa in my area this past Dec. -- but I wrote it for something else and needed a place to host it.)

It used to be that you were offered $7-10+ per article, but now I hear it's more like $3-5. You do get paid for page views, which is nice because even though I haven't published anything lately, I still get a payment from AC every month. It's actually what pays for our internet service as I have it taken out of Paypal every month.

I think it's a place to start, get some practice with writing for the web (key word density, promoting your work, etc.,) but it would take a lot of articles per day to make a good amount of income, whereas you could be submitting your work elsewhere for more profit. It's definitely an easy place to get something up and live on the web, and then you can link them for other use including a resume/application for other gigs.

I will say that I have an article up on AC about Red 40 food dye and it gets quite a few hits every month. I did something right with the title because it's very high up on the google page ranking, depending on the terms you use when searching. I haven't calculated it lately but last time I did I realized that I had earned $80+ on that one article alone (upfront payment plus page-views) so to me, something like that was well worth the 30 min or so it took to type it out.