Fed up with DS -- Quitting!!!

[Loops77]

Demand Studios is a content mill. They need a lot of pieces in the simple direct format that SEO requires. Demand Studio's articles are really glorified lists...It is not real journalism or writing..so it should be pretty easy to knock out 3 articles in an hour once you know the style guidelines. 45 dollars an hour is a pretty good rate to me. Some people have to decide if they will take it or leave it.

I just wished they paid through DD instead of Paypal first before offering health insurance.

[valeried]

I've had mostly good experiences with DS. There are a few unreasonable editors. I've only had one article rejected, and I think she was unreasonable about it - for the rewrite she brought up the About vs. List idea, and when I made that change, she suddenly said I didn't have enough facts. I don't know why she didn't say that in the first place. But for the most part, the only rewrites I get are quick fixes. My main frustration with them is how long I have to spend browsing through long lists of articles to find one that doesn't have a weird title!

[crazygirl]

I've been with DS for about a year and a half now, and just recently started doing a lot of video game titles (blame the boyfriend lol). I did a bunch of articles on cheats for online video games, but the cheats are different. Their security won't let you do a "push this button, then this one, etc" kind of thing and a lot will suspend your account for even trying it. I've been doing them more from a trick standpoint: how to trick the game into letting you do something, get something for free, etc.

Last night I had 3 come back from the same editor who was actually pretty rude and commented on the fact that she edited my other articles. Basically she said things weren't cheats and I needed to specifically mention cheats or she'd reject it when it came back. I'm thinking about taking them and posting them somewhere else since they're fairly popular topics...

[debng]

Originally Posted by TiffanyB

I don't understand why people are speaking out against Angela now. She asked HER READERS to voice their opinions about Demand Studios. She didn't ask for everyone in the free world to email her about DS and then there were people who posted her notice in places that they should have not have, i they actually read what Angela wanted.

I read over the comments that she posted. I don't see where she was biased. There were people who are perfectly happy with DS and then there were ones that were not happy with DS with a bunch in the middle. I have more of a problem with people who speak out against "content mill sites" and then go on to endorse them once they start seeing some money coming in.

Hi Tiffany,

I can say Angela Hoy was biased because many of Angela's readers sent very nice recommendations and she didn't post them, and also, because she insisted I only asked people to send positive reviews, and that's not true at all. I don't care what anyone says about me, but lets not pretend she let loose with some great, factually correct, unbiased piece of journalism because it was anything but. I read a lot of arguments against my decision to partner with Demand that were well-written, factually correct and respectable. They're all entitled to their opinions and I respect that. One of them even asked for my side of the story. However, the piece at Writer's Weekly is no great piece of investigative reporting.In fact, there's no investigation there at all. It's a bunch of handpicked letters.

Again, everyone can draw their own conclusions. I don't care what she said about me, but she misrepresented many writers and that's just wrong.

Also, if by "people who speak out against content mills you mean me?" The truth is, I never had anything against content mills. My problem was never with content mills. It was with those paying a couple of bucks a post. You don't see me speaking out against content mills, you see me speaking out against people who take advantage of writers. If someone is paying a couple of cents a click, I don't think that's a good opportunity whether its Examiner or Demand Studios and yes, they know how I feel about it.

What people don't understand (or don't want to understand) is my affiliation with Demand puts me in a position to talk to their management about the issues facing writers today and can work on better wages for everyone. While at BlogWorld this weekend I discussed wages with some people from HubPages and they were very interested in what I have to say..and we're going to keep the conversation going. So go ahead and slam me all you want about partnering with Demand, but at least I'm doing something besides griping like some bloggers. You don't have to love me, but I'm in a position where I'm able to work with the people who hire freelance writers. That's not a bad thing.

[kittenish]

Originally Posted by crazygirl

I've been with DS for about a year and a half now, and just recently started doing a lot of video game titles (blame the boyfriend lol). I did a bunch of articles on cheats for online video games, but the cheats are different. Their security won't let you do a "push this button, then this one, etc" kind of thing and a lot will suspend your account for even trying it. I've been doing them more from a trick standpoint: how to trick the game into letting you do something, get something for free, etc.

Last night I had 3 come back from the same editor who was actually pretty rude and commented on the fact that she edited my other articles. Basically she said things weren't cheats and I needed to specifically mention cheats or she'd reject it when it came back. I'm thinking about taking them and posting them somewhere else since they're fairly popular topics...

If you've really been with DS for a year and a half, you know that they are extremely strict regarding "writing to title." If a title is impossible (asking for cheats for a game that has none, for example) then we can't write around it and expect it to pass. It's not rude of the editor to point this out, especially since it says in the editorial guidelines that we should not attempt to write titles that are technically impossible. The editor has no choice in the matter; she can't accept an article that isn't written to title or her position is in jeopardy.

[x3xsolxdierx3x]

When everyone talks about "Demand Studios", are you talking about eHow? (aren't they owned by Demand Studios?

[beanandpumpkin]

Originally Posted by x3xsolxdierx3x

When everyone talks about "Demand Studios", are you talking about eHow? (aren't they owned by Demand Studios?

Ehow is owned by Demand Studios, but DS is also its own site that pays by the article, instead of by the ad revenue. Freelance Jobs | Demand Studios

[lovely222]

Are there certain days that DS pays? I just started as a Title QA. Also if there are any pointers that anyone can give about this position I would like to know them. Thanks.