Giving Contact Info to Affiliate Authors

[Elizabeth Ann West]

Maybe you can answer this Ed, though I did also just send a reply to the automated message I received.

I have a new affiliate author that signed up with my affiliate link. I do not know this author personally, as a mutual acquaintance was the go-between. Someone I met had another friend interested in writing, and asked how to get started, so I gave my link fully disclosing it is an affiliate link and I am available for help and guidance if the friend has any questions. Plus, I like to be upfront about the small percentage I get, just so no one feels this is MLM or some type of scam.

So I wrote her a note, giving her some of the basics and stressing the importance of knowing the guidelines frontwards and backwards. At the end, I gave my personal email address, since there may come a time when she needs to send an attachment etc. I received an automated message it appears chiding me for giving personal contact information using C-C's message system, and warning about avoiding transactions outside of C-C's system (though that part of the message should probably state about how they are not permitted correct?). Now I am assuming since it wasn't a buyer, there should be no problem here. But I just wanted to double check that the whole point of being able to contact our affiliate authors was so we could help them sort of learn the ropes here and earn our 10%.

Always Smiling,
Elizabeth Ann West

[Ed]

Hi Elizabeth,

You have nothing to worry about, but thanks for pointing out where the message isn't clear. I haven't personally seen this message, so I'll pass on that more information is needed for the notification to be clear.

Thanks,
Ed

[Elizabeth Ann West]

Thanks Ed. I didn't think I had anything to worry about from a logical standpoint. But, the automated message does not make clear that working around C-C's system is a no-no. And, something should be in there that if this personal contact information was to another author, just disregard the message (as I understand from a programming aspect, there is probably a parser looking for the @ symbol as a sign of a person e-mail address and that prompts the default message).

[Ed]

Yes, you are right. I will pass on this info regardless. It is important that the message be clear.

[Constant]

I understand the confusion, but the rules are the rules, and though they appear to be intransigent they are there to protect everyone and maintain the integrity of the site. Of course in specific conditions (like yours Elizabeth) the intentions of personal email information transmission is perfectly honest, but unfortunately we must operate in a generalized space and not a particular one. It would be too easy for people to break the rules if we simply allowed correspondence. There is no reason to send personal email addresses for any reason. The email system that we built for the system should work fine and if you need to look at each others' writing then a simply copying and pasting back and forth should suffice. We will start working on allowing an internal attachment process. If we didn't keep this rule strict it would be easy for customers to set up author accounts and then be able to contact authors with impunity, setting up work-arounds.

[audrabianca]

That's great, but if you want to be networking with other authors and, for example, serve as mentors or proofreaders for each other outside of CC, you can always use Google searches to find their contact information elsewhere. Then you are not breaking the rules of CC by using a separate communication system to develop strong relationships with other writers.

[Elizabeth Ann West]

Constant-
Thank you for the clarification. In the future I will be sure to pass along my email address as well with the affiliate link so I don't have to go through your system to get that information out to the appropriate people (i.e. people I KNOW are signing up to be authors...).

I apologize for causing a snafu this time, but I would say the default message should be clarified, because to an inexperienced author (which I'm not and I wouldn't give my email to a buyer) the message makes it seem like there aren't any consequences here for going around the system, and makes it seem very optional to follow that rule.

From your perspective, I agree that it's just easier to keep the blanket rule. However, I would disagree with a previous post that all communication can effectively be handled by simply going through C-C's communication system for effective mentoring. One of my affiliate authors and I talk on the phone regularly for example, which is much faster for answering questions, talking about trends selling, and sometimes sharing personal thoughts about C-C (not all negative mind you, but there are times when we all need to vent about whatever it is to a colleague, and not have those off the cuff words stored in text format for future reference). I also check my email far more often then I check my message here, and yes I do have it setup to alert me when I get a message, but that is spotty. For example I am not notified when I sell an article anymore for some reason, though I have the checked in my account settings.

My next question is if website addresses will also flag, which I haven't tried, but I could see how that also presents a problem. For example, giving out my personal website gives all of my personal contact info. Also, I can send some of the links Ed posts or that I find that might help my affiliate authors out too. I'm not asking this to create problems, I just don't want to flag the system again even with a good intentioned rule breaking.

[Constant]

I appreciate the situation here. If you guys want to find out other writer's email addresses I am sure you will find a way to do it! Please try to respect the spirit of the rules. We usually keep a fairly good eye on communication between authors and buyers, just to make sure that people who are using the system are submitting their work through the site. It protects you guys from getting ripped off and it protects the buyers from purchasing articles that haven't gone through the review process.