Constant Content

Last year in Feb and March, I made the most I ever made in a month on here. In August, the batch I uploaded sold terribly and other writers were complaining about sales. I focused my efforts elsewhere but I've been uploading again. Only uploaded 5 I think so far and sold one, which is cool.

Does the slump seem to be over?

oh, I should specify that I'm talking about the open catalog. Not much of a fan of private stuff on here. I say that but did one in January. LOL But it was something within my skill set so not too terrible.

Constant Content catalog sales good.
Client writing elsewhere even better.

thanks, Hired. I think you and I basically talk to each other on here. xD

That's good to hear. I just finally bit the bullet and created my own site in a specific niche that I write. I figure CC is still a good place to make some side money. I did so freakin well last February and March. Even sold quite a few in December and January. But damn Aug was terrrrrible.

Hi folks,

This is the quietest forum in the Universe!

I joined here at the end of January and have 31 articles in my catalog at the time of writing. Four have sold. So that's 13% of stock to date. There are six more in review.

I'd planned on writing three a day, but there’s no point submitting faster than the editors can deal with them. I'll wait until they're catching up and then send a few more. It's a shame you can't get automatic acceptance once you've proved your mettle. Say, after a dozen consecutive articles passed without correction. I suppose that might be open to abuse. Although, browsing other writers' work here, I've seen plenty of typos and other errors have found their way into the catalog. Still, I've had work in magazines which after several rounds of proofreading still had minor errors. Perfect copy is a tough call.

Sales-wise, I imagine there will be feasts and famines, not a predictable, steady income stream.

I looked at the requests and pools and they appear to be more trouble than they're worth. 1500 words for $20? Are they serious?! And product descriptions leave me uninspired. Several of the requests are incomprehensible, too.

Still, I'm happy with the experience so far. I accept it will never offer a full-time income. But I have fingers in other writing pies which give me a humble subsistence without having to get a "proper job," so no complaints from me! The odd $$$ bonus from CC is welcome, as the articles that sold were the easiest to write so far! It's a very relaxing gig.

Do we agree the best way forward is to focus on building the catalog?

I find I am the determining factor in my sales. When I wrote more, I sell more. As of this minute I have written 1,850 articles and have sold 1,695. It's a decent ratio for sales. My goal is to hit the 2,000 mark by the end of April.

Hi Judith,

That's what I'd planned on leveraging. However, I can write until I'm blue in the face, but if the editors only process one article every week or two, I can't grow my catalog any faster than that. Or am I missing a trick? Will they start working through them faster if I have a backlog of say, 50 articles in review?

Any advice on how the system works would be appreciated.

Catalog sales for me are decent this month. Not spectacular, but an uptick compared to February and especially January.

Judith - I agree. The more I write, the more I sell. Simple as that. That's an enviable sales ratio you have BTW

Words4Bread - if you wait on editor approval before submitting new material, you're simply introducing your own bottleneck into the process... My advice (FWIW) is just to submit when you have something to submit, and let editorial delays take care of themselves...

Judith's is indeed an enviable sales ratio. No doubt the consequence of good writing, productivity, and wise choices.

Thanks for the advice, Gauderbock. I'll give it a shot. I'll write and submit those three articles a day for three months and see if that proves more fruitful.

Oh, I just wanted to add for the record, I'm not complaining about anything here.

I like the site. I enjoy writing the articles I'm loading into the catalog. I think the editors do a great job. As I'm new, I'm just trying to get the measure of how things work and how to organize my workflow for maximum returns. I'm here solely to make more money!

The core advice seems to be that there's a direct correlation between numbers in the catalog and sales. Assuming articles are well-written and there's a market for them, I understand I should expect, over time, to shift anything between 25% and 70% of all product.

I gather from exploring the site and blog that 1000+ articles seems to be a "critical mass" after which sales become most predictable. So, as with many writing gigs, it's an investment of time now for profits that will come later. I'm good with that.

I agree with Gauderbock... don't worry about how long it takes the editors. Just keep writing. It actually feels good to have plenty of articles in review. When they come through... you will have a lot of articles for sale in the catalog. I truly believe it's a numbers game. Choose to write in popular categories. You may have written a scholarly article on the sex life of the black rhinoceros, but its chances of selling are minimal.

Keep writing!!

> popular categories

Agreed, but then again I've sold some pretty surprising stuff in the past. If inspiration strikes and you can throw something together fairly quickly then go for it - you never know

Thanks Judith & Gauderbrock - your enthusiasm and advice is much appreciated.

I'll throw myself into it, then. Nothing to lose if I'm smart about what I write.

Thanks!

In my experience, both catalogue sales and private requests have been steadily drying up on Constant Content for more than a year. I posted a few months back about this in the forums, and some of the top writers agreed with me. In my case, the final nail in the coffin was the scrapping of usage rights, which I've had a lot of success with.

It's really promising to hear that others are still getting somewhere here. Nonetheless, I quit writing for this platform back in December, other than the occasional private request that I take on. Unbelievably, I've found Upwork to be more promising at the moment, but I'll probably start cold-pitching potential clients in my niche in the coming weeks.

Hi UKWriter101,

Yes, I read that thread (or something similar) and found it rather depressing as I'd just joined!

Perhaps there are natural ebbs and flows. Perhaps there has been an overall slump in sales. How that slump is experienced may also depend on a writer's expectations. If you're one of the top writers, have held that position for many years, have come to expect several 1000s dollars income per month from here, and now you're only earning $200, it may seem as if the bottom has fallen out of the thing.

However, if like me your expectations were only ever to earn $200 a month, and the site still provides that opportunity for, let's face it, very little work, then you might still be happy.

I'm certainly game to give it a shot and find out for myself what the site can mean for me in terms of income.

Upwork can be very fruitful. An excellent profile and long-term relationships with sensible clients is the key. The fact that you're a native English speaker already puts you head-and-shoulders above most of the competition over there!