Product Reviews and Buying Tips: Closed?

[Zabrina]

Hello all,
Just wondering why this request would show as "closed", even though the expiry date is nearly three weeks from now!

"Request: Product Reviews And Buying Tips

Expiry Date: 2009-07-18 - Request Status: Closed
Back to Requests
Contact Customer / Submit Exisiting Article"

(Tell me I'm not the only one bugged by that typo in "existing article", lol.)

[Ed]

The customer, after getting many responses, closed the public request and issued a private one to several authors.

Thanks,
Ed

[Zabrina]

Ahh, I see. Disappointing but understandable, I guess. :( The customer had just emailed me yesterday expressing hopes of a long-term writing relationship, too.

Thanks for the help anyway. :)

[Ed]

This customer seems interested in using CC for his content needs, so there's still a possibility that he will have use for your skills.

In the mean time, I suggest writing some more articles to make yourself more visible to other customers!

Ed

[Zabrina]

Hi Ed,
Thanks for the information and advice!

On that note, I actually had a question. I have ~130 articles published elsewhere (Helium) that I would like to also sell here. I know I could do this with one-time usage rights, but what about "unique"? I know "unique" removes it from C-C, but does that also mean it can't be published anywhere else?

[Ed]

Once an article is published elsewhere, it can only be sold on CC for usage rights.

Thanks,
Ed

[Zabrina]

All right, thanks. Still a boost for my portfolio, I guess. :)

[Ed]

Before submitting any of these, please make sure they conform to our guidelines. Also, please don't submit them all at once!

Thanks,
Ed

[Zabrina]

Thanks for the reminder. :) Most of my articles already conform to guidelines (I hate using first person in articles, it sounds so amateur 99 percent of the time), but I'll double-check.

I'll also be sure not to overload you! I appreciate how much work must go into checking every article so carefully.

[BarryDavidson]

Way down in Helium's TOS it says that once an article is put on Helium (even though the author supposedly still owns all rights to it) the author can never assign exclusive rights to the work. It makes me feel sorry for all the people who have poured thousands of articles onto that site, and especially for those who have put up their books, short stories and poetry.

There is a way to have the work pulled off of Helium, but it involves a buyer negotiating with Helium - which jacks up the price.

On the up side, I've placed several of my articles from there on here and sold a few of them more than once. I also keep track of where my work has been posted so that I can put the addresses in my portfolio. So far I have far more articles sold than fiction and poetry, but the list grows all the time.

I would recommend that you go ahead and write the buying tips articles. I'm not sure about product reviews (there was a thread about them in here somewhere) outside of a request. If I'm remembering correctly, it needs to be more than a, "Yo! This product is great," article. Write until your heart is content, and then write some more just for fun. It's never a waste of your time, even if they're not accepted here.