Working Class Hero - Part One: November 2013

Thursday, November 28, 2013

A Nabob Natters

(In which, gentle reader, your befuddled author attempts to limit the negativity, but must readily admit to hysteria and hypochondria.)

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. I sincerely hope you have an "attitude of gratitude" for all the gifts you have received today, starting with the very gift of existence.

As I stated yesterday, I'm a bit befuddled about my "writing career" at the moment. Further investigation reveals that I somehow managed to insult nearly all the editors of FoK. Now if you're writing for an edited site, that is not a very brilliant thing to do. The editors choose whether your articles are accepted, and attach pictures to them which help attract readers. I suppose the only pics I'll be getting now are "DO NOT ENTER!" warning signs.

It's super-duper cold here in central Georgia, USA, this morning. Brrrr!!! This would be a good day to just eat some breakfast and crawl back in bed, but my dear wife has invited folks over for a Thanksgiving meal, so I must vacuum and complete other chores before their arrival. Oh bother! Grumpy old fart that I am, I'd just as soon spend the day alone. Fortunately my wife won't let me get away with such silliness; it is to her credit that I am not even more of a miserable old goat.

I must have a "writing addiction", because I just can't seem to refrain from posting articles on PAA or FoK. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, I don't know. However, rather than just throw words against the PC screen and hope they stick in someone's mind, I think I need a plan. A true business plan! So here it is: I plan on making $1,000 / month solely from my writing by this time next year!

Okay, stop rolling around on the floor laughing, will ya? It's my dream; let me try to achieve it. Besides, the world is not going to be a worse place if I fail.

I'll use this blog, ( http://www.owlsandcuckoos.blogspot.com/ , as if you didn't know!), to chart my progress, post random musings on writing, and promote my "paying" articles via hyperlinks.

I'll use the other blog, ( http://www.waypatas.blogspot.com/ ), mostly for posting articles, which will also have hyperlinks to the "paying" articles.

And if all else fails ... I'll attract attention by posting naked pics of my fat, old, sickly body all over the internet. Please, DON'T MAKE ME DO IT!! Keep the internet safe for young and old alike, and satisfy my need for attention by clicking on one of my "paying" articles or two. You'll be glad you did! (Okay, maybe not, but it doesn't cost you anything but lost time.)

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

So Now What?

If you've been reading this blog, (don't you have anything better to do with your time?), you've been following my "progress" as an online author.

I started posting articles on InfoBarrel and Bubblews, and quickly concentrated solely on Bubblews. The pay was much higher, and it was insanely easier to write for Bubblews than InfoBarrel. Bubblews was fun, and I could earn a bit of loot for my daily rants.

Then the bottom fell out of that scenario: it became apparent to me that Bubblews was a scam site, and that folks who were crowing about the massive amounts of money they were earning there were shills. Bummer!

It was hard to leave Bubblews, and I still tried to tease a few payments out of them for a month or so, but eventually I had no choice but to admit that I had been conned.

So I focused my attentions on FullofKnowledge. It was still easier to write here than InfoBarrel, and the editors seemed like a nice group of folks. I didn't like the fact that my articles would be edited, (yeah, that's an ego problem I admit), but I could live with it, and many of the writers there praised the site for the amount of money they made on it.

But FoK, (as we call it), had its issues too. First and foremost, it seemed to be a one man show. A guy named Aaron owned the site, and rules, (article length, minimum payment amounts), seemed to change solely on his whim. I spent much more time per article on FoK than I ever did on Bubblews, but I never seemed to earn enough to meet the minimum payout amount.

But I continued to plug away on FoK, until September, when Aaron opened a third site, (he also owns ExpertsPages), call PostAnyArticle. PAA, as it's known, had NO EDITING! Whipee! You could post just about anything you wanted, as long as it wasn't pornographic, it was in English, and it contained at least 100 words.

Now that was my kinda writing site! I started hammering away on the articles and rants, such that when September payments came out, although FoK still paid me zippo, PAA paid me about 2 bucks.

Hooray! This was my first payment since Bubblews started stiffing me.

October was even better, as I got $3.20 from PAA, and $6.80 from FoK. Woo Hoo!!

However, just as it appears I was finally settling into a writing routine, suddenly all the FoK editors started openly criticizing PAA. And trust me, they weren't holding anything back! It seems that PAA had become a pariah to everyone except Aaron, and the editors were in open rebellion against it.

Sigh ....

So what is a frustrated writer to do? I looked at posting at InfoBarrel again, but they're just too darn strict. But now I'm also worried about putting all my articles on websites that are run by just one guy. What if he gets a bug up his butt, and decides to close them all down? What if he changes the rules YET AGAIN, this time in a way that adversely affects me?

I guess what I'm gonna have to do is write on this blog, which kinda sucks, because that means I won't get any loot for it. And don't worry; I'm not gonna monetize this blog. It's too complicated, I'm too lazy, and the amount of money involved, (pennies), just ain't worth it.

So for the near future, until something else changes once again, (and you know it will!), arph001 will be posting his articles here. And Phred Phin, (the imaginary talking fish in my head), thanks you profusely for your support and understanding!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

We got PAID! We got PAID!

We got paid! PAA and FoK came through for us!

We got $6.80 from FoK, which is our first payment from them, (includes July, August, September, and October). We only got $3.20 from PAA, but that is just for the month of October.

PAA is working much better for us, but the more experienced writers claim that FoK pays out better in the long run. We'll see ....

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Posts to FullofKnowledge, October/2013

I'm still posting on FoK, because folks claim they pay best in the long run, and it really is a supportive environment to write in.

Here are the posts for October/2013:

http://fullofknowledge.com/2013/10/my-grim-experience-with-the-howard-county-animal-shelter/

http://fullofknowledge.com/2013/10/great-caterpillar-revenge/

http://fullofknowledge.com/2013/10/crawling-rock-tips-visiting-biltmore/

http://fullofknowledge.com/2013/10/will-paa-kill-fok/

http://fullofknowledge.com/2013/10/women-do-have-it-tougher-than-men/

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Posts to PostAnyArticle, October 2013

No More Bubblews!

I give up on Bubblews! Payment request number six was "lost", which means they have only paid me twice out of six requests. JERKS!!

I may either go back and start deleting old Bubblews posts, or post new ones with links to FoK or PAA articles, but for the time being I'm doing nothing. My article count is currently -1! How can I submit -1 articles?