Helium has been a staple in the online writing business for years. Over the past year, Helium has changed two of their policies and that has caused them to lose some appeal to writers. The changes that Helium made has severely limited their contributor’s ability to earn additional income. The changes began in December 2010. The following are the major policy changes and how they impact writers who contribute to Helium.
Rights Required
Helium changed its policy on the rights it expected from its writers. The rights of each individual article regard the ability of the writer to reprint their writing elsewhere. Helium was initially requiring all rights for every article. No writer worth anything sells all rights to any of their writing. Selling all rights means that the writer is never again allowed to use that piece of writing again.
The policy was later changed to no additional publication for one year. This means that writers who publish their articles on Helium are not allowed to reprint that article anywhere for one year. The policy on publishing rights alone dramatically limits online writers incredibly. Writing for Helium could cost writers in potential income be limiting their ability to reprint.
Payment Policy
Helium has greatly reduced the ability for their contributors to earn income. Much of the income that is earned now on Helium is based solely on residual or pay per view. The reduction in income is one key reason that many writers are choosing to look elsewhere to publish. Helium all but eliminated Upfront Payments for their writers. The new system bases payment solely on a competitive status between writers with the top article gaining the Upfront Payment. This sounds like it would encourage higher quality writing, nothing could be further from the truth.
Helium pays contributors to rate articles by offering a rating incentive. Many of the contributors fail to even read the articles before voting on them. The rating system becomes the basis for Upfront Payment and is flawed. The rating system also allows for mediocre writing to raise to the top through the influence of friends and family. The Upfront Payments are not based on any form of merit but on peer rating.
These changes in the Helium policies have a dramatic effect on their writers. Whatever the reasons behind the changes, the result is a diminished level of rights and income for writers. Be sure to consider all of the policies and payment options when writing for any website.