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Some members may be familiar with Garden and Hearth or Garden & Hearth Publishing. It's billed as an online magazine and listed (the last I checked) with Writers Market.
The company is owned by Kim Simonvitch.
They advertise as on online magazine. They asked for articles at $10 each and also hired on writers for $3 per 1000 hits/visits.
This was a slow site and took a lot of work. The work did pay off with good traffic after a slow start. This was based on a lot of work by the writers and also the owner worked hard I'm sure.
Kim Simonovitch has opted to sell out her site. Well really, she opted to sell out the writings of the writers she took on with the income share. She gets the money. The writers get nothing - other than a new site where they may or may not make any money. The writers, to get on at the new site, must give away all old articles and the right to publish. A big gift for many.
Bottom line - she sold the articles she did not write and the members as well. She gets money for those articles (the writers do not), and the writers may write for the new site, but they give away ALL RIGHTS to write for this new site.
Furthermore, Kim Simonvitch has her site open. Those who did not sign have articles up and getting hits and income (for her and not for the writers). This was in the contract. Signer beware. But, she is posting these articles under other writer's bylines. In other words, she is taking pieces written by her old staff and putting in new writers (if she really did find any). Mary Jane's article on "How to Clean Carpet" now shows up with a teaser like "How to Clean a Carpet" by Carpet Cleaner Expert Joe Snow. You can click, now at least, and see at the bottom that Expert Joe Snow did not write the piece. You will see the Mary Jane bio at the bottom -after you click in thinking you are reading something by Joe Snow.
Writers HAVE contacted Kim Simonvitch. She does respond to writers who signed her new contract giving her all the old work and agreeing to move to a new company where all rights are history. Those who would not agree to give away hours (and years) of work and would not agree to be sold to a new and unknown company do not get any responses. The writers who did not sign, in fact, find that their articles are still listed and making money for Kim Simonovitch, but those articles are listed written by other writers (who most certainly did not write the pieces).
You may still find Garden and Hearth online magazine as a market online. The site is still up. Kim Simonovitch has sold the articles (which the writers own the copyright on) as well as selling their names to another company. Since some of her top writers did not sign, the deal may not go through. She has a contract to keep all submitted articles (and can fire a writer for any reason, at any time, and keep their work), but those pieces are now being posted online with teaser pieces listed other writer names (whcih she certainly rounded up fast - if at all).
Apparently Garden & Hearth was mentioned here before. Kim Simonovitch made it very clear to all writers posting with her site that they could not share information here or with other writers even on her site. She put that in her contract. No contact. No discussion. To do so would mean she could and would take your work and keep it and not pay.
The way it stands now, Garden & Hearth has sold. They are still up and going currently though, so don't hold your breath. G&H is listing new names for any areas where writers did not sign to "give away" collections of articles. Click and you can see. Chef Mada Uppa covers Eat Fast Food while Jane Joe wrote all the articles.
The staff is small, so the current contract won't impact many. Do beware if you see calls for materials for Garden and Hearth or for Kim Simomovitch. Also watch out if you are asked to lend your name. You may list as Chef Big Chief and have clicks to all Work Their Butt Off Chiefs who are none to happy. Any writer here would know that they would not be happy to have their work sold off and not get the money promised and then to also have bylines messed up with some bogus "chef" name plugged in but the recipes clearly belonging to Work Their Butt Off (who trusted Kim Simomovitch and did not post at Water Cooler as she said it was a bogus spot for whiners).
The company is owned by Kim Simonvitch.
They advertise as on online magazine. They asked for articles at $10 each and also hired on writers for $3 per 1000 hits/visits.
This was a slow site and took a lot of work. The work did pay off with good traffic after a slow start. This was based on a lot of work by the writers and also the owner worked hard I'm sure.
Kim Simonovitch has opted to sell out her site. Well really, she opted to sell out the writings of the writers she took on with the income share. She gets the money. The writers get nothing - other than a new site where they may or may not make any money. The writers, to get on at the new site, must give away all old articles and the right to publish. A big gift for many.
Bottom line - she sold the articles she did not write and the members as well. She gets money for those articles (the writers do not), and the writers may write for the new site, but they give away ALL RIGHTS to write for this new site.
Furthermore, Kim Simonvitch has her site open. Those who did not sign have articles up and getting hits and income (for her and not for the writers). This was in the contract. Signer beware. But, she is posting these articles under other writer's bylines. In other words, she is taking pieces written by her old staff and putting in new writers (if she really did find any). Mary Jane's article on "How to Clean Carpet" now shows up with a teaser like "How to Clean a Carpet" by Carpet Cleaner Expert Joe Snow. You can click, now at least, and see at the bottom that Expert Joe Snow did not write the piece. You will see the Mary Jane bio at the bottom -after you click in thinking you are reading something by Joe Snow.
Writers HAVE contacted Kim Simonvitch. She does respond to writers who signed her new contract giving her all the old work and agreeing to move to a new company where all rights are history. Those who would not agree to give away hours (and years) of work and would not agree to be sold to a new and unknown company do not get any responses. The writers who did not sign, in fact, find that their articles are still listed and making money for Kim Simonovitch, but those articles are listed written by other writers (who most certainly did not write the pieces).
You may still find Garden and Hearth online magazine as a market online. The site is still up. Kim Simonovitch has sold the articles (which the writers own the copyright on) as well as selling their names to another company. Since some of her top writers did not sign, the deal may not go through. She has a contract to keep all submitted articles (and can fire a writer for any reason, at any time, and keep their work), but those pieces are now being posted online with teaser pieces listed other writer names (whcih she certainly rounded up fast - if at all).
Apparently Garden & Hearth was mentioned here before. Kim Simonovitch made it very clear to all writers posting with her site that they could not share information here or with other writers even on her site. She put that in her contract. No contact. No discussion. To do so would mean she could and would take your work and keep it and not pay.
The way it stands now, Garden & Hearth has sold. They are still up and going currently though, so don't hold your breath. G&H is listing new names for any areas where writers did not sign to "give away" collections of articles. Click and you can see. Chef Mada Uppa covers Eat Fast Food while Jane Joe wrote all the articles.
The staff is small, so the current contract won't impact many. Do beware if you see calls for materials for Garden and Hearth or for Kim Simomovitch. Also watch out if you are asked to lend your name. You may list as Chef Big Chief and have clicks to all Work Their Butt Off Chiefs who are none to happy. Any writer here would know that they would not be happy to have their work sold off and not get the money promised and then to also have bylines messed up with some bogus "chef" name plugged in but the recipes clearly belonging to Work Their Butt Off (who trusted Kim Simomovitch and did not post at Water Cooler as she said it was a bogus spot for whiners).