Attraction for Demand Studios?

moth · Jan 28, 2010

Still Seaking said:
If I put in the exact name of a title that is there, I just released it to reclaim it, why do I have to look through 50+ pages to find it?

Try looking at the very end of the result list. Search for one keyword from the title (not a phrase, that'll just give you broader results, ugh, which I found out the hard way) and go to the very bottom of the last page of results. That's where I usually see the title I wanted to reclaim.

Also if I have two or three that I need to release and reclaim, I do them one at a time (remove, search, find and reclaim the first, THEN do the second). Lost a few titles trying to do them in batches instead of individually.

I totally agree the find assignments tool could be better -- like having a keyword phrase search give, oh, I don't know, a narrowed results list? :tongue

Still Seaking · Jan 28, 2010

Well, my appeal is on a tip, yeah I know I’m losing money on the deal but like I said, it’s principal. As for how I would do it, in this instance it was rejected because the CE said he/she could not verify the information in the two allowed references and that the third, Wikipedia was blacklisted, which it is not by DS nor this client.

If I had to appeal a normal article, I would just use the part it was specifically used as the reason for the rejection. If it was an instance of the CE’s ignorance and or attitude and he cited the entire article, than I might file a complaint instead of an appeal and request that another CE look at the article.

Still haven’t heard anything but will let all know when I do.

SS

joyce · Jan 30, 2010

I've appealed two articles since I've been writing for them. One they sided with both me and the CE, but the article was still rejected. The other, they sided with me. On both articles I appealed the rejection due to the principal of it. Best of luck.

htrent · Jan 30, 2010

Mini-rant: I'm so happy I switched to a pen-name. I just got one of those rewrites that reeked of "new CE." I won't elaborate, but I'll say that after fixing all those items if the article doesn't go through I'm going to have to go into the woods and scream.

/rant over.

Amelia23 · Jan 30, 2010

I hope no one minds my asking this question, but I am having a problem. It is with paypal. My account is set to personal and there is a $500 limit on transferring money to my bank account. I am also having a problem with them forgetting to reset the limit back upl to $500 every month. I decided to lift the limit so I tried that. It wanted my bank account, which is already listed, my SS number or a credit card number. I do not have a credit card, so I tried to put my SS number through. It came back with the message they could not verify it. To try again. I did and the same message. I emailed them and they told me how to lift the limits. I tried according to their version and the same message. I called Paypal about it and they said they would email me a letter with what I would need to do to lift the limits. They want a copy of my drivers license, a copy of my SS card and a recent bill sent to my home.

Way too much information to fax back to them. Since all you you write for DS and they only pay through paypal, what do the rest of you do? Have you had any problems like this? I really didn't want to go with a business account and pay paypal 3 percent of my money every time I transfer it to my account.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Angie · Jan 31, 2010

I switched to a Premier account. Yes, there are fees, but they really don't add up to that much and you don't have to worry about the limits. You can also get a debit card with a Premier account so you don't have to worry about transferring money in the first place...it's just worth it to me, especially when all of my income is currently paid through Paypal. And the premier account doesn't charge as much as the regular business account does.

joyce · Jan 31, 2010

Angie said:
I switched to a Premier account. Yes, there are fees, but they really don't add up to that much and you don't have to worry about the limits. You can also get a debit card with a Premier account so you don't have to worry about transferring money in the first place...it's just worth it to me, especially when all of my income is currently paid through Paypal. And the premier account doesn't charge as much as the regular business account does.

I did this too, but then I used to sell a bunch on Ebay and found a Premier account easier. I've had no problems and don't notice the fees, so they must be really, really small. I use my debit card to pull out cash and deposit into my bank account. I've noticed (with my bank anyway) that it takes up to four days for the money to be transferred into my account. If I just withdraw it with the debit card, I can deposit it the same day. The only exception, if I transfer money from paypal into my bank on Friday, it's there by Monday. If I transfer money on Tuesday, it's in my account on Friday. Makes no sense, since Sat. & Sun are non-business days.

htrent · Jan 31, 2010

Amelia23 said:
I hope no one minds my asking this question, but I am having a problem. It is with paypal. My account is set to personal and there is a $500 limit on transferring money to my bank account. I am also having a problem with them forgetting to reset the limit back upl to $500 every month. I decided to lift the limit so I tried that. It wanted my bank account, which is already listed, my SS number or a credit card number. I do not have a credit card, so I tried to put my SS number through. It came back with the message they could not verify it. To try again. I did and the same message. I emailed them and they told me how to lift the limits. I tried according to their version and the same message. I called Paypal about it and they said they would email me a letter with what I would need to do to lift the limits. They want a copy of my drivers license, a copy of my SS card and a recent bill sent to my home.

Way too much information to fax back to them. Since all you you write for DS and they only pay through paypal, what do the rest of you do? Have you had any problems like this? I really didn't want to go with a business account and pay paypal 3 percent of my money every time I transfer it to my account.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Eek, I don't remember having to do all that. There was a button that I clicked on that said "Increase Limit," and that was that. It may be because I already had my bank debit card number on file that I didn't have to go through all the rigmarole.

I did upgrade to premier recently, though, just so I could have instant access to my money. I transfer most to my bank account still, but it's nice being able to have some petty cash on the Paypal debit until the money hits the bank. It's free to upgrade, but they do some sort of approval process that takes a couple of days.

As far as the fees, I haven't been assessed any for the places I write for. I get exactly what they send me, and that's exactly what ends up in my checking account. I don't Ebay or anything like that through my account, though.

Amelia23 · Jan 31, 2010

Thank you for the great answers. One other question though. I do not feel comfortable sending all that information about myself, so I looked into applying for a debit card. They want a credit card number. My problem is that I do not have a credit card either. How safe is to give that number out. They say it is just to verify the address. Any thoughts or am I missing something or misunderstanding. I have never had a credit, or debit card. Only a checking account.

jeffo · Feb 1, 2010

To weigh in on PayPal -- Personally I have never had a problem with them. They have access to my bank account numbers and other such information. I believe I got upgraded by using a credit card without sending all that other information. As far as safety of personal information, I don't think they are a group that you have to worry about. I would only worry about them with large amounts of money, as they are not a bank, so no banking laws apply to them.

htrent · Feb 1, 2010

Amelia23 said:
Thank you for the great answers. One other question though. I do not feel comfortable sending all that information about myself, so I looked into applying for a debit card. They want a credit card number. My problem is that I do not have a credit card either. How safe is to give that number out. They say it is just to verify the address. Any thoughts or am I missing something or misunderstanding. I have never had a credit, or debit card. Only a checking account.

It's safe, and actually a pretty common way to verify residence as far as web entities go. The credit card number also acts as a back-up so that if you overspend on your debit, they'll draw the needed funds from your credit account. Otherwise the transaction would bounce. If you apply for a credit card in a store, the same thing happens - they'll ask you for a credit card to swipe for instant approval, otherwise you have to do it the long way.

Paypal has been around a long time (as far as web companies go), and as they process money corporations that operate globally I seriously doubt they want the bad P.R. of a few outraged people who got their information leaked to scammers. It's smart to keep your guard up, but what they're asking for is standard operating procedure.

NewKidOldKid · Feb 1, 2010

Amelia23 said:
Thank you for the great answers. One other question though. I do not feel comfortable sending all that information about myself, so I looked into applying for a debit card. They want a credit card number. My problem is that I do not have a credit card either. How safe is to give that number out. They say it is just to verify the address. Any thoughts or am I missing something or misunderstanding. I have never had a credit, or debit card. Only a checking account.

I believe you can do the verification thing with just your bank account, even if you don't have a card. They deposit two very small amounts in your account and then you come back to Paypal and enter those numbers. I'm pretty sure that's how I did it.

stldenise · Feb 2, 2010

I don't think I ever gave them a credit card, that was the whole point. But, might I point out that PayPal wants all that info because they need to verify who you are? They're basically a bank, not some flim flam operation. Ask them for a mailing address if you don't like the idea of a fax.

Still Seaking · Feb 2, 2010

Just received word that they are upholding the rejection I received. They said that while Wikipedia is not blacklisted you still can’t use it. Funny, if I can’t use it why isn’t it black listed by DS and how come I’ve used it in the past. I don’t use it often but the information was there regardless, I used two universities and the editor didn’t know how to find the information there. I put Wikipedia because it said the same thing only the information was much easier to find. I still say if DS is going to uphold a rejection based solely on the fact that Wikipedia was used than they have to put it on the DS blacklist. It wasn’t blacklisted by this client because this client doesn’t have a blacklist. Isn’t the purpose of a blacklist so we don’t use sites that we can’t use? If there are sites we can’t use that aren’t blacklisted how the heck are we supposed to know. I’m seeing red right now, sorry, probably not making a lot of since either. Just wanted to pass along the update.

SS

joyce · Feb 2, 2010

I thought Wikipedia was on the blacklist. I've used them to get tid bits of information, but I've never listed them as a reference on my articles. I don't know how I know this, or where I heard it from, but I know DS does not like the "Wiki" places used in the reference box. I haven't looked at the blacklist for a little bit, so I don't even know if they have added anyone new.

Sorry about the rejection. I just know...don't list a wiki place in that reference box or your article will get knocked back to you. I wish I could tell you where I read this, but I just can't remember.

stldenise · Feb 5, 2010

We often complain about bad CEs, but I wanted to share a rewrite request that has to be the nicest one I've ever received. I have to admit, I haven't done any DS work in a month or so, and had not read the updated rules on links...

Feb 4, 2010 - Really nice job on this overall. Writing a List article that doesn't sound completely like a How To or Strategy is particularly difficult, but I think you did a very good job here. There are a couple of small sections where the writing does venture into Strategy territory, but it's not too bad. I also had a question or two in other sections. Also, please take a look at the References. There was an addendum to references released recently that discourages commercial/retail sites as references. Hopefully, you can find alternatives. I hope my comments are helpful. Thank you!

NewKidOldKid · Feb 5, 2010

That's weird. Wikipedia is definitively blacklisted.

plaidearthworm · Feb 5, 2010

This has been a bad week for me...more rewrites than I've had in a long time. Most of them were Overstock.com, which hasn't been worth the extra money per article because of some very particular rewrite requests. I'm abandoning at least one, because $25 is not worth 3 hours work to me. Hope next week is better.

joyce · Feb 5, 2010

plaidearthworm said:
This has been a bad week for me...more rewrites than I've had in a long time. Most of them were Overstock.com, which hasn't been worth the extra money per article because of some very particular rewrite requests. I'm abandoning at least one, because $25 is not worth 3 hours work to me. Hope next week is better.

I gave up on Overstock.com articles months ago. My first few went through just fine and then I started getting crazy rewrites. I thought I'd get an ulcer so I just gave up writing them all together. I figured I'm just not cut out to be an Overstock.com kind of girl.

For the past few months I've been traveling around the country with DS writing camping articles. I've been having really good luck with them flying through (probably just jinxed myself). They're making me want to go camping though.....and to some place I can't afford to get to, or it's presently 15 degrees.

Still Seaking · Feb 5, 2010

Wikipedia is not blacklisted, discouraged. Here is the link to the blacklist page.
http://media.demandstudios.com/Documents/0b07425c-48a6-4e5a-9ac4-a6c0523012ba.pdf

Jacqui · Feb 6, 2010

Still Seaking said:
Wikipedia is not blacklisted, discouraged. Here is the link to the blacklist page.
http://media.demandstudios.com/Documents/0b07425c-48a6-4e5a-9ac4-a6c0523012ba.pdf

The References section of the editorial guidelines says specifically to stay away Wikipedia and Yahoo Answers, as well as any other sources that contain unverified user-submitted information. Page 11, 3rd bullet point.

blackrose602 · Feb 8, 2010

Just got my first really nasty rewrite request, and need to vent. The copyeditor said that my content was thin, confusing and unclear. I need to "learn basic punctuation." The copyeditor all but accused me of lying about a specific (admittedly subjective) point. The net result: "This will require significant improvement before I accept."

I'm confused. My Grammar Score and Research Score are both 4.3. I have an 8% all-time rewrite percentage. I've abandoned a single rewrite and never had a rejection.

The irony: This was a piece on planning a Disney vacation. I've been writing this topic for years, for top websites and print magazines.

I appealed it, obviously, but it still kind of threw me. The comments felt very vicious, like a personal attack.

Still Seaking · Feb 8, 2010

Jacqui, I didn’t say anything about the editorial guidelines. I said it is not on the DS blacklist and it is not. I’ve been writing for DS for quite a while and this was one of their iditors, the information was there before I added the Wikipedia reference, he/she didn’t like having to look through the two university articles I used as references and Wikipedia had the information easier to find. My gripe was the bases of the reject was that Wikipedia was blacklisted and it is not blacklisted. It is discouraged but not blacklisted by DS and only two of their clients and this was not one of those two clients.

Blackrose, I have no doubt I’ve had that same CE. Next time, I’m filing a complaint. Everybody has different styles and not everybody is going to like everyone else’s but the CE should be objective and stick to the facts and when they attack it unprofessional and rude.

SS

Still Seaking · Feb 8, 2010

Moth, thanks, I somehow overlooked your post and just now saw it. I’ll give that a shot next time.

SS

princessvessna · Feb 8, 2010

I'm glad I use a pen name there. I had a tree article approved there but the CE went and changed around all of my Latin names so they weren't in parentheses (I think that reads better than extra commas, and it's how I usually see it in the garden world. Read in the forums there how many do it that way too) and messed around with the variety names so they were in double quotes, not the single quotes used by botanists.

It made it more complicated by saying Canada Red Chokecherry, Prunus virginiana known as "Canada Red," when all you really need is (Prunus virginiana 'Canada Red'). And it would be one thing if they phrased it that way all the time, but they didn't.

It's approved so whatever, but it's not something I would want to put my real name on now as a garden writer.

Attraction for Demand Studios?

my own two hands

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practical experience, FTW

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practical experience, FTW

diplomat

Scout Mom

Doing what I was born to do.

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Scout Mom

diplomat

Rock and Squiggle

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Doing what I was born to do.

Doing what I was born to do.

Doing what I was born to do.

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