[Webzine] SplitMySide.com

[chadburu]

We are currently looking for short stories about your most embarrassing moments in life. If your story is accepted for our publication we will send you $200. Please go to http://www.splitmyside.com for further deatils. Thank you!

 

[Ella]

Hmm. No business profile. No explanation of what type of publication it is. No contract.

No good.

 

[sgtsdaughter]

i say . . .
flush la la lush lush lush!

seriously, i think that it has something to do with the language of the site. just sends red flags.

 

[Celeste]

We are currently looking for short stories about your most embarrassing moments in life. If your story is accepted for our publication we will send you $200. Please go to http://www.splitmyside.com for further deatils. Thank you!

​

Your site tells us pretty much nothing. There's no information of what, or where our stories will be published. You don't even have any contact info. There's just not enough there to convince me that this is up to par.

Just.."Give me your story and I'll give you $200". Just a submission box and that's it. Hmmm...

celeste

 

[TemlynWriting]

chadburu - What guarantee do people have that they'll indeed get paid? Obviously you're not related to Chicken Soup for the Soul, or any other anthology. It wouldn't be so bad if it were a non-paying anthology and was up-front about it, but you have no proof of a track record.

On two pages of the site I found the following:

"Please enter your name, full address, and e-mail address at the top of your story so we may contact you if we like your story. Type as much as you need. The longer the better."

"Also add your contact info so we can contact you if we like your embarrassing moment."

chadburu - Don't you plan on contacting everyone to at least let them know if their story has been accepted or rejected? Obviously you're not as big as a company like Chicken Soup, where they don't always respond. Besides, they hold onto every story they get, because one may not be suitable now, but may be perfect for a future book.

Folks, I would only mail something if I didn't mind losing ownership rights (and not getting paid), because I don't know if this site can be trusted to send payment, or what rights are involved. You may be turning them over to someone else. Proceed at your own risk.

 

[aka eraser]

I think you folks are right to be skeptical and very, very cautious. Until and if, (not gonna hold my breath) the poster returns with more convincing bona fides, I'd advise not sending them a word.

 

[Sassenach]

The site looks as if it was put up in 2 hours--all very generic.

 

[Richard]

We are currently looking for short stories about your most embarrassing moments in life

Almost sounds like a blackmail opportunity. You probably get another email later saying 'We are currently looking for $250 not to tell your mother!'

 

[wurdwise]

 

[nickyswriting]

Almost sounds like a blackmail opportunity. You probably get another email later saying 'We are currently looking for $250 not to tell your mother!'

There is no contact information, let alone the name of the publisher OR publication. There is no explaination of rights or payment process. It's just, "send us your story and we'll let you know". That's not good enough. You are all right to be very wary.

I hope the original poster comes back to provide more detail.

 

[awatkins]

I put on my spy hat and went and snooped around the web site. Didn't see any contact info, but I suppose you could type any questions into the story submission box and send them in that way. I'm a member of a small private writing group and one of the ladies there said that the webmaster was very courteous and answered her questions promptly.

Just passing along what I found out. The site looks a little oddball to me, but then again, what do I know? (to quote Chunky )

Good luck to anyone who chooses to send them a story.

 

[TemlynWriting]

I put on my spy hat and went and snooped around the web site. Didn't see any contact info, but I suppose you could type any questions into the story submission box and send them in that way. I'm a member of a small private writing group and one of the ladies there said that the webmaster was very courteous and answered her questions promptly.

Just passing along what I found out. The site looks a little oddball to me, but then again, what do I know? (to quote Chunky )

Good luck to anyone who chooses to send them a story.

Thanks so much for your input, Anne! It truly does mean a lot! I think everyone was suspicious because of there being no mention of professional connections, or any information above and beyond the posting of stories.

Thanks again, Anne!

 

[awatkins]

You're welcome, Julia!

It just seemed extremely odd to me that there isn't any contact info (not that I could find, anyway), no names, no nuthin'. So I guess the submission box would be the only way to get questions in to them.

It would be nice for anyone interested if the poster returned to answer questions. But it's possible that they (he? she?) just posted this in a lot of places and isn't checking back. This is something that I'd pass on without a lot more upfront info.

 

[Kudra]

He/she might also be a newbie with no clue as to how this actually works. This doesn't seem so much a scam to me as it does a newbie effort. In either case, I wouldn't recommend sending your work until the original poster can come back with some more information.

 

[TemlynWriting]

Exactly, KitKat. Thanks.

 

[Still Seaking]

I submitted

I had two stories that I sent them. I've told them to enough people that I could never be black mailed with them and if they say they own rights, I'll just write the stories differently if I find another market for them. I thought that for $200 it would be worth it and I could let you guys know what happens. Below is a copy of what I received from Chad:

Thank you for your recent story submission to splitmyside.com. I had
a chance to review your two stories. You are a good writer. Thank you! We are currently in the infancy state of our story collection process with only about ten percent of our targeted goals. So if you know of anybody else who would like to send in a story please tell them about are site. We kindly appreciate your referrrals. If your story makes the final cut we will notify you by mail with a signed release. Thanks again!

Sincerley,

Chad
Splitmyside.com

I only gave them my email address, didn't want to give out my home address until I knew more. As you guys can see, he didn't ask me for it. So we shall see. I'll keep you posted.

 

[TemlynWriting]

Thanks for the info, Still Seaking. Please keep us updated, if you can! We do hope that this is a decent market, and it seems so. Like Mr. Chadburu said, the site is in its infancy, so it really is very new.

 

[chadburu]

Hi everyone!

Thank you for your concerns in referance to our new website. We are not "chicken soup for the soul" big and are a very small start-up with large aspirations. To anyone that would like to contact me personally you can e-mail me directly at [email protected] and address it to chad burud. I am organizing this project. As far as the project it self I really think it is silly that someone one thinks that there is some blackmail involved with it. Isn't the internet lovely? I would like to say that if you have any sort of hesitation at all about submitting your work that you feel has personal value to your collection or your endevours and would feel unbearably nervous about submitting please do not. I would not want you to cause yourself any undue stress. As far as posting contact information like I said our site and collection process is only 2 weeks old and we are modifying the site when we can. To publish other peoples works without rights to that work would open us up to huge liabilities that no one would want. Good luck and stay positive and laugh a little..Wow!

 

[Richard]

As far as the project it self I really think it is silly that someone one thinks that there is some blackmail involved with it. Isn't the internet lovely?

I wouldn't rule out the possibility that I was joking.

 

[Kudra]

Chad, you still haven't given us any relevant information. Where will the essays be published-- in an anthology, on your website or somewhere else? What rights will you buy? Basically, what's the purpose of your asking for these stories?

 

[Torin]

would like to send in a story please tell them about are site. We kindly appreciate your referrrals.

I know I'm anal about grammar and spelling, especially on writing sites, and I don't even mind the three r's in a row in "refeRRRals", but "tell them about 'are' site" is sending me into a tizzy. Please tell me this person isn't going to be doing any proofreading or editing.

Shaking my head...

 

[wurdwise]

Torin, you beat me to the punch.

And call me suspicious or cynical, but chadburu, are you independently wealthy? A start up paying $200 dollars per story????

 

[TemlynWriting]

Good luck and stay positive and laugh a little..Wow!

We do try to stay positive, but we also watch out for writers, lest they get scammed. We're just asking for some pertinent information about what makes your market legit?

Kudos to everyone else's replies since: Richard, KitKat, Torin, Wurdwise. Thanks!

 

[Celeste]

Chad,

You still haven't mentioned anything about what, or where you'll be publishing the stories that are submitted. What is this for? What will you be doing with the stories? Will they be published in an e-zine? Will they be in print? What's the name of the publication? Will these stories be used for an anthology? Who, what, when, where and why?

 

[Kudra]

As far as the project it self I really think it is silly that someone one thinks that there is some blackmail involved with it. Isn't the internet lovely?

I thought the joke was quite obvious actually. But to quote Chad, "Isn't the internet lovely?"