How to Get Fired (While the owner of DMS buys a $25 Million House)
Today I logged on to DMS to find that I was part of their ‘Writer Development Program’, where I have to write three articles to be scrutinised by a Senior Editor.
I thought this was balls, so I posted the below comment on their forums. A few minutes later, expectedly, I received an email saying I was fired! Am I bothered? No.
Here’s the comment I put on the forum:
You’re all being very nice.
I have written hundreds of articles for DS over the past year, from which I’ve made around $15 (£10, in my currency) per article, and from which eHow have made hundreds of dollars per piece.
Basically, I’ve earnt you a shedload of cash. And now you’re telling me I’m part of some Writer Development Program, and that my next 3 articles will be reviewed carefully, and that only when I’ve passed this strange power-trip exam can I go back to my old allocation?
In the nicest way possible: shove your three articles up your arse.
I simply don’t get paid enough for writing 400 words to warrant spending the time on writing a ‘quality’ article on, say, how best to pour concrete, and going through your ridiculous narcissistic mentorship program.
I can (and do) write on subjects I am passionate about for other companies who will happily pay me £100 per 400 words, and will provide constructive feedback instead of the vapid comments I’ve had from some DMSCEs in the past. It’s time to focus more on getting paid what I am worth, than desperately scratching around the seabed of the Internet writing pointless articles on stupid subjects.
Sorry, DMS. You are and were always a bit of a quick win for me, a way of getting a bit of pocket money. I never once considered myself a ‘freelance writer’ whilst writing for you; anyone can write about the best toasters on the market. I didn’t even put you on my CV/resume, because I knew that credible publications would laugh me out the door for it. Writing for DMS is not journalism. It’s barely writing. So thanks for the memories: but I’m off.
And to everyone else on this forum: you seem like intelligent people. There’s one guy on here who’s sold a novel, for crying out loud. Why are you wasting time on this churning content machine when you could be earning big bucks writing for a respected publication?
You’re better than this. You all are. For goodness’ sake, aim higher.
Interesting site. I accidentally located this website after getting frustrated with searching through 1500 projects. I discovered that most of the projects are expert fields (i.e. automotive, animation, etc).
I hold a MPA, a BA in Film & Media Studies and two AA in film and in liberal arts. I’ve written a ton of professional content. However, I never could make it past the first article.
I have written for many domain websites and also run a few domain sites on my own. My first project, “How to appraise a domain name” got rejected twice. The editors rejected me on length. In the next submission, I trimmed the article. Then, I got rejected again.
The editor noted that there is no doubt that I’m an expert, but their editors have strict guidelines to stay within the 400 word limit. Therefore, I never produced another article beyond the eHow platform.
My “How to Decode Dreams” and “How to Reduce Fines on Traffic Citations” performed extremely well on eHow. I retain the rights to the articles. I noticed that many here have complained about the Demand Studios format. I also struggle to find a decent topic. The platform lacks variety. In the past, there were some outlandish topics that made me laugh.
The most hilarious event is when Demand Media offered $33 to purchase all my articles. I rejected that request. In addition, the platform continued to use my articles long after stating that writers will no be paid after a specific date. In result, I could not use my articles until they removed them. Your website get de indexed because of using duplicate content.
IMHO, Google favors eHow. Their articles are ranked high while authoritative leaders are pushed to the back of the pile. I wrote a top article on astral projection. Another site covered my article, noting me as the author and pasting the entire article on their site. Their site is ranked number #1 for the topic, and my original article is nowhere to be found. I check 50 pages, and then ceased my search.
If you look further, you might find truth behind such partnerships. IMO, Google and WhyPark have obvious conflict. Whypark also uses Yahoo and Bing. In the past, Whypark and Google worked together. Now every good performing WhyPark site is getting de ranked or de indexed. One of my coin sites that is generic as they come went from 20,000 unique per month to 30. A movie site went from 3200 per month to 20.
Demand Studios and eHow must be doing something right to get ranked. IMO, maybe AdSense has something to do with it. If you search coupon sites, you will notice that sites using AdSense with outdated coupons and codes remain ranked while good quality sites without AdSense are axed.
Interesting site. Helium only pay $1 for articles. I think the $15 per is better than what I see domainers bragging about – having writer prepare content of $.99 per 300 word articles. That’s pathetic! It’s an insult to writers. Thanks.
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tl;dr
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I have a feeling he’s overestimating the worth of his articles with that hundreds of dollars per piece thing. If that were true their stock may be doing better.
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Let’s face it, if you were the best and the brightest, you’d have real writing jobs, and not be working for DMS, who produces low QUALITY content.
Those who work there and are still in denial, will soon realize how golden their life would be if they started looking for real work before DMS tanks.
If anyone at DMS had any balls, they would respond with a post on this forum and state their real name. After all DMS doesn’t have a reputation for honesty. Doesn’t all that spam they send out make them look sleazy and desperate for money? It really makes DMS look like used snake oil salesmen. DMS really should be ashamed of themselves!
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Yup. The same can be said about the chickenshit editors who send writers their articles back for a rewrite. What’s up with all this editor anonymity?? They’re allowed to know the writers’ names, but the writers don’t get the courtesy of knowing editors’ names??? Doesn’t make sense.
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At the very least, writers should see an editor number so they know if this editor is new, likely to reject (based on previous experience the writer has had with this CE) or has previously demonstrated a lack of knowledge of AP Style and DMS guidelines. The fact that Lally lies about keeping CEs anonymous because of previous stalking proves it’s just one more way that he and Eve protect CEs at all cost. Giving CEs a number would not endanger them. It’s all a lie to prevent Eve and Richard from having to better manage the CEs (i.e., do some work).
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“If anyone at DMS had any balls, they would respond with a post on this forum and state their real name.”
HOLY SHIT YOU ARE THE BIGGEST FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT HYPOCIRTE COWARD. PUT YOUR FUCKING NAME UP HERE YOU WORTHLESS SACK OF CRAP. GO SODOMIZE YOUR MOTHER.
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I agree with you Shame on you DMS and happy writer. I am surprised Rachael Ray and Tyra Banks would associate themselves with a company like DMS. If they knew what really went on over there, they would not have their names associated with DMS.
The reason DMS staffers don’t place their real names on the forums — is because of the unprofessional, vulgar sleazy comments they make, they would not want the world to see them for what they truly are TRASH.
DMS staffers are chickens — anyone who defends DMS and does not have the balls to state who they are is a COWARD.
Only a staffer or a kiss ass would defend DMS.
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yeah, i guess i didn’t make that clear enough. that was from a reader. i’m still chugging along at DS.
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Why is everyone assuming this was Patrick? Looks to me like he’s just copying and pasting a message from a writer who got fired.
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I too was released from DMS but was not given the option for an evaluation program. It was unfortunate since I had submitted a great number of articles, all with high quality ratings. Even the CEs who are generally on what I like to refer to as a “Nazi power trip” stated that my writing was very professional and that my articles offered “great expert advice. Keep up the good work”. How was I supposed to keep up the good work when an hour later my writer permissions had been blocked? Their reason? My quality was not up to par. That’s funny considering I hold a B.A. in Journalism. Unfortunately, I cannot find many opportunities to compensate my degree in this small little town that I live in. I would have to travel nearly 2 hours to get to the closest job and they are currently floundering under the economic pressure that we are all under. If you could please suggest other sites that pay well, I would be more than happy to hear them. I am with you all the way in admitting that DS is a content mill that did not pay writers near what they are worth. Please, if you know of any other sites, I would love to know of them! Thanks!
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Venture into the forums. I regularly post non-farming writing gigs in the Catch-All forum.
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Thanks so much. I will certainly do that.
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How can that garner two “dislikes?” Geez. Whackadoodles out there who don’t want people to find work.
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Considering the source, I suppose.
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Whatever. Work is work, no matter the source. They must be whackadoodles who would rather be on welfare and live in tents than actually work for a living, or God forbid, reply to a job lead posted by me. LOL
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If DMS was looking for quality, they would not have bought Emerging Cast — who only pays its writers $1.80 for an English written article of between 250-500 words.
It’s laughable that they say they are raising the bar. I am going to the dollar store today and saying I want to purchase quality china, is anyone really going to take me seriously? It’s evident they are just looking to pay less, and not being honest about it.
Shame on you DMS!!! Shame on you!!!
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Patch.com is owned by AOL.
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Wow is all I have to say. I agree with Great Googly Moogly in that it sure as hell seems like Patrick quit voluntarily. DMS sending him an email about being “fired” is a joke after the post he left on the forum. But it’s typical. -_-
I’m currently on my 2nd time in their ridiculous Writer Development Program. I have barely done any articles for them the past 2+ months due to getting more heavily involved in better quality websites for freelance writing, particularly The Writers Network. I get far better articles, access to higher pay and deal with editors who are actually very nice and *gasp* intelligent. Too many of the DMS editors are, to put it bluntly, jackasses. I really think they have it in for many of the writers, which is pathetic. I did one whole article recently since my claim limit has gone down to 3, and although it was accepted, the editor gave me a 3 for both grammar and research. LMFAO, are you kidding me??? I have a degree in Journalism, for fuck’s sake! I’ve written a novel and have been an editor by profession for more than a decade!
Don’t you find it awfully funny that when they deem you in need of their Writer Development Program, they lower your claim limit to a mere three??? Call me crazy, but if you really want to help someone, you’d give them access to MORE article, not less. Oh, and I mustn’t forget to mention the fact that their titles have dropped dramatically over the past couple of months, so there’s barely a thing to claim as it is! I guess they expect everyone to be an expert on the automotive field, eh? Pathetic…
When I discovered they shoved me into their so-called “program” again, I decided I would do an article here and there whenever I get the chance or inkling. I am not going to waste my time doing an article on a topic I’m unfamiliar with – those days are long since over. If they want to keep me around, fine. If not, then buh-bye! It’s not like I’ll miss the asshole editors (there have been a few nice ones, but those are definitely outnumbered by the nasty ones). Also, I’ve made a whopping $120 from them over the course of about three months now, which is laughable. I can continue working *happily* for other websites.
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patch.com pays pretty good if they are in your area. I average $75-85 per article there and it’s easier work than DMS, unless going to a local event and writing about the experience is deemed too much effort for you.
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“… unless going to a local event and writing about the experience is deemed too much effort for you.”
LOL Sorry DMSers, but that comment cracked me up!
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What are some of these other companies that pay so much?
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The writers who get fired should consider themselves lucky, really. The rest of us who continue to write there, if we all make it without getting fired, will one day wake up to a message that DMS has closed shop. Whether it’s WEP, getting fired, or waking up to a closed domain, DMS plans to fuck us all. They don’t give a shit about any of us. Writing for Demand Studios is the most degrading writing opportunity on the web.
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At least you had balls and said something. I ate the awful evaluation process, and then was fired because apparently, my writing has been deemed subpar by the cheap bastards.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Personally, I am surprised I haven’t been fired after my recent forum posts. I know of at least one person who was fired from this place for having a “bad attitude” and the things I wrote publicly were much worse than what he said via private email. I really don’t give a fubb though. I submitted my first WEP article prior to seeing how many people have been fired for seemingly no reason. I hope it comes back as a rewrite so I can pass it back with a ‘screw you’ message. I don’t need this place, and I feel sorry for those who are so dependent on a system that thrives on keeping them barely fed. DMS has made liars of their staff and have treated many of their writers in a less than professional manner. I have no intention on providing material support to any company that engages in this type of behavior.
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Being fired by DMS will stop me from knocking out “articles” at a tenner a time and force me to concentrate on the real writing. Best thing that ever happened to me but then, I didn’t rely on it to feed the kids.
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I did. I rely on it to feed my kids. And that’s what smarts–I did a good job and here I am–fired on a technicality and looking at the worry on my husband’s face. I read a quote today that gave me a bit of courage: “You can look at the pieces on the floor and over-analyze and try to figure out what went wrong and how you could have put them together better, or you can move the f*** on and step over it.” Tupac. Good advice.
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DMS is so predictable.
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I dunno.. sure looks like he wasn’t fired but he quit…
“In the nicest way possible: shove your three articles up your arse.”
“So thanks for the memories: but I’m off.”
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