Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/43426
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/43426
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I missed my chance to write for About.Com when it was TheMiningCom and now it's DotDash and seems to be under different rules. Suite101 has become Suite.io (blocked from my work, so that's all I know.)

I know at one point I had bookmarked Squiddoo, HubPages, BellaOnline and others to write for. Are they still around? No idea - possibly in some form.

I'm talking basically about sites that pay at least a little, and they're not totally anonymous content farms, but by-line linked, and you theoretically develop a little community.

**Why would I want to write for one?** I do well with peer pressure/ **incentives**. The Rep/Badges system here is a great gamification system that works.

**Community** is helpful -- I am recognizing names of frequent contributors. If any of them post a link to their published work or blog, I'll check it out and hope for vice-versa, even if it's not normally my cup of tea. I know the '00s were the decade for non-facebook/IG community-building, but there may be some.

And beyond Writing.SE, an external, regular **deadline** is good for me. I can't seem to set my own deadlines and stick to them, so my blog/site is blah. But if I have a promise to BellaOnline for 2 short articles a week about Board Games _(not my proposed topic)_, that rebuilds my regularly-writing-for-an-audience muscle.

They reward **moderate expertise** -- I don't feel expert enough about coffee or whatever to propose A Column to A Coffee Magazine/Site. But I feel I know more than the average bear, and can quickly research things that the average reader would want to know more about. It always seemed that the "experts" on these sites were Pretty Good, but not Great, and that's what I wanted as a reader, and what I can deliver as a writer.

* * *
**But are these sites dead?** Will I make $5 from them, or should that energy go towards really good ebay descriptions of shoes I want to sell? Will I get readers? I'm not trying to poll-for-experience, but if anyone has statistics on these sites, or which are still thriving without a massive pivot-to-video, that would be helpful. Thanks!

Original score: 5