Zujava Shuts Down: The Annoyance of "Old" vs "New" work

The annoying thing about writing for external content sites-- as opposed to merely writing for your own blogs and web sites-- is the general lack of control.

A while back, I wrote about another content (and revenue) sharing site-- Zujava-- closing down. Whereas it is both sad and annoying to lose another online venue, there's also a secondary annoyance associated with this news: Now everyone has to scramble-- and waste a lot of time and creative energy-- to retrieve, revise and republish their content from that site in a new location.

The "annoyance factor" lies largely in the fact that such closures and moves means that writers have to "back burner" all new work for a period of days to months to deal with "old" work... or simply face losing lots of previously created content; watching effort and creativity head down the tubes.

Revenue sharing sites that actually pay contributors for their content seem like a great idea-- on paper-- but very few turn out to have the staying power to be "in the game" for more that a couple of years or three, and often a lot less than that... many get started with great promises and fold within a year.

This always leaves me asking myself the same old question: Is it even worth the effort to try to contribute to third party sites that "pretend" to offer compensation? Or are we actually better off just contributing minimally to curated sites that are a good match for our content... and not worrying about "the money;" instead focusing on those sites being like beacons of "promotional vehicles" for the bulk of our content, which we keep on our own sites, that we control and manage?

Either way, "getting something" for your writing on the web seems like an extreme long-term proposition. The only web site/blog combo I own that generates reliable traffic does so because I have been posting to it consistently since 2002 and it has gradually developed a following... and that's a really long time to way for a paycheck. And even so, it's just a few dollars. Is it "worth" it?

In the end, I suppose I have to confess that even having $20 is better than "not having $20," and that's why I still contribute... even though I also have to confess that these words-- and my many others-- have nothing to do with money, and everything to do with a love for writing.

In the meantime, I need to go move some content from yet another defunct site...

Monthly Report: May 2015

It's that time of the month again, as I recap another "exciting" month in the life of this lazy online writer. These are just the "true facts," folks... not some inflated nonsense designed to "impress" people with how amazing the life of an online writer can be...

May ended up being pretty much a "non-month" for me, from a writing perspective, as most of my efforts were directed at non-writing endeavors, ahead of our planned 3-week trip to Denmark, in June. On the other hand, there is a slight sense of hope in that-- namely that three weeks of being on authentic "holiday" will surely offer up some opportunities to sit quietly and write.

On the upside for May, my "organizational efforts" started while we spent a few days in Joshua Tree are starting to pay off... with a distinct uptick in AdSense views, as a result of "cleaning up" several blogs and writing venues.

Without further ado, here's the final breakdown:

$4.38 from AdSense (4208 page views)-- the money is pretty minimal, but the number of page views is up 50+% from the past 3-month average.
$6.43 from Amazon Associates (9 orders/118 clicks)-- remains well below historical average, but slow improvement, at least.
$5.66 from my original "Denmarkguy" HubPages account (20 articles)-- this still sits extremely far below my historical average; hoping to boost with new content when we are in Denmark next month.
$3.89 from my "HSP Connections" HubPages account (8 articles)-- still establishing a trend there; this account is (so far) dependent mainly on a few Amazon sales.

That adds up to a grand total of $20.36 for May-- still feebly low, but at least it's a $20 bill, and a small improvement over April.

Feeling good about the prospects for June, given that I will have a full three weeks of being on holiday... and the only thing I can really "do" on a rainy day will be to write. Which is what I like to do when I have "downtime," anyway. Of course, "hopes" often far exceed reality, once the proverbial "fat lady" sings...

A "Writing Retreat"

In about two weeks, we are heading to Denmark.

That's where I am originally from, and my family still has a summerhouse there, which now functions as a "family timeshare," of sorts.

People have been going to this house for generations (it was built in the 1930s) to "get away" from daily life, and often to express their creativity.

When my grandparents were still alive, a lot of painters would come and spend weeks-- or entire summers-- in this place, working on their art. My grandfather was a big supporter of up and coming artists-- as an art collector, many of the pieces hanging on the walls of the (long gone) "ancestral home" were painted by artists he personally knew.

The house would also be a summer gathering place for writers and philosophers, who used the quiet and the "slowing of time" to get in touch with their inner muses.

Even in 2015, this remains possible... although now surrounded by developments, there are still 24 untouched acres of land immediately surrounding the house. And when you arrive, it is as if time slows down... or "ceases to exist," altogether.

I have often dreamed of using some time at this place to simply sit and write. We have gone in the past, but it seems like there has always been "something" to get in the way... from family gatherings to needing to act as "tour guide." This time, we are going with the intention of "just sitting," because we have not had a (real) vacation in four years.

That's my intention.

Of course, "even the best laid plans...." and yadda, yadda.

Stay tuned....

Another One Bites the Dust... well, TWO actually

The online writing business continues to be "not much of anything."

One-time (and short-lived) Bubblews "alternative" CGP Gallery has shut down. Or maybe been shut down by WordPress for deceptive practices. Or maybe they didn't pay their bills... not surprising, either way. The site reeked of "making promises we can't keep," so the demise was almost inevitable.

Meanwhile, one of the "serious" writing sites-- Zujava-- has announced that it will be closing down in July. I always liked Zujava-- it had a nice clean interface, and would only accept "real" writers who put up quality content.

Unfortunately, the wheels sort of fell off when Zujava ran into trouble with Amazon Associates and lost their affiliate account, meaning that contributors were left without one of the primary ways they could earn income from the site. Things never quite recovered, and the flow of new content more or less stopped.

Whereas I never really got very deep into publishing on the site, I was able to "triangulate" from my four published articles that the entire site was barely taking in $200-300 a month in ad revenues... to be divided up among 4000-odd articles. Basically, a handful of change. There's a limit to just how much "serious" writers are willing to create content and get nothing in return.

At this point, I am sort of "soured" on the whole writing online for money experience. I will continue to add some content on HubPages, and I will probably transfer my Zujava content there... but that's about the extent of it. I am somewhat worried that HubPages is now pretty much "the only came in town," and especially as it relates to better quality content. That's a bit scary.

I definitely need to make sure I have backup copies of all my articles there.

Monthly Report: April 2015

Time for another monthly recap from the wonderful world of The Lazy Online Writer.

April was a rather dull month, although I actually started getting more active with writing again-- however, that activity will not be reflected in current income.

Getting organized while we were in Joshua Tree will turn into a benefit, but I don't expect that to manifest financially till July or August.

Lost more ground in April, mostly due to my Amazon Associates sales dropping off the map.

Here's the final breakdown:

$3.53 from AdSense (2,132 page views)-- remains well below historical average
$3.30 from Amazon Associates (7 orders/89 clicks)-- also well below historical average
$5.83 from my "original" HubPages account (20 articles)-- remains below average
$5.26 from my "Squid" HubPages account (8 articles)-- still establishing a trend there

That adds up to a grand total of $17.92 for April-- lowest in several years.

Little disturbed by the trend here-- the AdSense page views was the lowest since April 2012.

Not counting any other venues as none are producing measurable or reliable income I think I will ever see. Bubblews is pretty much dead in the water, CGP Gallery is a joke, Seekyt is pretty much a spam farm and Zujava seems to (sadly!) be dying a slow death. I am staying away from "promising" new sites, because they are usually full of shit.

The only "possible" on the horizon is "Tsu," which is a Facebook-ish (rather than writing) venue that claims to pay contributors. I think it's true-- based on what I have read-- but I also think you have to be a semi-celebrity with thousands of followers to have any chance to reach the $100 payout threshold. I've dabbled there a bit... which has earned me the princely sum of 15 cents.

Desert Ponderings

I decided to take a bunch of my "loose notes" with me to Joshua Tree, as I figured I would be spending a good bit of time by myself while Sarah was spending time taking care of her mom.

These were the thousands of loose scraps of paper onto which I have scribbled ideas, over the years, in the hope of "eventually turning them into a useful article or blog post."

Maybe it's profoundly self-involved of me to think that all these fleeting ideas are actually "good enough" to become a worthy piece of writing. As I am revisiting them now, many of them seem rather nonsensical... and it makes me wonder whether I am just wasting a bunch of time by trying to "capture" ideas when they happen, because I harbor hopes of "saving them" for some time when I actually have the time to turn them into "something."

I am, in so many ways, a "frustrated writer." Mostly, I am frustrated because I have to spend all my daily energy on making a living, and it leaves no time over for writing... and I can't afford to simply say "today I am going to write!" because doing so is likely going to result in the electricity being cut off.

Which would suck.

It makes me sad that "creative types" are typically "underemployed," from a financial compensation perspective.

At age 54, I have never been employed at anything that allowed me any more than to merely "scrape by." Which sounds kind of stupid, because I have a college degree (with high honors, no less) in Finance that I have never used for anything. But the financial field never held any appeal... I merely completed the degree to satisfy parental and family pressures.

Sometimes this whole dilemma makes me sit and ponder what we "value" in society, and how rarely those things that "pay well" are in creative fields... and how (sadly) often they are in fields that involve destruction and deception. That doesn't speak very highly of us, as human beings.

Anyway, here I am, trying to sort all these pieces of paper with "great ideas" sketched on them-- and i feel very overwhelmed.

Revisiting Zujava

I was visiting Zujava again, this morning.

The thing I like about Zujava is that it genuinely is a "serious" site for writers, even if it is set up with all the same "sales related tools" other revenue sharing sites have. The pre-qualification requirement for new writer-members is such that most of the "Get Rich Quick Morons" have little interest in applying there.

Of course, it is a pretty "tiny" site, with pretty tiny traffic. You have to be willing to bring your own traffic, or at least create some content that is search friendly, or your work will never be seen.

I am still not sure how much effort I am willing to put into Zujava, on account of their no longer having an Amazon Associates connection. Without that, the only compensation I get is ad revenue share, and that is pretty paltry-- so far.

However, the ad revenue payments have been steady and "on time," since I qualified to receive them, during the middle of 2014. Still, $0.22 to $0.28 a month isn't exactly a way to get rich.

NaNoWriMo, revisited

It's November again, and that means "NaNoWriMo," at least for some people.

I've been asked a number of times why I don't "do" NaNoWriMo... and even though I've toyed with it a few times, I just never have. Perhaps the most central reason is that I just don't write fiction. And the "No" part is short for "novel" and I have little to no interest in actually writing a novel.

One year I tried to "adapt" the NaNoWriMo concept to fit my style by embarking on a challenge to "write 30 articles in 30 days" but it didn't really work out for me.

I suppose it is not surprising: Even in the past, "structured" writing exercises have never been my friend. Whereas I recognize their value-- as a tool to "get in the habit" of writing every day, creating something to a "writing prompt" had never resulted in my churning out anything better than "mediocre garbage."

The "lure" if it is there, every year, however. I start seeing posts on forums and Facebook, and I start getting notices in my email... and I start thinking "Maybe I should DO that!"

But no, I'm going to pass.