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Bright Hub is a technical writers' web site that, as of this writing, pays $10 up front for each original article. (Forget about recycling articles published elsewhere. They accept original work only, and they check before publishing.) Unlike Helium, where writers compete for ranking on a specific title, Bright Hub operates on a one-title-per-author basis, and each new article idea must be specifically approved before writing and vetted before the article is published on the site.

Bright Hub is no place for poets and creative writers. It is, as previously mentioned, a technical writing site. Their editors are looking for experts in a wide variety of technical fields ranging from business to video games. Writers for the Education Channel, for example, are asked to submit lesson plans, homework and study tips, language and online learning, among other things. Typical article length requested is from 500 to about 750 words. (Writers can even break up longer articles into a series - a maximum of five articles per series - and receive payment for each article.

Bright Hub relies less on web site design and more on robust use of key words and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques in article writing. Unlike Helium, where site design showcases themes and authors, Bright Hub simply queues the articles as they are published. Writers are expected to attract readers looking for technical information through web search engines. So the writing process not only involves writing the article, but also composing a set of key words, an HTML-friendly title and another so-called meta description of the article, all of which are designed to attract searchers.

Like Helium, however, writers get a share of the pennies in advertising revenue generated by hits. Channel editors garner 15 percent of each of their writer's revenue, but nobody gets rich here. The real financial incentive, of course, is the $10-up front payment for each new article, which is paid once a month, and only if the writer has accumulated $20 in the account.

New Bright Hub writers will find the article submission interface a bit more challenging than Helium. Bright Hub employs an online template where the author can opt to either write a review article (complete with rating stars) or a standard article. Writers can opt to break their articles into discrete sections, complete with large-font title headings with the option of importing graphics. The interface also allows the common fonts and text enhancements (underline, bold, accented letters), all of which enhance the overall look of the article. (Articles, by the way, can be edited at any time, but edits must be approved by the channel editor.)

In exchange for the $10 up-front, Bright Hub writers forgo the almost total autonomy enjoyed on Helium. Writers must be approved and vetted by each channel editor before they can suggest titles. Also, each channel has a restricted quota of articles and writers compete for the limited spots available. However, reliable and prolific writers usually have no problem in getting a fair share of writing opportunities.

So as a web site for quality technical writing, Bright Hub is a great platform for writers who like to earn a little bit more for doing more. As an attractive web platform displaying the writer's work, however, Bright Hub comes in a distant second after Helium. Find out more about Bright Hub and what their editors are looking for on the Bright Hub Writers and Editors Page.

Learn more about this author, Jerry Curtis.
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