by Karon Brandt

Created on: January 15, 2010   Last Updated: April 16, 2010

Upfront pay is nice, but it is once and done. Long-term, month-after-month passive income is reliable and offers continued security from completed works.

Writers can gain some quick earnings with Upfront pay for the first five articles written to non creative writing channels. If they have five stars, they will earn an extra $2.50 for that article. One-star writers earn 50 cents Upfront. From then on, all future earnings will come from page views for work already done.

Writers can earn an extra dollar by being the first to write to an empty title, but it's the sum total of ongoing page views that will earn even more long term.   Rating 2 of 20 puts the writer in the top 10%; rating 2 of 5 places the writer at 40% and will pull down his average below the top quarter needed to hold onto blue stars.

A dollar is nice, but the long-term benefits of passive income totaling even more, is nicer, because the work is already done and the articles are still earning. Quality is always important, along with quantity, because every star adds to long-term income and every non CW articles adds to the number needed for extra stars.

Writers can earn money in the Marketplace, IF their articles are chosen, which is always a dicey process of second-guessing exactly what the publisher wants. If only one article is accepted, the “losers” then join the regular site anyway, so all future earnings are based on page views for that topic.

The lure of some quick money can override long-term value. The advantage of passive income means dependable, long-term earnings even when you aren't actively writing.

Writers should take a long-term view to prevent the loss of blue stars. Don't write to MP titles you really know nothing about or aren't interested in; those "rejected titles" go onto your Articles' page and represent you to the world. It's like filling a business card with irrelevant information if it doesn't represent your best interests and work.

The more fact-based articles you have in your content, the better your chances are of receiving surprise bonuses for stock content, but you should make that  content part of a strong portfolio, not a hodge-podge of miscellaneous topics that don't represent your best works. As always, dependable earnings are based on continued reader interest and page views.

Contests seem to require much output to win; the large number of “loser articles” transition over to Helium, and the quality will affect overall averages

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