by Amber Hilton

Created on: February 03, 2010

Helium has developed a star system to distinguish between writers and provide recognition for its most talented and productive members. The number of blue stars located next to a Helium writer’s name showcases the level of recognition that they have achieved. Writing stars are based on both quantity of articles and quality, which is determined based on Helium’s unique peer-ranking system.

However, writing stars are more than a means of pumping up fragile creative egos; they also directly relate to Helium’s upfront payments. Five stars is currently the maximum that any Helium writer can achieve and qualifies them to earn an upfront payment of $2.50 for each eligible title.

Reaching the maximum five writing stars does take some time and effort, but there are several things that Helium members can do to help reach this milestone more quickly.

* Write more. The easiest way to earn more writing stars is simply to write more Helium articles. A total of 500 or more articles is necessary to earn five writing stars (with the exception of a bonus star, discussed below).

* Contribute to knowledge channels. Unfortunately for Helium’s fiction writers, contributions to the Creative Writing channel do not currently count towards the writing star system. If creative writing is your passion, continue to submit your work on Helium, but if you want to earn stars (and cash), you’ll have to balance these contributions with well-written knowledge articles.

* Set goals. Reaching 500 articles becomes more manageable when Helium writers set daily, weekly or monthly goals for content production. Select a date by which you would like to earn five stars and calculate how many articles you will need to write per day, week or month to make that goal a reality. Remember, if you write to eligible titles, you can earn upfront payments for all of these articles (earnings will relate to your current number of writing stars).

* Focus on quality. While quantity of articles is certainly important in earning writing stars, quality counts too. In order to earn writing stars, 90% of a Helium writer’s portfolio must rank in the top 75% based on the peer-ranking system. Fortunately, Helium doesn’t count the lowest 10% of any member’s articles, which makes it easier to earn and maintain writing stars.

* Aim for the bonus star. A bonus writing star is awarded when a member’s Helium articles rank in the top 85% or higher. This means that a writer could

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