How To Not Be Used By a Writing Site

I have participated in many writing sites  I have also written a number of articles about writing sites.

I have been attacked by an army of users who, until the day they are ripped off, remain die-hard supporters of the writing site.

I write this as an advisory; not as an I told you so.

Firstly, never  defend any site you don’t own or have not been paid to defend.  Ever.

You have no idea who owns it, what their intentions are, and can swear for no one.

There are sites that have ripped off 75% of their users, but you, lucky you, fall into that lucky 25%.

Why are you bragging that ‘I’ve always been Paid!’ as if you are a co-conspirator?

There are owners of sites who plan to run a scam.  They map out how they will do it, get their shills lined up, then pop into existence making promises they can not ever fulfill.

Their shills attack every person who questions the site; some will go so far as to claim to have spoken to the owner, that they have been paid. Shills will say anything and become almost violent when questioned.

This is because they are PAID to tout the site.

For you, an innocent bystander who has ‘Always been paid’ to join them only makes you guilty of their offence.  Just as if you did not know this Lottery was a scam and sold tickets.

Many decent writers shamefully became a shill for a site that was a scam from start. As everything has to make sense, the assumption is that other users weren’t paid because they broke the Rules.

Until the decent writer isn’t paid or the site goes down without warning the belief is that other writers weren’t paid because of something they did.   Not something the owner planned.

Shills know what they are doing and are paid.  If you aren’t paid, don’t shill.

Secondly, be suspicious.  Everyone has seen the; “Riteon! A Great Writing Site!”  written by some shill which touts how much it pays etc.

Take a look, Read the Terms of Service.   See if you lose your copyright.  See how it pays.   Getting paid once doesn’t count.  Not even twice.  Talk what you know.

“Well, Riteon paid me twice.”   Done.

Don’t make yourself a target for people you’ve brought in, people who have used the referral you gave them.   It is Your Fault that they wrote their fingers off and didn’t get paid.

Thirdly, check ownership.   If you can’t delete an article you have written, you’ve lost your copyright.

How important is this?

Someone else may soon be posting the article you wrote on other sites.  Someone who owned Riteon.   Riteon, that great site you worked for, you shilled for, and now, there’s your item on another site, with another name, and you can’t do a thing…. why?

You Sold Your Item to Riteon.   You Sold it for 10c.

So before you start banging the drum about new sites, be very careful.