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Follow Angela Hoy
June 23, 2010
Free Article Sites are Not Content Mills | printable version
Hi Angela,
I am confused about the whole content mill thing.
As part of my book promotion and research, I came across an article advising authors to send articles to content ezines as a way to promote a book. I took the bait. Seemed reasonable. I submit short pieces, include my bio and book info., and get more exposure.
Jill Pertler
Marketing by Design
Writing and Design Services
Author of the new book:
The Do-It-Yourselfer's Guide to Self-Syndication
http://www.writersweekliy.com/books/4693.html
And syndicated column Slices of Life
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Slices-of-Life/113532075340069
Submitting free articles to websites, when they aren't misrepresenting their intentions and when you understand you won't get paid but can shamelessly promote yourself, is just fine. I, myself, use free article sites to promote my books.
Content mills "hire" (and I do use that term tongue-in-cheek) writers to write original content for what usually amounts to far less than minimum wage...and most of them take all rights to the articles as well. Their ads make it look like writers are going to be rolling in the dough. Average contributors tell a completely different story, however.
