Do you have to have a rating star to get the empty title bonus?
By mommaj
@mommaj (23112)
United States
August 14, 2009 12:58pm CST
I just posted three articles to empty titles and I was wondering if I have to have a writing star to qualify for the empty title bonus. Submitting those articles did nothing to my writing score and I do not have any writing stars. Any suggestions? I looked on the Helium help and it said you have to have at least one WRITING star. Is this true? It keeps changing so I am not sure.
1 person likes this
6 responses
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
14 Aug 09
So help me, I am going to pay for Scheng to fly to the states and we are going to come to Florida and take turns knocking you upside your cavewoman head! You had a writing star a few days ago! How the heck did you lose it? The only thing you could have done to jeopardize your star was submit competitive articles which is precisely what I told you NOT to do.
The three articles you posted did something for your writing score. It takes up to 24 hours for you to see a change so relax. Three articles won't even move you up a whole point so you have to keep submitting. Stop being so impatient and stick to the formula I gave you to do 60 articles to get to payout.
Next, don't panic if your star disappears for a day. It only matters that you still have your stars at the end of the month when your payments are tabulated. Calm down and keep writing. You are getting all frustrated for nothing. You have to stay focused and keep moving forward.
Whatever you do, DO NOT submit to any competitive titles unless your competitive ratio drops below 27%. If you get confused about the numbers email me your scores every morning. I spent most of this morning at the school and as usual there are a lot of changes and I have to do my lesson plans so I may not be online as much until they are done.
Take a deep breath and go do more empty title articles!
1 person likes this

@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
15 Aug 09
Hi Canellita, I think it's better to kidnap Mommaj and send her to Malaysia. At least flogging is allowed in Malaysia, we can take turn flogging her till she comes to her senses!
Since the changes in June, Helium allows 90% of articles in non-competitive titles. There is no need to worry about writing score if 90% of articles are in non-competitive titles.
Mommaj, can you borrow some books from the library about science? You can craft some articles about cockroaches, ants, spiders and whatever. These are the titles that are unlikely to become competitive to drag down your writing score.
I think if you write about different types of ants, that will keep you busy for the next few weeks.
By the end of the month, you will have a few shining blue stars. By the way, keep on rating articles till you have 5 rating stars. You will earn $3 rating bonus.
1 person likes this
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
14 Aug 09
Note to self: Scheng and Canellita both arrive in Florida, make sure I am in another country. LOL
That's what I mean about my writing score. I didn't do anything until I added those three articles today. My writing score bounces like a yo-yo. I don't even know if anyone submitted articles to the articles I wrote. It just keeps going down and I don't have to do anything.
Don't you hate the beginning of the school year? It must be worse than going to school as a student. LOL You prepare lesson plans just to find out they won't work because there is some new criteria and you have to go back and start all over.
My friend has that problem too. I was laughing at her the other day because they are changing something for her grade, after school started, so the teachers have to throw out what they were doing.
Since I started volunteering at the school we sometime see each other. When we get together it's always funny. Today I was putting mail in the teacher boxes and she had already taken hers. She was leaving and I told her to wait because I had more. There are two rows of file cabinets in the center of the floor and she would go one way and I went the other. At the same time we both said standstill. That made it even funnier.
1 person likes this

@mrtimharry (1180)
•
14 Aug 09
You do need one writing star to qualify. Although I think that as long as you have the star by the time that the calculations are made at the end of the month that anything written in the month will count
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@mommaj (23112)
• United States
14 Aug 09
This is horrible news. Everytime I get a star it fades away. LOL I would really like to get a writing star because I hate the thought of writing all these articles for no payment. LOL I guess my pageviews will increase. That will help a little.
1 person likes this
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
15 Aug 09
I wonder if my average will ever go above 72% again. I don't know how my percentage keeps jumping around. I must not be paying attention to the exact ratings of each article and one or more keep slipping. I must go catch them before they run away.
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
15 Aug 09
Helium recently made some changes to the star requirement payment rule but I don't remember the details. But as long as you post empty titles and maintain a writing score of at least 85% you will never have to worry about it.

@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
15 Aug 09
The last I knew you did still have to have a writing star for the empty title pay but with the new change don't have to have a rating star. I just earlier tonight deleted the email explaining it or would double check for you. I still much prefer AC over helium - finally got my first pay of $26 from helium after a year and have made over $100 from AC in the same time.
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
15 Aug 09
I was looking at my earnings over the past year and half and I made about $100 a month. I figure that was pretty good since I didn't really do upfronts until last November. LOL It took me that long to be confident enough and change what I wrote about to ask for upfronts. LOL I have yet to get past $8 on Helium and that has been a little over a year. I don't have very many articles on AC either.
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
15 Aug 09
It only took me two months to be eligible for payout from helium.

@babostwick (2036)
• United States
18 Aug 09
Yeah, you just need one writing star and that's about it at the minimum. Also, do keep in mind to try to write in some competitive titles and hope that the articles get rated highly to give you a better score. That's the best I can suggest for you. How many articles do you have exactly if you don't mind me asking?
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
18 Aug 09
Laughing. I have 31 articles on Helium. I have over 800 on AC. I have one on E-how. Not using that anymore. I do articles on textbroker sometimes, too. My writing score is only 71%. I added three articles that were 1 of 1 and my score didn't change. I am really disappointed. I guess they were in the wrong categories. I mostly do parenting, or decor. I started on AC loved it. Heard of helium in the forum, tried it as an experiment. Decided Helium and I have issues. Some of the articles are in titles that don't go with the article but yet the article is rated higher than an article that goes with the title. I don't understand how any of that works. I think Helium is letting too many peers judge articles that they aren't interested in. That's my rant for the day. Aren't you glad you asked one simple question that deserved a small answer: 31. LOL
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
14 Aug 09
I have three rating stars but zero writing stars. The writing stars seem to flicker on and off for me. I hope that I get one by the end of the month. I hate the thought of writing to all these empty titles for no reason. LOL I guess my page views will increase. That will be good.
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
15 Aug 09
Congratulations on your three rating stars! Only two to go and you will start seeing the $3 rating bonus each month! I am so proud of you!
1 person likes this

@sblossom (2168)
•
11 Oct 09
Yes, you need to keep at least 1 rating star at the end of the month for get paid for your articles. It’s the bottom line of the game rule.
Now I feel I’m a little addicted to Helium. It is like a job but not get paid yet. I joined the website at end of last month so I have not seen any benefits so far. However here I read a few topics and I know helium will pay me at last so I don’t worry too much.
Just it catches writers by the rating system. I feel a little upset with it. However it still worth trying and get some extra money. I will always try my best to rate and to settle down on the website.
