A Simple Survey for Orbleites: Blogging Scholarship
May 24th 2007 08:05
I'm taking a simple survey with only one question: Has any current Orble blogger ever received the Blogging Scholarship?
Several of you have answered already, in response to my post about MetaFilter.Com, but just thought that maybe a few others might want to respond, as well, and perhaps were simply unaware that the question had been asked.
Would love to hear from anyone who has any input on this subject--but especially anyone who may have actually received one of these scholarships at one time or another. (I must admit, I'm beginning to feel that they might just be a figment of someone's imagination!)
Please, someone, prove me wrong!
Hopefully yours,
Jeanne
Several of you have answered already, in response to my post about MetaFilter.Com, but just thought that maybe a few others might want to respond, as well, and perhaps were simply unaware that the question had been asked.
Would love to hear from anyone who has any input on this subject--but especially anyone who may have actually received one of these scholarships at one time or another. (I must admit, I'm beginning to feel that they might just be a figment of someone's imagination!)
Please, someone, prove me wrong!
Hopefully yours,
Jeanne
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Comment by jon
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There are currently 8 people on blogging scholarships of $40 pw. We don't release the names because it's unfair to those people and puts then under undue pressure and scrutiny.
Most scholarships were of a duration of 8 weeks to help the blogger get started.
We've had about 50 different bloggers on scholarships since Orble started.
Most bloggers stopped writing as soon as the scholarship finished so it did not really serve it's purpose and we stopped offering scholarships about 3 weeks ago. We've removed all mention of them from the site (as far as I know -- if you spot one please send me a PM).
I think the main reason people stay writing on Orble is the sense of community and the exposure their writing receives regardless of how much they are making through AdSense. The scholarships certainly helped get Orble going but were probably in the end a bit of a distraction.
As always I'm happy to answer any questions.
On an editorial note, please publish posts about Orble such as this one on the writer's forum. Most of Orble's readers are interested in what you have to write about rather than the inner workings of Orble.
Thanks,
Jon.
Comment by katyzzz
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I came with an expectation of discounting my services. I didn't realize what a huge discount that would be.
I stay while I feel I have reason to but I am constantly re-evaluating. It is quite hard really.
I'd like to think it was heading towards financial improvement but that doesn't seem to be reality.
I'm sure time and circumstances will soon make that decision for me.
It has been a very interesting experience.
You can't benefit from that unless you actually get in and do it.
6 months ago I hadn't even heard of a blog, let alone know what to do with one.
katyzzz
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
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You've certainly clarified that for me! I really felt that it must have been true, but I think the doubts of others began to rub off on me a little. I can understand Orble's concern about undue scrutiny of those bloggers who received the scholarships.
It's such a shame, though, that they stopped blogging as soon as the scholarship payments ended! They really should be blogging primarily because they enjoy writing, growing their readership, interacting with their readers, and (as you say) gaining exposure for their writing.
But, alas, it is also an unfortunate fact of life that even the most dedicated writers among us need to keep a roof over our heads and eat a meal every now and then. Otherwise, we'd be able to blog all day and not even give it a second thought. So any bit of remuneration we can get for our efforts is most welcome! That's why I'm so disappointed to hear that you've decided to do away with the scholarships.
If only you'd consider reinstating them, (sigh), I promise I wouldn't leave once my scholarship ended.
A dedicated Orbleite,
Jeanne
P.S. Next time, I will post such questions in the Writer's Forum. My apologies! (This whole thing began quite innocently, after I had defended Orble in a message to MetaFilter.Com administrators and later wrote about the fact in a blog post. Didn't realize that everyone would focus on the blogging scholarship issue to the exclusion of everything else! And, yes, I admit, they did start me wondering about the question, as well.)
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
I hope you'll be able to stay! I do understand that there are financial realities that we all must face, but we must also have an outlet for our self expression--and it is great to express our ideas in a friendly, supportive environment, sharing our thoughts with others of like mind, of shared talent, of similar interest, or even just of shared webspace.
Have you checked out Constant Content, yet? Perhaps you'd be able to earn a bit of money through their site. There are also many other sites where you can sell your writing or find markets for it. Don't give up!
Your blogs can give you exposure, while you market your work elsewhere. Give it a try! The internet is literally crawling with markets for your work! The trick is to find the right ones and sell them on yourself and your work. If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know!
Your blogging friend,
Jeanne
Comment by Wendi
Makes sense....
W
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
I had read about the scholarship when I first signed on with Orble in late January, and in fact, I seem to remember writing them to request it way back when. But, I guess I was too new to blogging and they had no way of knowing whether I had what it took to be successful.
Thanks for your feedback and your friendship!
Have a wonderful day!
Jeanne
Comment by Wendi
Yup, you've got it!
*smiles*
W
Comment by Wendi
Though there are a lot of blogs and bloggers on Orble I've come to adore (be addicted to), they're not at all what I expected when I first joined. An Aussie writer friend of mine sent me the link to Orble when she'd noticed my writing stood still and I'd gone quiet. After a long "vacation" from writing, I decided it was time to get back involved with a writing community.
As you can see, Orble isn't exactly a "writing community", even though it promotes itself as such. There are writers, sure... of course... but the moral of my story is that yours is the kind of blog I was hoping and expecting to find when I joined Orble.
The other blogs are great, I love the diversity of it all - in fact, I've taken a few creative liberties with my own rather than confining it to just writing - but I just thought there'd be more like yours. Yours is a treasure.
W
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
From a writer of your caliber, I am truly honored to receive such a compliment! Hopefully I can continue to consistently provide whatever it is that you enjoy about my blog! This is why feedback is so important! It gives the writer an opportunity to be responsive to the reader's--and colleague's--needs, interests, and desires.
Your friend,
Jeanne
Comment by Kleonaptra
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I joined up in the hope that I might make enough to stay home and write and have plenty of time to train the horses. I think to date Ive made a total of $3 from adsense, but Ive made friends here, friends that share my views and empathize with me and thats what Im here for now. Id rather write here than anywhere else just to get the opinions of all the great people here and the constant feedback from people Ive grown to love.
But a little money would be nice....Im going to have to rejoin the 'real working world' soon or starve and what will happen to my blog then?
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
Wouldn't it be lovely to be able to have all that and make a little money, too? We can dream, can't we?
Well, I say that, if we love blogging and the valuable connections we make through it, we should certainly continue doing it--but we shouldn't count on blogging as an avenue for earning an appreciable amount of income from our writing. For that, we'll need to go elsewhere.
There are quite a few markets where we can sell our writing online--in some ways, too many--which can distract us from our personal writing goals and cause us to scatter our efforts in too many different directions or even prevent us from putting forth any effort at all toward getting our work published due to "paralysis by analysis"!
It can be tough to decide which markets and which literary avenues to pursue! I'm dealing with this very problem myself right now! Too many potential markets; too many potential projects; which one or ones to put my energy and effort into?
But, I'm still plugging away--sometimes plodding along--doing the best I can, always trying to do something to further my writing goals each day (if possible). I have a fair body of work posted to the Constant Content website and was very happy to learn that, during the last week or two, usage rights to one of my humor articles sold for $100 (good news, even if I do only get 65% of it)! At least I know I'll have that money coming in around the first of June, along with a few bucks from a couple of articles recently sold to Associated Content.
(I also regularly check the Public Request board at C-C for possible gigs--and once actually got three articles assigned to me by three different buyers within a four-day period by writing compelling messages to the buyers telling them exactly what they would get if they gave me the assignment.)
I also keep checking the Freelance Writing Jobs blog, as well as the Freelance Writing and Editing Job board, which I know are highly competitive, and which always cause me to wonder which posted gigs to pursue and hope I make the right decisions.
Whatever you do, Kleo, don't give up! Keep blogging and keep seeking out those markets that will one day prove to be the perfect ones for you! Because you'll never find them if you don't look!
Wishing you success!
Jeanne