tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982837118358902227.post610026079328485885..comments2023-07-14T06:17:49.677-04:00Comments on The Daring Novelist: Search Engines, eHow, and Fiction WritingThe Daring Novelisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01676188266569869059noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982837118358902227.post-6046846369415467582011-06-08T18:46:10.707-04:002011-06-08T18:46:10.707-04:00Lee:
Yeah, aside from the people who were gaming ...Lee:<br /><br />Yeah, aside from the people who were gaming the system with ratings, etc, there were a lot of outright crooks who were spamming and plagiarizing, and all sorts of things. eHow spent a year or so cleaning up that act, before they gave up and forced the writers to go into a vetting system. I'm not sure how well that worked, though (I stopped writing for them before then) because basically when they went to a more flat fee, nobody had any incentive to produce quality.<br /><br />Plus they kept buying "libraries" from hack sites where the staff writers wrote pure and unadulterated junk, or plagiarized all over the place, because they were writing for $5-10 an article, or even less. Of course they didn't take any care.<br /><br />Heck there were junk writers who "sold" articles like that to others for a flat fee -- but with non-exclusive rights. And there were people on eHow who would buy these junk articles in bulk, and slap their names on them, and it took forever for eHow to see what was happening and that it was a problem -- and then find these people. Some of them were posting under multiple accounts.The Daring Novelisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01676188266569869059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982837118358902227.post-81597634992854172642011-06-08T18:29:39.401-04:002011-06-08T18:29:39.401-04:00Well, Camille, I for one am glad to see the back o...Well, Camille, I for one am glad to see the back of eHow after one of my blog posts was turned into an eHow article by another writer.<br />This was a technical post about a practical non-writing subject and, to make matters worse, the eHow article was <b>wrong</b>. Anyone who followed the procedure in the article risked serious physical harm. My procedure came with step-by-step instructions, photographs and safety warnings.<br />The only upshot was that there was a link to my blog on the page.<br />Looking forward to the algorithm picture (no, really! :D )<br />Lee.Lee McAulayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03007625547920829612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982837118358902227.post-81873328175623857092011-06-08T17:01:05.745-04:002011-06-08T17:01:05.745-04:00And there's a whole lot of stuff going on in t...And there's a whole lot of stuff going on in the background that you never see a sign of, but it is what makes it possible for that unusual reader to find that unusual book.The Daring Novelisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01676188266569869059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982837118358902227.post-7252993696122436942011-06-08T11:09:10.818-04:002011-06-08T11:09:10.818-04:00Amazon and Google . . . I use both practically dai...Amazon and Google . . . I use both practically daily. Google is incredible for doing research, and it's hard to beat Amazon when it comes time to decide on a purchase. Just gotta love those reviews from real-life customers with real-life experiences during real-world application. And if you're having a problem with a recent purchase? Just check out the comments section to see if someone has come up with a solution.<br /><br />Thanks for the article, DaringNovelistR. Doug Wickerhttp://RDougWicker.comnoreply@blogger.com