plebpoet

BooksAndArticles

# Writer Review: 5 Writing Platforms that Pay Beginners (2023)

This is a video by a writer I don't know that showed up in my YouTube feed.

I watched it because as someone who works on SN, I want to know what people think about other writing platforms and how they work since I see SN as competing with them to some degree.

She has two categories for writing platforms: payment per view vs payment per job.

The first three pay per view and the last two are job boards.

## 1. [Medium](https://medium.com/)

- Medium = Twitter (social media platform) + Wordpress (blogging platform) + getting paid to write
- everytime a paid member reads one of your posts, you earn a small portion of their membership fee
- membership fee for readers: $5 per month
- this means you get paid 2ct per view / $20 per thousand views
- no membership: two stories free per month
- to get paid as a writer, you need ~at least 100 followers~ to be a member for $5 per month (updated since video was released)
- no ads
- you can write about whatever you want
- what other people want to read matters more than what you want to write if you want to earn money
- health, wealth and love are the evergreen topics that tend to perform best
- medium partners with stripe, but stripe only partners with 40 countries
- even if you can't / don't get paid, you can use Medium as a portfolio website
- $10 minimum payout

## 2. [Simily](https://simily.co/)

- specifically for creative writing ("home for getting paid for creative writing")
- 2ct per view / $20 per thousand views
- very similar to Medium
- no idea how stories get promoted: algorithm? chronological?
- $10 minimum payout
- temporary business model
- later: switch to revenue sharing model similar to Medium where you get paid according to how many paying readers view your stories

## 3. [Vocal](https://vocal.media/)

- mix between Medium and Simily
- if you're a Vocal+ member for $10 per month
  - 0.6ct per view / $6 per thousand views
  - 2.9% transaction fees on tips
  - $20 minimum payout
  - exclusive challenges
  - early access to new features
- if you're not: 
  - 0.38ct per view / $3.80 per thousand views
  - 7% transaction fees on tips
  - $35 minimum payout
- unique feature: writing challenges with a prompt, guidelines and high prices like $20k (!)
- you have to submit stories which Vocal checks before they go live (10-24h delay between submit and going live)
- rubric can be confusing
- paying money to make money is a strange concept

## 4. [Scripted](https://www.scripted.com/)

- you have to apply to join pool of writers
- once you're in, you have access to a selection of jobs that clients upload
- you need to pass a test that has only 5% acceptance rate but it seems simple (mostly grammar questions)
- previous portfolio recommended (like on Medium) to get assigned to jobs
- clients can't pay less than 7ct per word
- access to different topics
- there are good clients (have been on Scripted for 3+ years)
- upfront work required
- three ways to make money:

1. Smart Match
- client uploads brief
- Scripted matches that to writers based on their profiles (probably AI)
- the first who accepts gets the job
- you need to be fast (she once waited was two minutes late and the offer was already gone)
- client sets rate

2. Proposals
-  client uploads brief
- Scripted matches that to writers
- first 5 quality proposals will be reviewed by client
- you need to be fast but client has two weeks to review proposals
- you can set your own rate along with proposal

3. Job Board
- clients upload jobs
- you can propose

## 5. [Text Broker](https://www.textbroker.com/)

- you have to apply to join job board
- you get a star rating between 1 to 5 stars
- clients can upload job briefs and specify how high your rating must be to apply
- you simply accept jobs (no application)
- a couple 100 words at most ("short, snappy jobs")
- you can also apply to join a team so you get regular assignments from clients
- if you're a really good writer, you can receive direct orders from clients
- low pay like 2ct per word ("insultingly low")
- no upfront work for jobs required
- confusing application, bad website UX
- best out of 5 to get paid right away
- $10 minimum payout

## Conclusion

What's seems to be unique to SN is that you can earn sats without any membership fee. However, we take 10% from zaps for sybil resistance since they are also used as a signal to rank content.

Also, you don't get paid by view but only per zap. So based on view count, you probably don't earn much on SN compared to these other platforms. But you get paid in bitcoin and there is no minimum payout.

What do you think? Are there any features these writing platforms have that SN would benefit from? How well does SN compete with these platforms, in your view?

---

_Related: @plebpoet gave [Scribophile](https://www.scribophile.com/) a detailed personal review in 2022 [here](https://stacker.news/items/100276)._

Writer Review: 5 Writing Platforms that Pay Beginners (2023)

news

An assassination attempt on Trump reminds me of a crucial documentary everyone should watch! 

It explains who runs this world from Hitler's days and the reasons behind JFK's assassination. 

🇺🇸 The documentary is 3 and a half hours long, so if you don't have time to watch it now, save the post and watch it later.


https://youtu.be/4oVpt_I9iQQ?si=OYN4UhhjMWVe1whC

Critical Documentary on World Leadership and Historical Assassinations

tech

Although there are many scientific search engines available on the web, Google is a very powerful search engine that manages to dominate and hide these specific search engines.

 I recently came across a list of search engines that can be used to find specific information on a wide range of topics. 

Here's the list I recently discovered and I'd like to share it with you: 

[www.refseek.com](https://www.refseek.com/site/about) - **Academic Resource Search**. RefSeek is a web search engine for students and researchers that aims to make academic information easily accessible to everyone. RefSeek searches more than five billion documents, including web pages, books, encyclopedias, journals, and newspapers. RefSeek's unique approach offers students comprehensive subject coverage without the information overload of a general search engine—increasing the visibility of academic information and compelling ideas that are often lost in a muddle of sponsored links and commercial results.

www.worldcat.org - **WorldCat** is a great resource for locating unique, trustworthy materials that you often can’t find anywhere except in a library. And by connecting thousands of libraries’ collections in one place, WorldCat.org makes it easy for you to browse the world’s libraries from one easy search box. During the past 50+ years, thousands of libraries have entered their information about millions of books, magazines, movies, songs, maps, genealogical records, research theses and so much more into WorldCat. And not just the physical items you could find when you visit a library, but many kinds of digital content like open-source e-books, articles, downloadable audiobooks, and photos. You can also find article citations with links to full text, authoritative research materials, one-of-a-kind documents and photos of local or historic significance, and digital versions of rare items that aren’t generally available to the public.

https://link.springer.com - **Springer Nature** advances discovery by publishing robust and insightful research, supporting the development of new areas of knowledge, making ideas and information accessible around the world, and leading the way on open access. Key to this is our ability to provide the best possible service to the whole research community.

www.bioline.org.br - **Bioline International** is a pioneer in the provision of open access to peer-reviewed bioscience journals published in developing countries. These journals contain timely research on public health, international development, tropical medicine, food and nutritional security, and biodiversity. Bioline increases the visibility of this research by making it readily available to researchers across the world. Bioline is not a publisher, but an aggregator that provides a free platform for journals who wish to participate in the global open access movement.


http://repec.org - **The RePEc bibliographic data** is in the public domain and thus used by other services as well. Over 2,200 archives from 103 countries have contributed about 4.5 million research items from 4,000 journals and 5,500 working paper series. Over 65,000 authors have registered and 75,000 email subscriptions are served every week. RePEc is entirely based on the contributions of volunteers.

www.science.gov - **Science.gov** is an official website of the U.S. government providing ready access to the massive stores of federally funded scientific research results, without needing to know which agency funded the research. Research results include scientific and technical reports, peer-reviewed scholarly publications, digital data, software, conference presentations and proceedings, and other scientific and technical information that federal agencies publish resulting from their research investments. Originally launched in 2002, Science.gov searches content from across multiple federal agencies that fund scientific research and provides top-level results from those agencies, where users get the most relevant results for the information they search. Unlike typical web-based search engines that crawl and index web content at unknown frequencies, Science.gov uses a search technology that retrieves results in real-time. This ensures that the most recent content is available for search and retrieval by Science.gov.

www.base-search.net - **BASE** is one of the world's most voluminous search engines especially for academic web resources. BASE provides more than 340 million documents from more than 11,000 content providers. You can access the full texts of about 60% of the indexed documents for free (Open Access). BASE is operated by Bielefeld University Library. We are indexing the metadata of all kinds of academically relevant resources – journals, institutional repositories, digital collections etc. – which provide an OAI interface and use OAI-PMH for providing their contents (see our Golden Rules for Repository Managers).

Google is so "powerful" that it "hides" other search systems from the users 

Taft

Design

```
ODC #000015 - UX > IDEATE
```
### `Designing Wireframe for worldwide Bitcoin Merchants directory app`
[_If you miss it, please read our **WTF is ODC** (Open Design Challenge) intro post from more details._](https://stacker.news/items/393580/r/Design_r)

- - - 
## Scenario
You were hired as a freelance UX designer by an open source orgaization making a new mobile maps to help people discover merchants and frotshops that accept bitcoin payments (BTCmap.org is the competitor).

They would like you to start sketching out general concepts for this app. They want to look into things like page layouts and get some rough ideas to start showing stakeholders and potential users.

- - -
## Task
Create three wireframes for this maps app showing: 1) the homepage (what users land on when they open up the app on their phones), 2) what searching for a new location looks like, 3) the interface for giving the user real-time directions, and 4) how new merchants and business could add their businesses in the directory. Annotate your wireframe: point out specific pieces of it to give the thinking behind what you've made.

**Extra Credit:** Create 2 more wireframes showing 1) a detailed view of a specific location, 2) what saving a location to a favorites list, 3) saving contact details or contacting directly the merchant, and 4) how writing a review looks like.

- - -  
## Guides
If you need help with this challenge, check out our hand-picked tutorial recommendations.

- **How To Succeed In Wireframe Design**
on [smashingmagazine.com](https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2020/04/wireframe-design-success/)

- **Common Wireframing Issues to Avoid**
on [xd.adobe.com](https://xd.adobe.com/ideas/process/wireframing/common-wireframing-issues-to-avoid/)

- **15 Tips for Creating Efficient Wireframes**
on [slickplan.com](https://slickplan.com/blog/15-tips-for-creating-efficient-wireframes)

- **How To Create Your First Wireframe**
on [piped.video](https://piped.video/qpH7-KFWZRI)
- - - 

## Tools
Not sure which tools to use? Try something new, go 💯% FOSS!

`For your computer`
> **Akira** _(for Linux users)_
> by [Akira UX](https://github.com/akiraux/Akira)

> **PenPot** _(for everyone)_
> by [kaleidos](https://penpot.app/) 

> **FreePlane** _(for everyone)_
> by [freeplane team](https://docs.freeplane.org/getting-started/Distributions.html)

`For your hands`
> **Pen and Paper** _(templates)_
> by [SneakPeeKit](http://sneakpeekit.com/#4-mobiles)


- - - 

## Share Your Results
When you finish the challenge, post your work including anonymized collected data and results on this thread! If you also share it on `nostr`, be sure to use the hashtag **#opendesigner** and tag [Design_r@iris.to](https://iris.to/Design_r) or [@Design__r](https://x.com/Design__r) on X! We'll keep an eye out and repost good examples on a regular basis.
- - -

Check our [previous ODC](https://stacker.news/Design_r#odc--open-design-challenges) and support this [community](https://stacker.news/~Design/r/Design_r) for creative minds, where you'll be able to get open and constructive feedback on your PoW. Ask anything in the ~Design territory and get some ⚡**sats** for the [value](https://value4value.info) you provide!

- - - 
- - - 
- - -
```
#Bitcoin #Design #BitcoinDesign #NostrDesign #Nostr #OpenDesign #DesignChallenge #BitcoinAcceptedHere #BTCaccepted #OpenDesignChallenge #Wireframe #Concepts #BitcoinMerchant #LocationSearch #Directions
```
- - - 


Open Design Challenge #15: Wireframe for worldwide Bitcoin Merchants directory

Design_r

bitcoin

This was in [Block's Q1 Shareholder letter](https://s29.q4cdn.com/628966176/files/doc_financials/2024/q1/Shareholder-Letter_1Q24_Block.pdf).

---------------------

We get this question a lot. We’ll use this quarter’s letter to answer it.

First, some facts. Less than 3% of company resources are dedicated to bitcoin-related projects. All of which have been more than fully covered by the profits from our bitcoin exchange, which is Cash App’s fourth largest gross profit stream.

But why spend time on bitcoin at all? We believe the world needs an open protocol for money, one that’s not owned or controlled by any single entity. We believe bitcoin is the best and only candidate to be that protocol, and to ultimately become the native currency of the internet.

How does this benefit Block? An open protocol for money helps us serve more people around the world faster. We could build an amazing product experience once and ship it globally to any market in the world, without needing to customize for hundreds of different payment schemes. This creates the opportunity to accelerate our growth potential and improve our cost structure at the same time. It truly levels the playing field for a company like ours, and for everyone in the world.

Why bitcoin versus all the other “cryptos?” Satoshi designed bitcoin to solve a very specific problem around payments, which the world has since found to be immensely valuable. The majority of other projects are either solving different problems or attempting to be a speculative trading asset. We benefit from an open protocol for money, and that’s what we’re focused on building upon.

In 2018, Block became the first publicly listed company to offer a bitcoin product. Our strategy since then follows 3 core directives:

- Make it accessible.
- Make it more secure.
- Make it usable every day.

To make bitcoin more accessible, we started with the greatest need: “how do I get bitcoin?” We built a simple platform right into Cash App where one can buy, hold, withdraw, or sell bitcoin. It was a hit. Since launch, Cash App has had over 21 million actives use bitcoin. Cash App bitcoin products generated 3.3% and 4.2% of Block’s gross profit in 2022 and 2023, with only 0.7% of related expenses.

We went on to build ecosystem features to help people get bitcoin. 1.6 million Cash App Card actives have used our Bitcoin Round Ups feature to automatically convert spare change from everyday transactions into bitcoin. Our Paid in Bitcoin feature allows customers to convert a percentage of their direct deposits into bitcoin with zero fees or price spreads, yet another reason for people to direct their paychecks into Cash App. We just launched a similar feature named “Bitcoin Conversions” for Square sellers wishing to convert up to 10% of their daily sales into bitcoin.

We’re doing a few things to make bitcoin more secure. First, we recognize that holding bitcoin safely can make people feel anxious, especially if one doesn’t want to keep their bitcoin on an exchange. That’s why we built and launched Bitkey to over 90 countries: a globally available, non-custodial wallet that combines intuitive software, robust hardware, and advanced security measures. Bitkey makes bitcoin easy to use and hard to lose. It comes integrated with Cash App and Coinbase, allowing customers to easily buy and transfer bitcoin directly to their Bitkey.

We also want to help secure the bitcoin network by building bitcoin mining hardware. We’re introducing an entirely new 3 nanometer ASIC mining chip, in addition to an entire mining rig system. Why? We’ve heard from countless miners globally about their desire for reliable, flexible, and US-based mining hardware and software. This contributes to the health and security of the bitcoin network by further decentralizing both the supply of mining hardware and the distribution of hashrate, the computing power devoted to mining bitcoin.

With a standalone mining chip, we will represent the only large, well-capitalized mining hardware vendor with such a solution. We believe this will help unlock mining system innovation and support the much-needed development of new mining system form factors and use cases. With the full mining rig system, we’ll build on our product and software development expertise, system engineering competency, supply chain experience, and aftermarket support capability (with tens of millions of devices shipped) to build something miners can depend on. This is a massive market and opportunity we’re very excited about.

And finally, we want to make bitcoin more usable everyday. Our greatest contribution thus far to this goal has been investing in the Spiral team, a group of open-source developers who work every day to make bitcoin more than an investment. Spiral has been directly behind the Lightning Development Kit, the Bitcoin Development Kit, the Bitcoin Design Community, and has provided grants to over 50 developers in more than 20 countries, leading to a dozen foundational open source bitcoin projects. The team has also been the inspiration for our Bitkey and mining hardware projects and has helped us think deeply about how finance technology shifts over time.

Global remittance, an $860 billion industry, is a use case that’s more urgently in need of better solutions today than everyday payments. This is why we created TBD, to solve cross-border funds flow without the need for going through a centralized exchange. TBD has created a protocol for on- and off-ramps from fiat to digital currencies that would allow anyone without a bank (~1.4 billion people) and with access to a mobile phone to participate in the larger global economy. We’ll discuss TBD in a future shareholder letter as we launch our first remittance product later this year.

Ultimately, making bitcoin more usable every day means seeing bitcoin as a medium of exchange for the internet, thus solving for the original problem Satoshi stated in the bitcoin white paper:

"Commerce on the Internet has come to rely almost exclusively on financial institutions serving as trusted third parties to process electronic payments.

…What is needed is an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party."

The internet will have a native currency; it’s just a matter of time. Artificial Intelligence systems and agents will have to transact, and the most efficient way to do so will be a common protocol for money movement. Creative endeavors will rely heavily on micropayments, something that’s been discussed since the dawn of the internet, and finally being realized at scale with things like “zaps” (transferring small amounts of bitcoin via lightning) on the NOSTR protocol. Commerce will be less constrained by national borders, flowing freely around the world without gatekeepers or rent seekers.

This won’t happen overnight. The existing and emerging financial systems will operate in parallel for some time. There’s an opportunity to build cohesive and regulatory-compliant connections between these two worlds. This is where we’ve always flourished: at the intersection of regulations and innovative technology that can bring more people into the economy.

Recognizing the interconnectedness of the bitcoin ecosystem, we understand that our advancements foster collective growth, and the progress of others, in turn, benefits us. This synergy is pivotal; as the bitcoin ecosystem flourishes, so does Block. We were the first to recognize this potential and have reaped the benefits, but as others join, the advantages compound. The rising tide of bitcoin's growth lifts all boats, and our proactive contributions have positioned us at the forefront of this wave.

We also believe in investing in the overall asset of the ecosystem, and holding bitcoin in our treasury. Going forward, each month we will be investing 10% of our gross profit from bitcoin products into bitcoin purchases. We were one of the first public companies to put bitcoin on our balance sheet: we invested $220 million into bitcoin, and that investment has grown by approximately 160% to $573 million as of the end of the first quarter. We’re open sourcing our treasury blueprint so other companies can do the same: https://block.xyz/documents/bitcoin-blueprint.pdf

Historically and moving forward, our investment in bitcoin transcends technology; it is an investment in a future where economic empowerment is the norm. This commitment drives our business into new territories, unlocking novel opportunities for our customers, and securing enduring value for you, our shareholders.

Jack Dorsey answers “Why the hell are you all spending so much time on bitcoin?”

k00b

Education

Set in Ancon, a small town north of Lima, Peru, this documentary explores how the local community has embraced Bitcoin as a transformative financial tool
https://geyser.fund/project/perubitcoinpovertyandmotiv

A documentary on how Bitcoin and surfing are driving social change and empowerment in Mossel Bay, South Africa.
https://geyser.fund/project/lekkerfeeling

An investigative documentary exploring Cody Wilson's battle over the 1st Amendment and the right to share 3D-printed gun code online.
https://geyser.fund/project/deathathletic

Web-series with a mission, or as some may say, 'Bitcoin from Sesame Street'.
HERE COMES BITCOIN is a humorous set of short videos presenting Bitcoin as a life-size puppet in numerous everyday situations — meeting people, playing sports, eating, partying, and making jokes — all while trying to explain that being the future of money isn't easy
https://geyser.fund/project/whoisbitcoin

A biographical film celebrating the 150th anniversary of Carl Menger, founder of the Austrian School of Economics, and his pioneering work in economic theory.
https://geyser.fund/project/mengernotesonthemargin

A comedic short film about a Bitcoin novice navigating the complexities of cryptocurrency, produced on an extremely low budget by the Garcia Brothers.
https://geyser.fund/project/hodl

A feature-length documentary delving into the mysteries and conspiracies surrounding Bitcoin’s elusive creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
https://geyser.fund/project/searchingforsatoshi

An inside look at the passionate Bitcoin community in Texas and their belief in cryptocurrency's power to revolutionize America.
https://geyser.fund/project/bitcoiners

A dystopian feature film exploring resistance and the quest for human spirit under a technocratic regime, produced during the 2020 lockdown.
https://geyser.fund/project/godsoftheirownreligion

An animated series based on 'The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible' that combines adventure with financial education for young viewers.
https://geyser.fund/project/adventuresofjonathan

A chronicle of the early days of Bitcoin and the development of the BTCPay Server, highlighting its crucial role in Bitcoin's adoption for business transactions
https://geyser.fund/project/mytrustinyouisbroken

A feature documentary that looks at the most misunderstood and misrepresented aspect of Bitcoin - its energy consumption.
https://geyser.fund/project/dirtycointhecontroversybehindbitcoinmining