Writer's Domain Review

NATURE OF WORK AND PAYMENT

Writer's Domain is a content mill, but they operate in a different manner from any other content mill I've seen so far. Instead of specific assignments with specific instructions, they simply have a list of short search keyphrases that you grab from. You create an article from the ground up using that keyphrase, choosing the angle and focus of it yourself.

I worked for them in mid-2014 and at the time, each article was a 400-word minimum and they paid a flat $20 for it. Since then the price seems to have gone down to $15 at the entry level and $17.50 when you move up to the top of their typical infantile content mill "star system."

SITE HISTORY / LEGITIMACY

They're owned by the Utah-based SEO company Boostability, though they don't make that apparent anywhere on their site or in your profile (hiding information from you is a running theme with this company, as we'll get to in a minute). You can read about them at Sitejabber , Glassdoor , Yelp and Indeed. They were popular with the ladies over at WAHM until they started cutting pay.


I've seen no reports of stiffing on pay, and they paid me for all my articles as promised, though their approval process sometimes took three weeks.





INTERNATIONAL ACCESS

I can't find a specific prohibition against writers living outside the United States, but citizenship may be a requirement as they do ask for an SSN as part of the application process and a W9 on file before paying. They also pay by Paypal.

STARTING OUT

They have an application process, and only seem to hire a fixed quantity of writers in cycles. It took me the better part of a year to hear back from them after applying. Once accepted they'll contact you to take a multiple-choice grammar quiz, and you'll have to submit a 400-word sample article using a keyphrase that they give you.




You're initially placed in rank 3 or 4 (out of 5). For your first 20 articles, you're in a probationary period where you'll receive ratings and feedback, but they won't affect your ranking.





PROBLEMS WITH WRITER'S DOMAIN

I encountered a number of serious problems with Writer's Domain while working for them.


1) Excessive review periods - waits of two weeks or more were not uncommon before a review and payment, this despite their giving you an eight-hour deadline to write each article from your acceptance of the keyphrase

2) Even the most basic revision request is considered a "punishment" in that it'll reduce your rating in the "star system." They can ask for up to three revisions - two more than at most mills -  and not only is this added time completely uncompensated, the piece can still be rejected without pay after any of these revisions. You're also back on the eight-hour clock when a revision request comes in, and they can come in at any time, and sometimes would not come back for weeks (see #1 above). If you happen to have another commitment the day they finally get the piece back to you, too bad, you're screwed out of your labor and the phrase goes back into the queue.

3) The only information you have to work with is the keyphrase. They refuse to tell you who the client is, what their needs are or even what type of business they are in most cases. So you have to guess blindly at the intent of the phrase, with rejection and potential pay reduction on the line if you guess wrong.

4) Articles can be rejected after multiple revision requests for a reason not cited in ANY of the initial revision request. I consider this their most abusive policy and got into a huge blow-up with their chief editors about it.

5) From conversations with them, the caliber of editing and reviews posted on Glassdoor, I get the impression most of their editing is done by marginally qualified college interns.

6) The rate of pay when I was there - $20/400w, or 5 cents/word, was better than nearly all other content mills, but still substandard for the general market for writers. Now that it starts you at $15 and tops out at $17.50, or roughly 3.75 and 4.4 cents per word respectively, they aren't particularly competitive with other mills that have less capricious editing and friendlier writing policies.










FINAL VERDICT - NOT WORTH IT


Unless you're utterly desperate or so unskilled that you can't do any better, this is a waste of time. I consider their editorial policies to be outright abusive and even worse than those of Textbroker. They feel that they're entitled to waste massive amounts of your time. I see constant references to the rapid growth of the company,  yet they need to slash pay by 25%? This company clearly has no respect for writers whatsoever.

Let the bottom-feeders crawl all over each other to get in just because they pay slightly more than the worst of the mills -- you can do much better with your time and ability.