The money is no more (writtenbyme.com)

Member Name: poet831

Product:	writtenbyme.com
Date:	31/05/09 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent place for writers of all genres to post their work - poetry, fiction, travel, current af

Disadvantages: Deweys are no longer exchangeable for monetary rewards .

Despite recent changes in the way that the site operates, I still think writtenbyme.com is one of the best sites (along with Ciao) on the net. The two are not really comparable because Ciao is a consumer site and Writtenbyme is more of a site for people to post their writing, more for exposure of their work to others. Over recent months they have included categories which allow consumer-type offerings but that, I think, has been because members have requested it.
The thing that makes Writtenbyme so great is the community of writers that make up its membership. I have read articles that have been featured on the home page, in topics I might otherwise not have looked at. The quality of the articles available is amazing. Plus for poets like myself, it is an ideal place for us to showcase our creations. It filled the gap left with the demise of Themestream.

The feedback is often of a high quality, although this is obviously dependent on the critiquers personal tastes. I try to rate fairly, even on articles that I may disagree with. What is nice is that there are options in the ratings categories, so that you can rate particular aspects of each article.
Overall -
one thumb only
ok
good
excellent
absolutely sensational

Agree -
strongly disagree
disagree
neutral
agree
strongly agree
Writing and Grammar -
will email suggestions
N/A
needs reworking
great style
don't touch it

Enjoyment/Informative -
Didn't enjoy
N/A
learned a lot
sensational
standing ovation

I have only ever had one person comment nastily about my honest ratings. He commented on one of mine and asked me not to rate his work anymore, and when I checked I hadn't written anything nasty but had rated his work less than the top rating in each section - which meant his overall rating was not consistently five star. He obviously didn't want anything other than top ratings on his work. Since I cannot bring myself to rate all of his work five star, I no longer read his work.
There is a thriving community with member forums, plus you can track other authors, and will be notified on the home page, when they have new submissions on the site.

They used to reward you with Deweys which could be exchanged for vouchers, but recent hard economic times forced first a change to a percentage of advertising profits based on Deweys awarded and as of Sept 2001, there is no longer any monetary or voucher reward in place. By the rates that were in place when I became a member, I've lost over $90.
Money is not everything though. This site is an excellent outlet for writers to gain publicity and to try out their pieces on a "literary community". As such, the site is worth it's weight in gold.

For hard cash, Ciao is still tops. The two sites are in no way rivals though, as they are completely different.

Summary: The money is no more