Demand Media Studios,

Does anyone have information on what Demand Media Studios is all about?

http://www.demandstudios.com/

 

This is the first I heard of them, but I filled out the application and figured I'd do a couple of stories and see if I got paid, then go from there.

 

I know some people who have made a little money off them. It seems like the content-mill run was good if you got in two years ago, but now everyone's doing it and it's drying up a little.

 

Do you know if sportswriting is included in its coverage?

 

Wrote a bit for them earlier this year. Mind-numbing, brainless work, but they do pay when a piece is approved. I started when they were still looking for golf-related articles. Not sure what they're seeking now, but it's very nuts and bolts. If you're OK with doing the horribly boring stuff, it's worth $15 or $20 for 45 minutes or so of work...

 

There are several people on this site who have done extensive work for them. Maybe they'll chime in. I got hired as a copy editor but never did anything and they eventually asked if I still wanted to be one. I told them to take me off the list as I had other projects. But I still get the group emails from the copy chief which are fairly entertaining.

There's also a form where disgruntled writers go to complain, often about the anonymous copy editors.

http://www.demandstudiossucks.com/forum/

The stories I looked over and thought of working on were incredibly boring, occasionally strange. Best way to get a nursing degree in Michigan, things like that. And they have a style guide that must be about 789 pages if printed out. But they seem to pay on time, weekly. From reading that forum, it seems like some of the writers get frustrated that articles get rejected by copy editors and they don't get paid, but I can only imagine how terrible some of the writing is and probably deserves to be rejected.

 

Here's an earlier thread with some discussion too.

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/74520/