I see this one pop up a lot on the site's advertisement banner. I tried doing a search, but found no threads on the subject. Does anyone know what it is, how it works (if it does at all)...? I looked at it a little... and their economic model sounds like a con. Does this thing work? If so, how?
The ad banner is not under direct control of the site's staff, and they do not accept responsibility for the products or services advertised. It is strictly caveat emptor, and is only there to make the site affordable to operate.
Thought that was probably the case, since I couldn't find any threads supporting it. If it's an outright con, it'd probably be good to let the community know, in a thread such as this. If not, I guess that's one more option for us.
Several sites I visit have ads of this sort - only one has a disclaimer in the masthead about all advertisers. I never consider any advertising on any forum as an endorsement.
We do not rate, or allow ratings, of products or services on the site. The banner ads, as I said, are a necessary evil to keep the site up and running, but they are, without exception, presented under a caveat of Buyer Beware. EDIT: I say "we" out of force of habit, as a former moderator. That is the site's policy, though.
Well, if it is an outright con, it is the site's responsibility NOT to allow the advertising, whether they try to disclaim responsibility or not. The site has allowed it and therefore should check whether what is being advertised is at least ethical. Like it or not, by allowing the banner, the site supports it in one way or another and there will be members who, since they trust this site, will also trust the adverts on it. A business needs integrity and allowing only appropriate adverts should be one of them. Now I don't know if Inkspan is a con or not, but I do believe it is the site's staff's responsibility to make certain that it is NOT. And if it is, indeed, a con, then to remove it. Crying "We never endorsed it, it's just there for money!" is trying to discard responsibility based on a technicality and the site might win the argument in court - but it would not win any members' trust, loyalty, nor would it reflect well on the site's honesty and integrity. Sorry, it's just this reminds me far too well of a website I once worked for, a site for students that was promoting not only gambling, but actual essay-writing services for students to cheat - all for what? Yes, for dole. Such practices are despicable. Money is of course important but one should not indiscriminately advertise.
But how do you find out if it's a con or not? If the site admins knew that it was, I suppose they would reject the banner, but I don't think you can expect them to check every one of them - and how? By trying it out?
I'm not even sure the site can decide what advertising appears or doesn't. Another forum I'm on will point out scams but have stated repeatedly they cannot stop the advertising itself (unless they stop all advertising, which is expensive to do). But it definitely takes time to check them out. I would say it's up to the individual to do their due diligence.
It's not easy for a site to police the advertising, especially with the way web-based advertising works now. Google, etc. has advertising abilities embedded within it, so ads that are related to google searches you've done, and sites you've visited will show up that are basically tailored to you. For example, I had looked at a pair of shoes at zappos, and for days afterward, on many, many sites I was on, the banner ads were not only for zappos, but pictured the very shoes I had looked at, as well as shoes that were similar to those shoes. (Sometimes the online ads that appear on my computer make me wonder what the heck I looked at that the algorithms have determined that I would have interest in the ad.) I assume that online ads have no affiliation with and have not been in any way vetted or endorsed by the main site I'm looking at.
the site cannot pick and choose advertisers... if all of its members paid to use the site, it would be a different story... as they do not, we must accept the fact that some of the ads will not be to our liking... instead of getting upset and demanding the site owner do what he obviously is not able to do, why don't you just ignore all the ads like i do?
I did a little researching, and from what I understand, the writer has to pay money to have his/her book reviewed. The reviewers get paid a certain amount for every review they write. It seems like a weird service and definitely not one I would ever consider using.
Yeah, that's what I saw too. The weird part is, apparently the reviewers are meant to get paid $10 each, if they write out a review of the right standard. The service is meant to get you a large number of reviewers... yet, you apparently only have to pay them $30. I don't see any way this could work out for them, economically, so there is a large chance that it is simply a con (they reckoned it would take about 40 days before you got your data--long enough for them to get a lot of customers, then disappear). Of course, I might just be paranoid--maybe they make the money through some other way or something (like few people being willing to write short, quality reviews). But... I doubt it. Won't use it unless I hear some good, trustworthy news about it (as it is, can't find it discussed anywhere on the internet).
I have read the rules for readers and it seems that they can reject your review without a reason and then you don't get paid. That basically allows them to get reviews for free.
You can find the entire list of Supporter subscription costs under Settings->Paid Subscriptions. An annual Supporter subscription is currently 35.00 USD for twelve months.
If you are seeing ads for stuff that annoys you, you can go into your browser and manually delete the cookies from any sites except those you want to remain logged in to. Or delete all cookies and have to log into your sites again. You will then get generic ads while they re-collect a profile for you. On Firefox, it is Tools / Options / Privacy / ShowCookies Most of the cookies will be for advertising purposes, or else of little effect. My own web page (not a blog) leaves cookies, and I don't know why since I don't have ads or interactive content.
Ive been on the site before, and it doesnt seem like a straight-forward scam, but I wont trust (what I mean is its secure and all but I wouldn't trust it with my money) As for other ads, the site cant control those. Thats the reason this site doesnt cost sextuple digits to keep up and running. Ads. And, as previous reply said, there couldn't be 'no ads' unless we payed to enter the domain
Just understand that the site costs you $30 to post a work for review, and the 'reviewers' are allegedly paid $10 per review. I don't see how this can be a legitimate budiness model, because a work can only recieve two reviews to make any kind of profit. Also under the Reviewers Agreement it states: Hmmm... may? I don't think so. Or you could post your work in the workshop here and we will review it FREE OF CHARGE! ~ J. J.
good post, jj! cog... thanks for the info... i can swing $35/year so if it allows me to avoid having to see those ads, it'll be worth it!
Hi everyone, I'd like to clarify a few things. Typically I have limited control over what ads are displayed on the site. However, in the case of Inkspand, Inkspand is a private advertiser on the site. While I can't endorse it since I haven't personally used the service, I'm convinced it's a legitimate service. In my research of the company I could find no evidence that it's anything shy of a legitimate service. That said, Inkspand's review process might not be for you, and that's fine, but it's a legitimate company and a legitimate advertiser on the forums. If you're willing to pay for reviews of your writing, I think this service could be a good place to start. I can also confirm that Karim, the poster before me, is indeed the owner of the site. While we typically don't allow advertisers to comment or endorse their services here, in this case, as a paid advertiser, I'll allow Karim to answer and address any concerns you might have with Inkspand.
While it is a legitimate business, as an author one may want to consider if it's worth $30 for a review that can be as short as 150 words. That's $30 for one review, not necessarily a critique, and not done by anyone who has to have any experience in critiquing, reviewing, or writing.
Thank you for that clarification, Daniel. Let me add, Inkspand is not a replacement for a professional editor. It is a tool for authors to see the ratings & reviews they would get if they were to publish their work as it is. Amateur (ie. regular) readers will be the ones posting ratings & reviews on Amazon (not only those who have experience in critiquing, reviewing, or writing). Inkspand provides a sample of your ratings & reviews, before they are permanently attached to your book's Amazon page. After all those hours spent writing your book, why not find out, before publishing, what regular readers think of your book, how they'll rate your book, and how much they're willing to pay? Considering the increasingly competitive literary marketplace, there will be competitive advantage to those who gather a consensus feedback from their target market; editing based on this feedback, and pricing based on this feedback. But, I realize, some authors may not be willing to pay for this service. That's fine. I understand that it's not for everyone. To each their own path. I wish you all good luck in your publishing endeavours, Karim. Founder, Inkspand.com
