Frequently Asked Questions

Writing Articles (or Write Now)

Q: How do I start writing articles for Human Times?

A: It’s easy! The first thing you need to do is sign up as a registered user. Once you have completed your registration process, the only thing you will need is a good story to tell. There is no interview or reference process. You are free at this time to proceed with writing and publishing your articles.

We have a short three step tutorial that illustrates everything you need to publish an article on the Human Times site. The link to the tutorial is right here:

http://www.humantimes.com/otherinfo/writenowtutorial/

Q: Do I need to become an employee of Human Times?

A: No, the Human Times site essentially works on a freelance model. Anyone is free to contribute their articles. You may submit your articles anytime and anywhere. Please refer to the FAQ on Payment and Ratings for additional information regarding how you are compensated for your work.

Q: Do I need to have professional experience to write for Human Times?

A: Human Times is a site that welcomes writers from all different walks of life to write about news from their local communities and also global news that affects the world around us. Absolutely no experience is required to write on Human Times. All we ask is for you to bring your enthusiasm in writing and a good story to tell.

Q: Is there some type of editorial process that articles must undergo before they are published on the Human Times site?

A: When you click Publish in the Write Now window, you can rest assured that your article will show up on the Human Times site within a few short moments. We trust that you will go through the appropriate review process at your end to ensure everything appears as it should. At the same time, Human Times is a community monitored site. In other words, we rely to a large extent on users to tell us if certain articles being posted are inappropriate. The staff at Human Times does perform periodic random checks on articles being published, but we firmly believe that community monitoring is the most effective quality assurance process given the volume of articles being published on Human Times every day. Please refer to FAQ on Flag Now regarding how you can help monitor the quality level of articles on Human Times.

Q: Am I able to edit or delete my article after it has been published on the Human Times site?

A: No, we do not provide an edit or delete option for your published articles.

Q: What if I need to make a retraction, correction or update to my article? How do I go about doing this?

A: It’s human nature to have an afterthought. After all, we can’t be perfect all the time. If something does come to mind after you have published your article, whether it be some additional useful information, corrections or anything else, a simple way to make this information public is to comment on your own article. Please refer to FAQ on Comment Now regarding how users can comment on articles.

Another way to go about this would be to write and publish another article. We recommend you clearly identify the purpose of this follow-on article, whether it be a correction, retraction or update. Otherwise, readers may become confused as to why there is more than one similar looking article if you are making minor updates to the article content.

If you believe something egregious has happened with your article, by all means contact us at questions@humantimes.com. We are here to help you have your voice heard, so we would be more than happy to help you where we can as long as we are not stepping outside of any preset bounds.

Payment and Ratings

Q: How do I earn money on Human Times?

A: Our goal at Human Times is to foster a real community whereby our writers are able to take part in the success of the site. We do this by way of an ad revenue share program. As you can see, advertisements are placed along side each article you write and publish. We take a large percentage of the advertising revenue earned from your articles and put it into a “payout pool”. Writers are then paid a certain percentage of the “payout pool” based on their ranking relative to all other writers on Human Times.

Q: So my earnings will be based on my ranking. How does the ranking system work?

A: To ensure the continued fairness of the program and prevent unethical usage of the site, we can’t really reveal the exact details of the ranking system. What we can tell you is that your ranking will be based on numerous factors, not the least of which are the quality of your articles as judged by other users and the popularity of your articles. The higher you rank, the greater your percentage of the “payout pool”. Our simple advice for improving your ranking is to write interesting articles that other users will enjoy reading and help the spread Human Times site to all of your friends and family.

Q: How often am I ranked?

A: Writers are ranked monthly based on their written and published articles with a one month lag. As that was quite a mouthful even for the fully literate, let us illustrate with the following example.
Joe Human writes and publishes articles on the following dates:
Article 1: April 2
Article 2: April 5
Article 3: April 29
Article 4: May 1
Article 5: May 2

As Joe has written and published three articles in the month of April, his ranking for May 31st will be based on those three articles. The two articles written and published by Joe in the month of May will not count in his ranking until June 30th.

The ranking process will normally be completed one week after the end of each month. For the example above, Joe Human will be able to see his ranking for May 31st on the Payment and Ratings page by June 7th.

Q: Why is there a one month lag for articles to be included in my writer’s rating?

A: We have one month lag so there is sufficient time for other users on Human Times to view and rate the article.

Q: How often am I paid?

A: The payment schedule will follow the ranking schedule. In other words, payment to writers will be made on a monthly basis after completion of the writer rankings.

Q: I see that I earned $10 last month, but have not been paid. Why not?

A: The minimum payment for each writer is $20. In other words, your unpaid account balance must be at least $20 before we make a payment to you. We find this threshold is a good compromise - allowing our writers to be paid on a timely basis and minimizing administration.

Q: What happens if my earnings are less than $20 at the end of the month? Do I lose those earnings?

A: Absolutely not. Going back to our previous question, your $10 of earnings will roll over to the next month. Your account will accumulate until you reach or surpass the $20 minimum payment threshold at any month end, at which point we will pay out your account balance.

Q: What currency will I be paid in?

A: Payment will be calculated and paid in US dollars. If this changes at any time, we will be sure to appropriately disclose this.

Q: Where do I find payment information for my account?

A: It’s easy, just click Payment & Rating Summary in your account menu (found on the left hand side of each Human Times page). We have put all sorts of useful payment information on this page.

Q: So what do the fields on the Payment & Ratings Summary page represent?

A: For the purposes of this discussion, let’s assume today’s date is June 4th, 2008.

1 This shows the latest date for articles written and published that count towards your writers rating. Going back to our Joe Human example, this means all of Joe’s articles written and published in April are accounted for in his May 31st rating. The May 31st rating will be available on the Payments & Ratings page on or about June 7th.

2 Amount of Earnings To-date reports the amount earned by you since joining Human Times, including amounts that have not yet been paid to you.

3 Amount Received To-date reports the amount that has been paid to you since joining Human Times.

4 Total Adjustments reports any adjustments that have been made to your Account Balance.

5 Account Balance reports the amount earned by you that has not yet been paid to you.

6 Current Writer’s Rating reports your writer’s rating relative to other writers on Human Times (hint: the lower the number, the better the rating).

7 Number of Articles reports the number of articles that qualified for inclusion in your writer’s rating in the last rating cycle.

8 If you have not yet provided a PayPal account number, a message will be shown to remind you to enter this information on the Profile Management page. Payments can only be made once you have provided a valid PayPal account.

9 Payment Details shows you the exact history of each payment that has been made to you since you joined Human Times.