You can be an Epinions great: advice to newcomers from a (relative) veteran Apr 16 '01    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Books Gordon Livingston - Too Soon Old, Too La From $6 Robin Fogarty and Brian M. Pete - The Ad From $11 The Bottom Line Among much great advice about how to excel, only a little matters: write well and have fun. No one can become rich writing on Epinions, but we can be enriched. Dorothy, the scarecrow and their crew had it easy. For them, there was only one Yellow Brick Road. But there are many paths that can lead to success on Epinions, and we can't be sure which will lead us to the triumphs and the large, loving audiences we deserve, and which will lead only to some dolt who will try either to engage us in a pointless "flame war" or to orchestrate a frustrating but ultimately meaningless campaign of "revenge rating." All we can do is try a few strategies and then settle on an approach that works for us, but might not work for anyone else. There are details you'll have to figure out and what follows is some information I've picked up along the way that might be helpful. But the best advice anyone can give about making your Epinions experience satisfying is rather simple: write about things you care about, write well and have fun. If you do that, people will find your writing. You can help them along by promoting your pieces in the "Just In" section of Epinion Addicts ( http://epinionaddicts.com ), where membership is free and rewarding. But if you write well, people will talk among themselves and word will get out eventually. One key to writing is reading the works of other writers who do it well and learning from their examples. Epinions offers a feast of such writing, and there are referrals to some of the site's best writers at the end of this piece. But first, some other things that might be worth keeping in mind: EPINIONS WILL NOT MAKE YOU RICH Consider a writer on the site whose work has been read more than 237,000 times. That works out to about 1,000 readers for each of his pieces, which is a staggering number by Epinions standards, although a readership that small would not sustain a daily newspaper. Now, assume (and this is very unlikely) that this writer got the site's highest rate of 3 cents for each of those reads. That's still only a little more than $7,100. If you were to put in all the effort needed to reach that almost-unprecedented success, the money might cover your rent or mortgage for a year, although that might be unlikely if you have a roof supported by four walls. But it certainly won't pay also for your utilities and food and other expenses, not even when Epinions throws in your bonus "Income Share." You'll be better off emotionally if your primary motivation is altruism and you consider the site as a place to help others with your knowledge while benefitting from theirs. If you think of the money as just a welcome little bonus, you won't be disappointed. HOW TO TIME YOUR REVIEWS? IT DEPENDS. Some writers swear that the way to gain a large audience is to space your reviews out. Post one and then let it sit for a while -- days or weeks or months, even -- until it's attracted the largest audience possible. Then post your next one and let it sit there for a while as well. But there are many writers who post a review almost every day, or even many reviews in a single day, and they have readerships that are rather large by Epinions standards. This is one area in which no piece of advice will work for everyone. It's probably best to find a pace you're comfortable with and stick with it, regardless of the pace others are setting for themselves. HOW TO BUILD YOUR WEB OF TRUST? IT DEPENDS. Some writers use their Webs of Trust (WOT) to attract attention to their writing. But here again, there is no approach that works uniformly. There are writers whose work is worth reading and who have Webs of Trust several times longer than the lists of people who trust them. And then there are exceptional writers who trust very few others but who have many hundreds who trust them. The most satisfying approach is probably to add those writers whose work you enjoy and use your WOT as nothing more than a reminder to yourself to check out their writing every once in a while. EVERYTHING YOU WRITE ON THE SITE REFLECTS ON YOU One of the site's most important features is the opportunity it affords us to rate and comment on each other's work. When you read something that moves you or angers you or in some other way provokes a response, leave a constructive comment on it for the writer. Make your comments interesting and perhaps someone will read them and follow the links they provide to your writing. But it almost certainly makes sense to leave comments only because you want to convey something you think is worth expressing. We all have lives beyond Epinions and most of us don't have the time we'd like to read everything we want. If you expect everyone will follow the leads presented by even your most witty and insightful comments, you're likely to be disappointed. (If you think this is rubbish, leave a comment. But if you don't get a response, that kind of proves the point.) TRUST YOUR OWN JUDGMENT Epinions offers several categories in which people can offer advice about everything from how to build your Web of Trust to how to create an Epinions "personality." But anyone can post pieces in these categories, including those of us who have been on the site for only four months. Look around and see what various writers have to say. But don't be overwhelmed when advice contradicts other wisdom you've read. There are no absolutes, and what strategies you develop for yourself will be as valid as any others crafted by anyone else. EPILOGUE (ALTHOUGH THERE'S SOME GOOD STUFF AFTER THIS) The story is told about a cranky, successful writer. Perhaps it was George Bernard Shaw or William Faulkner or Saul Bellow. The accounts appear to preclude its having been Willa Cather or Edith Wharton or Virginia Woolf. Whichever literary lion it was, he was about to begin a talk on how one can become a successful writer. But first he asked his audience how many of them wanted to be successful writers. Of course almost everyone raised their hands. "Then what are you doing here? Go write something." So, what are you doing reading this? Go write something good about something you know. Go read something that interests you and leave a constructive comment. And enjoy. The rest will take care of itself. WRITERS TO READ Anyone who wants to write should read, and these following suggestions are good ones with which to start. They are some of the many wonderful writers I was fortunate to find during my earliest days on Epinions. What they've written has inspired me in some way, and it can do the same for you. CALEO ( http://epinions.com/user-caleo ) That Caleo is a gifted and insightful writer is demonstrated in her piece about Bach music played by Yo-Yo Ma ( http://epinions.com/content_8861421188 ). Her writing talent also shines in two pieces that prove she is a remarkable person as well: a reflection on her mother's death and on one of her son's gifts to her ( http://epinions.com/kifm-review-68A9-C2BA1A6-3A3A3C20-prod1 ); and a consideration of a genuinely horrible person who could have disrupted Caleo's life much more than she allowed ( http://epinions.com/content_990814340 ). GROUCH ( http://epinions.com/user-grouch ) There are scores of reasons Grouch is one of the most respected writers on Epinions, and each of them is evident in every one of his many reviews, most of which are about books, both fiction and non-fiction, and movies. Consider his review of Amy Tan's novel The Bonesetter's Daughter ( http://epinions.com/content_14741376644 ) or his take on Stanley Tucci's film Joe Gould's Secret ( http://epinions.com/mvie-review-1245-3A07E1DC-3A51F3F0-prod5 ) hadassahchana ( http://epinions.com/user-hadassahchana ) Her lyrical appreciation of a children's book, Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown ( http://epinions.com/content_6715117188 ), shows that hadassahchana is both a fortunate mother of two very lucky boys and a writer worth reading. And she has a sense of humor and an appreciation of some of Nature's wonders, both of which are reflected in her review of a Web site that offers a strategy for protecting gardens from predatory animals ( http://epinions.com/webs-review-1A7E-167B28D7-3A12B665-prod2 ). mangiotto ( http://epinions.com/user-mangiotto ) Among the very best of the site's movie reviewers is mangiotto, who packs his critiques with as much penetrating insight and analysis as he does humor. It's impossible to pick his best, but his review of Deliverance ( http://www.epinions.com/mvie-review-1174-4BAC6B8F-3A5BC6E5-prod3 ) is especially good. And he reviews music well, as he does in his review of Ani DiFranco's latest ( http://www.epinions.com/content_17845948036 ). mshawpyle ( http://epinions.com/user-mshawpyle ) If William F. Buckley doesn't write on Epinions, it's probably because mshawpyle does. He writes about alcoholic beverages, but you're on your own in determining how spirited your appreciation of those insights should be. His critiques of books about history are masterful. Start, but certainly don't stop, with his analyses of Fortitude: The D-Day Deception by Roger Hasbeth ( http://epinions.com/content_11483385476 ) and Farewell the Trumpets: The Decline of an Empire, part of Jan (James) Morris' trilogy about British imperial history ( http://epinions.com/content_7985139332 ). NFP ( http://epinions.com/user-nfp ) He writes scholarly pieces so gracefully they are not professorial or pedantic. Try his review of Rain of Gold by Victor Villasenor ( http://epinions.com/content_7584714372 ). NFP also writes insightful and elegant movie reviews, among them a great one of the Gregory Peck WWII movie Twelve O'Clock High ( http://epinions.com/content_14518881924 ). PSYCHOVANT ( http://epinions.com/user-psychovant ) Psychovant writes with skill and enthusiasm about a variety of subjects, but is perhaps best know for writing about obscure horror movies and movies with lesbian/gay themes. An especially good one of hers is about the same-sex love story When Night is Falling ( http://epinions.com/mvie-review-79EA-3593DC11-39B418ED-prod5 ). And I'll always be grateful for her recommendation of the silent movie masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc ( http://epinions.com/content_15808499332 ). SLOUCHO ( http://epinions.com/user-sloucho ) It would be easy to envy Sloucho's many talents, but that would be wasteful because it would interfere with appreciating them instead. His writing is profound and profoundly funny. His critique of Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man ( http://epinions.com/content_9703231108 ), part of the Black History Month Write-Off organized by frazzledspice, is thoughtful and thought-provoking. And his movie reviews range from the sublime, Eyes Wide Shut ( http://epinions.com/content_11769974404 ), to the ridiculous but somehow still sublime, Charlie's Angels ( http://epinions.com/content_15636270724 ). SusanGranger ( http://epinions.com/user-susangranger ) It is a mystery how SusanGranger is able to write so much so thoroughly and well, but fortunately solving that isn't necessary to enjoy the multitudes of movie reviews she creates. Ones not to miss include her takes on Steal This Movie ( http://epinions.com/content_6727569028 ), a sort-of biography of Abbie Hoffman, and Requiem for a Dream ( http://epinions.com/mvie-review-4AD7-19D333E5-3A3EA0FC-prod4 ), the drug nightmare Darren Aronofsky directed after his breakthrough Pi. URBANIST ( http://epinions.com/user-urbanist ) Urbanist writes gracefully, mostly about travel and books. Delightful are his meditations on Salman Rushdie's The Moor's Last Sigh ( http://epinions.com/content_10605465220 ) and on California's redwoods ( http://epinions.com/park-review-5BA0-209CA5CA-3A2CA5FC-prod2 ). His piece about Hawaii's Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park ( http://epinions.com/park-review-1BDA-1F2C76F4-39E9DBF2-prod3 ) is brief, but evocative. wordwalker ( http://epinions.com/user-wordwalker ) She uses words beautifully to describe in impressive and insightful detail the writings of others whose words she has read. Among the library she's written, her review of The Annotated Sherlock Holmes ( http://epinions.com/content_7444205188 ) deserves a place of honor, as does her consideration of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House ( http://epinions.com/book-review-545A-6570456-3977AA1F-prod1 ).

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