The Tangible Rewards of Reviewing

Reviewing benefits more than just the author being reviewed.

I'm going out on a limb here. If you've been on Writing.Com for as little as two weeks, you must have written and submitted at least one review. Lo and behold, you may have received a few gift points from that author.

I did. Got me 100 GPs ... a whole penny's worth for that first review.

I was on top of the world. I'd only been a member of WDC for a week when I wrote that review and was rewarded for it. It was three weeks before I tried using Writing ML in a review, and another two weeks before I attempted the Review Tool. But I was bitten by the review bug, averaging one hundred reviews per month for the rest of the year. I learned a number of things during that period about the tangible rewards of reviewing.

Ask yourself why you review other folk's work. Do you enjoy helping others improve their work? Do you like being rewarded for your reviews? Do you want to improve your own writing? Do you just have an opinion on any subject that you need to pass on? Or, is it all of the above?

All are good reasons to review, though I think the successful reviewer must have the needs of the author foremost in his mind before he submits that review. I'm convinced that doing right by your author--providing positive and upbeat, constructive criticism--will reap many tangible benefits in return. For the next few moments I'm going to wax selfish, and discuss those benefits you can receive from reviewing.

  You review to give back to the community.  

Let's face it, if you're like me you get a lot from being a member of WDC. You may have received a particularly helpful review that led to being published, helped win a contest, or just made you think. Times are tough and memberships are an expense that may be hard to bear. Many individuals and groups gift upgrades and memberships to people, and auctions offer opportunities to get upgrades for a fraction of the cost. Reviewing allows you to give back to the community in a way that costs you nothing but a little time.

  You can improve your writing.  

As writers, we agonize over each phrase we pen. We leaf through our dictionaries and thesauri for the correct spellings and the right words. Grammar guides help us. I've found that my opinion will only carry me so far in my reviews. I must organize my thoughts coherently and ensure that any points or concerns I raise to the author are valid and correct before I place them in the public trust. That takes research and a willingness to learn--things that have benefited my writing greatly ... in my humble opinion, of course.

  You can earn significant gift point rewards.  

I'm the original skeptic. Do I believe those folks who hawk making piles of money for doing practically nothing? Nope. But you can earn a lot of gift points by reviewing.

Official WDC sources for review GPs include Review Mixer, "The Review Mixer" ; Daily Review Rewards, "Daily Review Rewards" ; and Good Deeds … Get Cash, "Good Deeds Get CASH!" . Members may also earmark GPs for their specific items using the Auto-Rewards program, "Auto-Rewards" ; and may award GPs for individual reviews via the Public Review Rewards, "Public Review Rewards" . A third option for receiving GPs is by affiliating with one of many Reviewing groups. Finally, the author may bestow a few GPs as a personal thank you.

I've received GPs from as many as six sources for the same review. Granted, the better the reviewer you become, the more you'll be noticed by these groups. Just this month alone (Nov 23), I've earned more than 35,000 GPs (not a typo, my friends) from reviewing, not including merit badges. I don't consider myself unique in this--I think lots of folks earn piles of points by reviewing.

  You gain a certain notoriety (in a good way) regarding your status as a reviewer.  

WDC maintains a listing of the top 100 most influential reviewers based on the past 31 calendar days. You join that august group by submitting quality reviews and being recognized and rewarded by your peers for that quality. When you receive GPs through the Public Review page, you generate Reviewing Credits based on the size of the reward and the length of your review. Reviewing groups, such as "SIMPLY POSITIVE GROUP"  or "WdC SuperPower Reviewers Group" , often credit from the Public Review page. This builds up your reviewing credibility and gets you noticed faster. If I like a review, I get from someone, I credit them from the Public Review page for that reason, instead of using the "Respond to the Review" box.

Check out "Reviewing @ Writing.Com"  for a detailed explanation regarding this aspect of reviewing.

  You can increase your Community Recognition (CR).  

Two of the five methods for increasing your CR are tied directly to reviewing. Each month, Writing.Com Support awards Reviewing merit badges to the top 100 reviewers. Many reviewing groups offer merit badges as well for submitting reviews. Achievement merit badges are also awarded for meeting reviewing goals. Additionally, each one hundred qualified (more than 250 characters) reviews completed nets you one CR point. These reviews can be public or private.

Reviewing is a critical part to improving our writing as authors. Not only can you help out fellow authors with your reviews, but you can receive some very tangible rewards in your efforts to help them. That, my friends, is a win-win situation.

Review on!

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