1. Media Piston: A New Content Mill On The Internet NOT Worth
Checking Out
Note: Read this hub if you would like, but I wouldn't bother with this site. I received the following email
from them today: hi Lisa, (The small "h" being their error)
Thanks for joining MediaPiston. Unfortunately, your average ratings over your first few assignments
are on the low side and we've decided based on the needs of our clientele and where the market is
heading that we'll no longer be requiring your services. Thanks again for your efforts and we wish you
the best in your future endeavors.
Please keep in mind I have completed close 6,000 articles on other sites with no problems
whatsoever and have earned five times what this site is offering. The editors there are nitpicky,
power-tripped goons who are crazy if they think I had any *desire* to stay there after being treated to
not one, but two, error-filled emails about how much I suck. Compare that email to this one from
Textbroker and you will see why I have decided to remain loyal to only them:
I'm contacting you today because you are one of Textbroker's most
trusted authors. Both the client services and author services
departments frequently recommend you to clients, and we really
appreciate your relationship with us throughout the years. Writing over
5,800 articles in 17 months without a single rejection is no small feat,
and we applaud your hard work and professionalism.
I would like to thank whoever left a comment on one of my Hubs related to online writing to check out
Media Piston, the newest content writing website. Alarmed that more than 90 percent of my earnings
each month come from one source, I knew that I need to diversify. The problem was, I just didn't want
to take the time to do it. In this line of work, any time I am not actively writing is time that I am not
making money. That is why I appreciate having Media Piston just dropped in my lap.
In the past 14 months since my online writing career began, I have submitted content to London
Brokers, Yahoo Contributor Network, Textbroker, eCopywriters, The Content Authority, Valley Media
and Writer Access. All of these sites are what you would call "content mills." That means that writers
must apply for acceptance and then are given the opportunity to choose assignments based on their
quality level. There is no bidding necessary to win writing assignments.
Of these sites, Textbroker and eCopywriters are the only ones I still consider to be worth my time,
with Textbroker coming out way ahead in terms of assignments available and money earned. While I
am actively trying to move beyond content mills, I also know that for right now they are my bread and
butter. That is why I am happy to have found Media Piston, a site that looks like it will quickly become
my #2.
I should preface my remarks here by saying that I have only been with Media Piston for about a
week. That is not long enough to have really formed an opinion, but I will say that much about the site

2. is different than all the other sites I have worked at over the past 14 months. The sing-up process did
not include a formal evaluation of my writing skills. Instead, I was asked to provide three links to
content I had written online. That is where Hub Pages really comes in handy, because I have my own
byline on these articles.
The profile form allowed me to list my areas of expertise and my past work history. For every area of
expertise that I checked, a new pop-up box appeared detailing the exact qualifications necessary to
list myself as an expert in that category. From what I could tell, being an expert on a subject matter
gives you the opportunity to earn higher pay.
Unlike some of the other content writing sites, Media Piston does not appear to assign a level to
writers, nor does it indicate a price per word. It is my understanding that as you complete more
assignments and your quality score improves, more assignments become available to you.
Media Piston utilizes a two-step submission process that includes gaining approval from an internal
editor and then the actual client. I have submitted 12 assignments so far, with roughly half of them
coming back for revisions from internal editors. In most cases, they were easy fixes.
Since I work primarily with Textbroker, I am not accustomed to this system and the jury is still out
regarding what I think about it. With Textbroker, the client gets the article first and Textbroker rates it
after the fact. I have probably been asked to revise less than five percent of the more than 5,000
articles I have submitted to Textbroker.
I assume that as I work with Media Piston further, I will gain a better understanding of how to please
their editors the first time around. Once an article has been passed to a client for review, he or she
has four business days to accept it or request a revision. Getting past the internal editor is no
guarantee that the client won't ask for a revision.
Like Textbroker, Media Piston pays via PayPal every Friday. There does not appear to be a minimum
payout required and there are no PayPal fees to receive a payment. I have had four assignments
accepted by the client and am expecting my first payout to be around $28.00.
Rather than offer payment based on word count, Media Piston offers a base rate and a bonus rate.
When I calculated the rate per word, it appeared to be a bit better than Level 4 open orders on
Textbroker. For example, an article that calls for 350 words offers a base payment of approximately
$5.25 with a bonus around $1.25. This would put the price per word between 1.5 and 1.8 cents. That
beats Textbroker's 1.4 cents for Level 4 open orders, but I rarely do those anymore. The majority of
my time at Textbroker is spent on team and direct orders. At Media Piston, I have gotten either a full
or partial bonus on all accepted assignments. There are several ways you can earn bonuses, which
are outlined in detail on the site.
Media Piston appears to go out of its way to offer practical writing advice and clear instructions on
assignments. Revision requests from editors are also very thorough, sometimes to the point of
wondering if they would have rather written the article themselves. As long as I have money in my
PayPal account this Friday and assignments keep appearing, I plan to stick with Media Piston.
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