What it’s all about

What a way to spend the summer: Twelve weeks of opportunity to earn extra rewards while you build your writing reputation and portfolio on Helium.

From July 1 through September 22, 2008, the first day of fall, Helium will reward all its starred writers with bonus payments for each new article they publish on Helium to the titles listed in the Summer Reward-athon. Qualifying members can earn big money on payout day, Wednesday, October 1.

Don’t forget! Your Helium account information MUST be filled out with full name, postal address and phone number.

The Summer Reward-athon rules are simple: As a starred member, you can earn a bonus payment for every article submitted to a listed Reward-athon title. The rewards increase based on your number of stars. A one-writing-star member can earn $1 for every article submitted to these titles until September 22. A five-writing-star member can earn $3 for every article submitted.

Requirements:

• At least one writing star
• And because all our members need to rate, a minimum of three rating stars by the end of the program
• Your Helium account information filled out with full name, postal address and phone number.
• Only articles written to one of the titles on the Summer Reward-athon titles page count.

How it works

No stars yet? Don’t let that stop you – in fact, the Summer Reward-athon is the perfect time to earn your way to stardom!

But wait: The Reward-athon gets better. Earn additional stars during the course of the promotion, and all articles submitted to the listed titles will earn the maximum reward based on your total number of stars on September 22!

Here’s the full scoop. On September 22, as long as you have at least three rating stars, the rewards are:

• 1 writing star = $1 per article submitted to the titles on the Summer Reward-athon titles page between Jul. 1 and September 22
• 2 writing stars = $1.50 per article submitted to the titles on the Summer Reward-athon titles page between Jul. 1 and September 22
• 3 writing stars = $2 per article submitted to the titles on the Summer Reward-athon titles page between Jul. 1 and September 22
• 4 writing stars = $2.50 per article submitted to the titles on the Summer Reward-athon titles page between Jul. 1 and September 22
• 5 writing stars = $3 per article submitted to the titles on the Summer Reward-athon titles page between Jul. 1 and September 22

How running totals are displayed

Be sure to keep tabs on your Reward-athon earnings. The Reward-athon running total will be updated every 24 hours with potential earnings displaying on the Summer Reward-athon Earnings page. You can get to that Reward-athon Earnings page by clicking the big blue button that says, "View your Summer Reward-athon Earnings."

On the Reward-athon Earnings page, the box above the list of titles that you've written to will display your number of writing and rating stars, as well as how much you will be eligible to earn at the end of the Reward-athon--if you meet the eligibility criteria. Remember, you need at least three rating stars and one writing star to be eligible to earn This box will also display an "as of" date, which means as of the date and time shown, you could earn that amount. Finally, we use the time designation of UTC, which is the same as Greenwhich Mean Time (GMT). (Figure your local time from GMT here)

On October 1, Reward-athon payment adjustments will appear in your Account balance, at which time, you will be able to request your Reward-athon earnings to be paid via PayPal. We will be making payments on October 1 to those members who have requested payment.

It is important to note that your Reward-athon running total can change: As you add articles and earn stars it will grow. If you lose stars, the running total can decline. Hedge your bets that you’ll be a big winner by getting the required information entered into your account settings page now. You need to add your full name, your mailing address and a verifiable phone number.

How to get those writing and rating stars

We have all the dirty details in our User Guide and on our User recognition page.

The legaleze

Of course, our attorneys request that we provide more details on the program, so please be sure to read the Summer Reward-athon Terms.

Get writing. Get rating. And good luck!