Joining the planksip Writers' Cooperative
The planksip writers cooperative gives members writing assignments, which they compete for cash prizes. This article highlights membership benefits and outlines the rules and guidelines for submissions. Becoming a planksip writer is easier than you think. Are you becoming a better writer? Well, that is up to you.
Step #1 - Watch this introductory video explaining the membership, the cooperative, competitions, and why you should join...
Here's the transcript:
Membership Matters!
Our membership model is exclusive yet open to anyone who wants to participate. This is seemingly a contradiction; how can our cooperative be exclusive yet open to all? Let me explain.
The exclusive aspect of the membership is an extension of planksip as a media outlet, a publisher offering members an organic platform to express their thoughts and participate in peer-reviewed competitions on their written submissions or assignments. Unlike other media outlets, planksip is different, the coveted $1 per word is something that I, as the founder of planksip, wanted to offer our writers, but I realized that my efforts would only work if there were an organic selection process how we chose one individual's creative expression over another. I didn't want to set up a board of advisors or a panel of industry professionals or editors to vet the submissions; this would gobble up much-needed funds that should go to the writers. I wanted to cut that layer out, as illustrated in this meme and partial pastiche to Bill Maher; I wanted to cut out the bureaucracy.
Furthermore, I wanted the writers to decide for themselves whose work would aggregate to the top. Moreover, our boutique publishing platform and media outlet is void of all corporate sponsors or clickbaity articles. Our writers write for themselves and their peers and not impulsive credit card purchasers looking to consume that next throw-away article of clothing or gimmick for some online retail therapy. Think about that for a minute, you take someone who has some talent as a writer and wants to share their thoughts, inspirations, and desires with the world, but they have to do it through the lens of consumerism. What's wrong with that?
Internet giants like Facebook require ad revenue. They must rely on consumer spending to make their space valuable to ad purchasers or corporations trying to sell you stuff. I offer you a different consumptive experience and an organically written and creative expression platform. Like a hot cup of coffee or tea, take a sip, and consume what sustains you. Create, write, and organically participate in a peer group that matters. Besides, when you purchase that next gadget, gizmo, or limited shelf-life consumer away item, does it have any ability to provide you with an income? The planksip membership cooperative lets you earn money as a top writer, and everyone has access to valuable learning experiences. It's my vision that this is a new form of engagement that transcends likes, thumbs-up follows, and subscribe buttons. I want to change what it means to engage. I want your voice to be heard and not for everyone to follow the herd!
Model (you left your model on the road)
This short diversion is a little comic relief, for no models were left on any road. You will now be taken to the next sequence in the video, performance, or propaganda. Take your pick. Perception as we understand it is highly subjective; what isn't subjective is handed down to us in terms of knowledge from game theorists and goes like this; altruistic acts begin with altruistic thoughts. By way of heuristics or truism, I would like to remind you that giving someone the benefit of the doubt could be highly advantageous. Before we talk about the risks of the planksip Journalist program and the cooperative as a whole, I would first like to talk about the economic model as a whole.
Before I continue, I want to elaborate on the format of this engaging and interactive video. The animus behind you represents a conceptual canvas, and you, the willing participant, can select the most relevant content. For example, you can select the words 9-Star to your left or 13-Star that emerged when I mentioned the word contradiction earlier. Simply put, 9-Star represents a written assignment of 4,500 words. The 13-Star assignment represents an assignment of 6,500 words. When you click on either of these, you will be taken down the rabbit hole of famous past intellectuals, the inspiration for this competition, and the basis for our Figures of Speech collection. What about the $1 per word prize money that I mentioned earlier? Well, the 9-Star, the 4,500-word written assignment, has a value of... you guessed it, $4,500 in Canadian funds, while the 13-Star assignment of 6.500 words is worth $6,500 CAD. Now, if I were you and being a man of probabilities myself (p.(x)), I would ask, How many submissions do I have to compete against to win this prize? The answer is simple; we cap the number of submissions in multiples of twelve. So the 9-Star only accepts 108 submissions while the 13-Star assignment maxes out at 156. Well, maybe these odds are a little too steep for your liking; think about a 1-Star article with only eleven other writers, just like you, competing for $500. Not bad odds; the better you get at writing and the more votes you receive in competitions, the more prize money you will make.
Contradiction:
For some reason, whenever I see or use the word contraction, I think of the word irony, which is a contradiction. The irony is a beautiful concept; it gives us contrast and the ability to compare outside the Absolute. In essence, irony gives us the idea of infinity, perfection, and the ideal. The other thought I think of when I use or hear the word contradiction is typically the words of Walt Whitman, "Do I contradict myself? I contradict myself very well (I am large, I contain multitudes.)." Replace Soul with Mind.
Peer-review:
In relative terms, peer-review, in the planksip sense, are fellow planksipeans, members also part of the cooperative. They are writers like you and are leveraging a similar yet unique space of neurology to reason through the intuitions and metaphors and reconcile the knowledge structures that inhabit their existence.
Due to the nature of this interactive experience, the message may bounce around a bit. I have two possible solutions to this potential concern. First, you could watch the video as often as you like to capture all the presented counterfactual thoughts. I also want to give you a little hack; if you click on the bottom right of the player, you will see a menu, and from this screen, you can go to any of the sections discussed in this video. If you are more of a linear thinker, the transcript for this video is posted on planksip. As always, those are my thoughts,
What are yours?
Step #2 - Sign up as a paying member on planksip.org
Someone will contact you via email to complete the onboarding process (i.e. set up your planksip email and give you your first 52 writing assignments)
Step #3 - Welcome to the planksip Family
