How To Earn GPs

How to Earn GiftPoints

So you've been on here awhile, and you start to realise that there're these funny things called GIFTPOINTS. And the best thing is, you can buy stuff with them! They're like...money! Who doesn't love money, right? After a while you start realising your hoard of GPs has grown larger, slowly, sneakily over time. You're delighted. You decide to buy something, maybe a cNote, or if you have the funds, an awardicon for one of your items. You click the confirmation button, and voila! Your giftpoint balance has gone down. Something in you feels changed, you feel blue, you feel down, you want more giftpoints! More! MORE!

Ahem. Okay, so maybe not all of you react that way (think Silas Marner), but the undeniable fact is, it's fun to have giftpoints, and the more you have, the richer you are. In case you didn't know, 10, 000 GPs= US$1. That's right, it's worth actual money. So how exactly do you go about earning those GPs?

1. Reviewing

Reviewing is the easiest way to earn GPs on writing.com. There are four ways you can earn GPs from reviewing.

Daily review rewards

These GP rewards come from the number of reviews over 250 characters you give per day. Giving a review of 250 or more characters means your review should be constructive and not just an attempt to fill up space as this will be reported as cheating. The more reviews you give out, the more GPs will be awarded. Often during certain festive periods, the rewards will be doubled or tripled, even quadrupled!

For more information on the Daily Review Rewards, see:

ID: 862933   (Rated: E) Daily Review Rewards  Writing.Com's incentives for reviewing a number of items in a given day. by The StoryMaster

Auto-rewarding items

By reviewing an auto-rewarding item, you will automatically get GPs for writing a review of 250 characters or more. Again, your review should be constructive and helpful, or this will be considered cheating the system. The difference between Daily Review Rewards and Auto-rewards is that the latter is paid for by the authors in an attempt to get more reviews for that particular item. These offer more GPs than the Daily Review Rewards. Longer items generally offer more GPs for a review.

For more information on Auto-rewarding items, see:

ID: 868140   (Rated: ASR) Auto-Rewards  Information on Writing.Com's system to automatically reward Gift Points for reviews. by Writing.Com Support

The Review Mixer

The review mixer rewards you for reviewing people you have never reviewed before. This encourages reviewing a range of people and provides exposure for everyone. For each new member you review, you will receive 50 GPs. For certain festive periods, GPs may be doubled or tripled.

For more information on The Review Mixer, see:

ID: 855753   (Rated: E) The Review Mixer  Complete details and information on "The Review Mixer". by The StoryMaster

Public Reviews

By checking the box that says Check To Include This On Our Reviewing page, your review will be included on the Public Reviews Page. Many writing.com members peruse these pages and reward reviewers they think have done a good job reviewing an item. These rewards can range from 25 to 10, 000 GPs. The public review page can be accessed from the Item Jumps Menu on your left hand navigation bar.

2. Entering contests

This is another easy way to earn GPs. Winning a contest may not happen every time you enter, but often GPs are given out to all who enter or a few honourable mentions. Contests can be found on the Contests Listing Page accessed from the Item Jumps Menu on your left hand navigation bar, or by searching the forums. There are daily contests which end every 24 hours, weekly contests, monthly contests, and one-off contests. Prizes vary from 100 GPs, up to…well…any amount!

Some examples are:

Daily contests:

ID: 896794   (Rated: 13+) Daily Flash Fiction Challenge  Enter your story of 300 words or less. Note new starting time! by arakun the twisted raccoon

ID: 1049055   (Rated: E) I Don't Wanna Wait! (see ya next time!)  for those who think longer things are just too long by Tigger thinks of Prancer

Weekly contests:

ID: 989394   (Rated: E) Weekly NEWBIE Challenge  LEARN - Bitem Format, Emoticons, etc., and receive Reviews by ~*~Damiana Renewed~*~

ID: 1101926   (Rated: ASR) A Picture Is Worth A 1000 Words Contest  Write a story in 1000 words or less to a given picture prompt. [Hiatus!] by iKïyå§ama

Monthly contests:

ID: 1168189 Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. by Not Available.

ID: 1269187   (Rated: 13+) Twisted Tales Contest  A monthly contest for stories with a twist. Get 500 GPs for entering! Jan round open! by arakun the twisted raccoon

Poetry contests:

ID: 1145475 Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. by Not Available.

ID: 1290979 Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. by Not Available.

Most contests require you to link your item from your portfolio to the forum.

For more information on linking, see:

ID: 560037   (Rated: ASR) The illustrated guide to linking  Confused about how to link? Exactly what to type? Click here! by Writing.Com Support

For information on entering a contest, see:
"Being a Good Contest Entrant" 

Some contests also work on the basis that they require an entry fee. By charging this entry fee, you may be able to make more GPs than what you will spend on the prizes. For more information on holding a contest, see:

ID: 483915   (Rated: E) Contests ~ How Do I Have One~  Questions Answered by Wannabe

3. Taking surveys

Some surveys on writing.com offer GPs in return for your insight. These work a little like auto-rewarding items, once you complete the survey, the GPs will be sent to you via email. Anyone can take a survey.

4. Raffles

There are many raffles around writing.com that allow you to buy one, two, or ten tickets at small denominations for the chance to win huge returns. Keep in mind that this works like the lottery, you could win as easily as you could lose. The good thing about raffles is that they usually support good causes like RAOK and other writing.com charities. Anyone can buy a raffle ticket, regardless of whether you are a paying member or your portfolio colour.

Some examples:

ID: 1162739   (Rated: E) I want my share of the GPs raffle!  Pot at 1,100,000k! Raffle has ended! The Hummingbird group thanks you very much! by Tale of Coco AdoreInThought

ID: 1140329   (Rated: E) 4 Way Split Raffle  Only 1000 tickets available by WhoMe???

5. Sig shops

Do you have a flair for creating graphics? Are your designer skills outta this world? Many members are always looking for someone to create their signatures for them. Sometimes they're looking for a fantasy theme, or a great picture to go with their name, whatever describes them best. Signature shops are a great way to collect GPs for a skill you possess. Custom signatures collect more GPs than generic ones. Message forums are only available for those with a basic membership and above, and images can only be hosted by those with an upgraded membership and above.

6. cNotes

Another way to earn GPs is to start a cNote shop. cNotes are like e-Cards, they are used within and outside of writing.com to send messages to other people. Good luck, Happy Birthday, or just to say Hi are examples of the cNotes that are around. Starting your own cNote shop means you can charge people for sending your cNotes to others. The nicer your cNotes look, the more you can charge for them. Being innovative will help raise the popularity of your cNote shop. You need to be an upgraded member to host images, so a cNote shop is only possible if you are upgraded in the first place.



I hope you found this article useful. Have a great time earning those GPs!