Why Odyssey Sucks

Do I have your attention now?

I am a disgruntled writer and I have a platform to vent a bit. Unfortunately, my frustration comes from the platform itself. So, let's enjoy a nice big bowl of crazy and internet blacklisting as I air my grievances on the site where I have over one million page views.

I'll say right off the bat that it's not all bad that working for the Odyssey. I have the benefit of being on the Carbondale Illinois chapter of the Odyssey. That has put me in contact with some cool people and the brightest minds in all of Illinois. I get to write with my beautiful girlfriend and it helped give one of my best friends a way to get his reviews out there. Also, the editing base here in Carbondale is stellar. The community is damn good.

However, my problems stem from the business practices and the corporation itself. Communication is the worst I have ever seen from a giant internet based company. I've experienced and heard horror stories where the people running the show failed to contact editors and the content creators. I have reached out numerous times about various problems I have had and I have either got no response, or a "too bad, figure it out" type response. It has the feel that nobody cares about us or is putting in any effort to help us. It feels like we are just profiting them while we write our fingers to the bone. If you aren't willing to give any effort, why should we?

We also get little to no perks. I am one of the lucky few that got a decent pay for one of my articles. However, I don't care if this makes me sound selfish, but I deserved a higher pay for my Harley Quinn article. The amount of traffic that article brought in to this site is ludicrous. I feel as if I only got paid a fraction of what that article was worth to this site. I understand that the company should take some of the money for having the platform and distributing it. However, I also feel like Odyssey should have paid my EIC, Shelby Barker, some money for editing it and give me a much larger pay for creating the article that has put so many new eyes to this site. There were even articles written about that articles. Yet, I only saw a small fraction of what that article is worth. Not to mention my other articles that have done good business and I haven't seen a dime for. I understand that I should just be happy for exposure but when an article does that kind of business, I deserve the right amount of pay for it. But hey, life's not fair so I guess I can live with that.

At the very least pay the editors a decent wage for doing your damn job for you guys. They are busting their ass to make this site profitable, shouldn't they see some of the profit?

Not to mention, Muse software is terrible. It's a nightmare to work around. So, maybe get better software?

I also have a problem with giving us MEs that have too much on their plate to help us out properly. I understand something horrible happened at the offices of the Odyssey. However, Sami Allen was the best ME I have ever worked with. However, she was given a pink slip and now we have an editor who is so terrible at communication or looking over us that they have failed to notice I haven't turned in an article in weeks. That is unacceptable. That was the story before every ME before Sami Allen.

Look, I enjoyed my time with the Odyssey. I got to be seen by one million people. That's incredible and I am grateful for the opportunity. However, as of late, this has been a toxic site to work for. Weekly labor for no benefit. Favoritism and more promotion of articles that are undeserving. The worst communication I have ever experienced. Also, the editors at Odyssey offices are terrible. So many mistakes are made by the people who are paid to edit. Basically, I beg the higher ups at The Odyssey to read this and make things right. Or you can just fire me and carry on. Just keep in mind that I am a part of a majority that is growing in numbers as the weeks pass by. This will be my last article I submit until you get your sh*t together. We writers are the backbone of your entire site, without us being happy, you have nothing.