A year since the TDS Author Payment Scheme was launched, we couldn't be happier with its impact. Hundreds of articles have received payment; for us, it's a strong sign that the work our collaborators share with students every day is always engaging, creative, and educational.
As a data-driven publisher, we believe in the importance of setting ambitious goals, tracking results, and iterating accordingly. In that spirit, we have decided to introduce changes to the program so that we can better reward our most productive writers, and offer a higher payout for additional articles. This update is effective from March 1, 2026.
New categories of income
We are very happy with the high percentage of articles that exceed the initial payment limit (500 views including $100). At the same time, we would like to see more stories move up to the next level of revenue. To make this possible, we have adjusted our salary categories:
- 500 to 2,499 views: $100. Previously, this level had extended all the way up to 5,000 shared views.
- 2,500 to 7,499 views: $0.05 per view. This means a minimum payment of $125, and up to $374 within this category.
- 7,500+ views: $0.1 per view. This translates to a minimum payment of $750, and up to $7,500, which is the average earnings per article.
As this new structure works, we expect many of our writers to earn more money for their new articles, encouraging them to contribute new ideas and fresh ideas regularly.
Top monthly article
Since the program's inception, writers can publish as many articles as they want, but only the top four that perform best each month are eligible to be paid.
We have learned that some of our most productive and successful writers may publish more than four articles a month. We think parenting is something to celebrate, not punish, so we decided to do it that way increase the monthly article cap to 10. In other words, authors can earn up to 10 articles per month (and you are welcome to publish more, if you like; payment will apply to the first 10 qualified articles).
We hope these changes encourage our existing authors to publish more articles through TDS, and encourage new contributors to submit their work our way, too.
We will be closely monitoring the performance of the Author Payment Program in the coming weeks and months, and may make additional changes if we see an opportunity to improve it. As always, we know that our publications are successful when our authors are successful, and their success is in line with ours.
