Common Ties is Legit

I know I've had questions about this site and other writers have too. Common Ties is advertising for people's stories. I contacted them and asked them if they would do a Q&A and they sent me this note:

Thank you for your interest in Common Ties! You are correct in deducing that we are a legitimate site, and when anyone asks (apparently there are loads of Internet scams out there) we simply encourage them to Google our site as well as my own name, Elizabeth Armstrong Moore, to see if any of our writers are complaining about lack of payment, etc.

In the meantime, I must respectfully decline your interview request as we are not conducting any interviews at this early stage of Common Ties. I hope you understand and that you continue to stay involved, and do feel free to ask specific questions by email should you have any.

Kind regards,
Elizabeth


I don't know why they would decline the Q&A, but it doesn't appear there are writers complaining about not receiving payment and the site says it will pay $200 or even up to $1,000 and you keep the rights.

As for the Redbook ad, I never heard back from the PR people, but I wouldn't apply. It does appear this is someone just trying to get some writing for free.