Originally published December 27 2005
Gather.com congregates writers and bloggers
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Gather.com aims to attract online writers and give them a cut of the ad revenue their work generates. The pieces deemed most popular by readers will be promoted the most.
After selling off the last company he founded for millions of dollars, Tom Gerace is at it again, rounding up established writers and unknown bloggers into one online site in his latest entrepreneurial venture.
Gerace's Boston-based Gather.com was launched earlier this month amid a growing trend of new online sites attempting to tap into the blogging phenomenon and, hopefully, advertising dollars.
Armed with $3 million in investments, Gather.com is positioning itself to be the next Myspace.com, purchased by News Corp. in July for $580 million.
But while Myspace is aimed at the younger Internet crowd, the 34-year-old Gerace is going after slightly older, more sophisticated readers.
The aim: To attract writers who want to post their work online --- and then give them a cut of any ad revenue their work generates after readers rate and recommend them.
The most popular pieces will be heavily promoted based on readers' rankings, said Gerace, the past cofounder of Marlboro-based Be Free Inc., which was sold three years ago for more than $100 million to ValueClick Inc.
Both established writers and bloggers will be invited to post on Gather.com on subjects ranging from politics to food to travel.
Sharing ad dollars with writers and bloggers will inspire them to urge people to go to the site, "gathering new readers along the way," he said.
Earlier this week, Gather.com said publisher Houghton Mifflin and magazines "Airstream Life" and "Grist Magazine" are among those who will provide regular content.
Gather.com is being backed by the nonprofit American Public Media Group, which oversees about 39 public broadcasting radio stations across the country.
The organization has a history of investing in for-profit ventures to raise funds for its nonprofit endowment fund, Gerace said.
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