I  So that very same day (Feb 28th) I uploaded 5 more and haven't heard back since.  I sent them 2 e-mails from their website asking if there was a problem but no response at all....it has been 38 days since my second application.  Have others had this sort of problem?  Any recommendations?

Did you check your site mail at StockXpert? I was asked to send them another 5 images when I applied at SX, too. I remember sending them an additional 5, and then waiting and waiting for a reply in my email. Finally,  I discovered that their response had been waiting for me at the SX site, in my messages folder. 

Rejections have been increasing at Fotolia lately, and I don't know why. And, yes, some of them are pretty ridiculous. They are a good money-maker for me, so I'm sticking with them, but the increase in rejections is really annoying. I wonder what's behind it....

Linda B

I have subscription sales enabled at SX, and now I'm wondering if I
should disable it. It seems that the percentage of subscription
downloads is increasing, and I wonder if I'm hurting my earnings
potential by allowing it. What are most contributers doing? If you
disabled subscription downloads, did you do it because you thought it
would increase your overall SX earnings? Or did you do it simply
because you are offended by the idea that someone can download an XL
image for only 30 cents? Is it the money, the principle of the thing
or both? Any recommendations for me...?
thanks
Linda B

I think the problem is, is that there are so many people flooding the sites with boring fractals that were made in minutes with just a couple of mouse clicks. SS is loaded with them. It gives fractals a bad name, so that when you do create fractals with a lot of thought and care, people don't even bother to look, they just dismiss it as being yet another boring fractal. Sure, it's easy to get fractals accepted at SS, but my fractals there hardly ever get downloaded - they just get lost among the tons of other fractals. You have to look at so much crap to see a good one, after awhile you just stop looking.

I think there are a lot of people who download Apophysis for free, and then just crank out a bunch of fractals with little or no thought. They flood the sites with tons of boring fractals and expect the $$$$$ to start piling up. I'm talking about people who really don't care about what they're doing. They have no pride in their work, they are just out to make a quick buck. They ruin it for the rest of us. Ah, maybe I'm just in a bad mood...

Let me add my voice to those who are opposed to adding subscriptions to StockXpert.  Dreamstime added this feature to their site, and my earnings stagnated as a result. I would hate to see the same thing happen at StockXpert. StockXpert has been doing great lately - please don't ruin it!

This sort of thing has happened to me many times. Obsscure images of mine that are rarely downloaded are all of a sudden being downloaded on 3 or more different sites on the same day. I agree with the person who thinks it's the same designer downloading the same image on different sites. I've always wondered why, but it happens every so often and it's a mystery to me.

My sales went down from the moment the keyword issue started.
And stockexpert nearly doubled
has anyone experienced the same thing?

Same for me - I also had a couple of record breaking days at Dreamstime, too.

I have a few fractals in my iStock portfolio. A few months ago, I have a fractal image rejected that I thought would be very useful to designers, so I sent it back to Scout. Scout told me that although iStock had accepted images like that in the past, they were no longer accepting 'automated content'. I wrote to iStock's 'Help', and asked if that meant I should stop submitting fractals. 'Help' told me yes, stop submitting fractals. The fractals I do have in my portfolio there still sell well, it's a shame.