Article rejection help

[AlanWrites]

Hi,

I submitted my first article today and received a vague rejection message. It included this:

==== Editorial Information for Your Article: ====

We accept only completely original content.

==== End Editorial Information for Your Article ====

Earlier in the day I had spoken with someone at Constant Content calling himself "Basil". He said it was acceptable to submit (my own) content which had appeared previously on the Internet as long as I offered only "Usage Rights" for sale.

It seems the left hand has rejected what the right hand had said was acceptable.

Can anyone shed a little light on this?

Thanks!

[Celeste Stewart]

What Basil said is true IF the original content is easily recognizable as your own. For example, if your original content appears on the Web but doesn't have your byline, then CC can't verify that it is indeed your article. If you used a different pen name, the same is true. Also, if someone copied and pasted your original content without your knowledge, CC's plagiarism detection tools will find it - and it may not be properly attributed to you. Kind of a mess, huh? Do a quick search for your content and see if it's easily attributed to you. It may not be, thus the rejection.

[Evelyn]

Every article that comes through goes past a plagiarism checker. The editor may have found your previously published article somewhere out there, but couldn't easily find that it was attributed to you. You have to use your exact Constant Content author name on previously published material, and it needs to be in an obvious spot so the editors can find it easily.

If you've ever had your content stolen, or published on a site that encourages republishing (like ezinearticles), it may be out there under someone else's name. Do a google search for the title or a unique phrase to find the article out there in Internet land.

If you find your article attributed obviously to your Constant Content author name, let Basil know. If you've been talking to him, keep talking! We're just regular folks around here and do make mistakes.

Good luck, and welcome aboard!

[AlanWrites]

Hi Celeste,

Thanks for the note.

The content appeared only on a site I own. There are no other traces of it in Google or CopyScape.

I can prove I own the site quite simply. Likewise, I can add my own byline to my own site if that's what it takes to gratify someone at CC.

My guess is they did a cursory search and found a sample of text appearing on my site. I suppose I could de-index the previous page(s) from Google.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks,

[Celeste Stewart]

I imagine that adding your own byline would be sufficient. Since the byline was missing, that makes sense - CC simply couldn't verify ownership.

[AlanWrites]

Hi,

Thanks again Celeste and Evelyn. I have added a byline to the content and will resubmit. Let's see how it goes.

Thanks,