Rejection of humor article

[Qlumkaar]

Hi everyone ...

Before I registered here, I carefully read the site documentation including the author FAQ, tutorial and writer guidelines (short and extended versions). I also read several short and long summaries of various articles including those in the humor section. I also read dozens of forum posts and their continuing threads to get the inside scoop in terms of other writers' experiences.

I understood that the writing and formatting standards here are higher than other places and I was (and still am) confident that I can write observing and adhering to them.

I painstakingly composed the short and long summaries of the humor article so as not to trigger a rejection on the very first submission.

Well, my first article got rejected anyway , but not for any reason that I might have expected. As per following the convention, I am pasting the relevant section below:

Unfortunately, this article requires revision before we can accept it.

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

This is not the type of content we are looking for.

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

It doesn't mention what "revisions" might make it acceptable. I think it's just a standard line preceding the primary reason for rejection.

At first, I was taking some solace in that it didn't mention any grammar, structure or spelling errors, but then I recalled (from the forum posts I have read before) that editors here "scan" the articles like a compiler checking the source code of a computer program. They stop reading further as soon as they find a reason to reject and return an "error code" !

You can read this article for yourself here. (When I submitted it at CC, it didn't contain any hyperlinks or esoteric characters).

By the way, I had a hard time embedding this link. It was straight forward and easy to separate the quoted text above but as I was trying to highlight the word "here", the text in the window kept scrolling up and down with the mouse jumping all over. I also tried using the keyboard (shift-arrow) with the same result. I had to, ultimately, type in the url and codes manually.

The rejection e-mail doesn't say that the writing was sub-standard. I am not saying that my article was better than all or any particular article in the humor section but I am humbly saying that, based on its intended company, there was more than enough room for it.

I have not yet written to support. I wanted to mention it here for a peer review and some encouragement. I am still optimistic and hopeful but like everyone else, I am also afraid of the three-strikes rule !

Thank you.

P.S. I have seen posters here being criticized and their writing style judged based on the posts themselves. Please remember that I am new here; plus forum posts are informal (as they should be among a community of supportive peers) and very different than actual articles !

[Celeste Stewart]

Hi and welcome. I think the main problem is that CC doesn't accept some categories of articles including:
* fiction
* poetry
* opinion / editorial
* some humor

Since your articles falls into the humor category, and because it may be also considered opinion, that's probably why. Remember, CC wants articles that someone will buy for their website. While fcition, opinion, humor, and poetry are fun to read, they haven't been big sellers on CC so they stopped accepting them.

I doubt this will count as a "strike." I'd try an informative or how-to article next. Not as fun to write, but more likely to get accepted here.

Good luck!

[jadedragon]

Funny stuff but I can see where there is no market for most humor here. Buyers are looking for articles that will help them sell something. Writing about physical stuff or services is good because people are selling physical stuff and services. My first sale was an article explaining how to use Nutritional Yeast to a website that sells Nutritional Yeast (among many other things)

Humor, poetry and fiction is not generally useful for bringing readers to a website. Websites are usually looking for information or to buy something. For proof, look at the article over on Helium. The article is not pulling relevant ads because no one is wants to advertise with those keywords. In fact, what exactly could a humor article like this article be used to sell? If you can't figure out a buyer, than don't try to sell the article.

Thanks for a laugh and a great blog post idea though. Profitable and Unprofitable Writing.

[Qlumkaar]

@ Celeste

Hi and thank you for your response.

I have, sort of, reached similar conclusion based on my research of various article sites. At least at CC, you don't have to continuously rate others' work or write articles left and right blindly just to be able to trigger Google AdSense revenue share pennies.

Since your articles falls into the humor category, and because it may be also considered opinion, that's probably why.

Creative writing (CW) is not an easy genre to write in the first place. It is much more of a labor of love and like many other things, not everyone is cut out for it (aside for some diary entries I guess). I understand that most people are looking for "useful" information. Having said that, I think, humor is (or should be) special. Sitcoms have always ruled and continue to rule the TV land. Dramas and even action movies often provide comic relief. Almost everyone could use a few good laughs at one time or another. Even otherwise "serious" articles are appreciated more when the writer uses humor to soften the blow or otherwise make a point.

Virtually all humor pieces incorporate an Opinion element. They, after all, reflect a writer’s comic take on people, events, concepts etc. They are, nevertheless, different than conventional Op-Ed pieces.

Did you have a chance to take a look at my article ?

I think the main problem is that CC doesn't accept some categories of articles including:
* fiction
* poetry
* opinion / editorial

I am not disputing the list of "less desirable" categories that you have outlined. Almost all of the articles that I read summaries of, posted in the humor section here had not been downloaded even once. Some of them may have been written in response to public requests but not purchased. I don't know this for a fact but I doubt that it applies to majority of them. This means that they were written openly and accepted by CC. I wish the e-mail had clarified what sort of humor pieces are considered acceptable.

Do you think if wrote the support, they would elaborate on this ?

I think I would be better off writing articles specific to public requests. BTW, I am envious of you ... for living in sunny and warm CA. (It is also the CW capital of the world ... I also live in CA ... as in Canada, but the cold part. Ironic isn't it !)


@ JD

Hello,

I am glad that my labor of love brought a few smiles to your face and helped you write another article for your website. I read it and it was good. I also read a couple of other articles including a piece about making $100 a day on the Internet. They were quite informative as well. I guess you have already passed that mark long time ago. Can't tell you specifically, but at least one of them contains several minor punctuation mistakes. Good thing that they are posted on your own site and not submitted here.

CC is sort of an exception in terms of upfront payments (although it only happens when someone actually buys your content). At most other sites, you have to write lots and lots of articles PLUS in order to earn most or all of revenue from AdSense you really need to have your own website which is an ongoing expense. You, then, also have to maintain and update the site in order to sustain the traffic.

Thank you.

[Celeste Stewart]

Good morning,
As far as CC's existing humor content goes, keep in mind that CC's guidelines have evolved over time. What may have been accepted a year ago might not be today. As CC sees categories that simply don't appeal to the customer base, it may come to the conclusion that these categories should be shut down. It's not like the editors don't appreciate a good humor piece, it's just that CC fine tunes its offerings to appeal to its market. They don't go back and retroactively remove content as far as I know.

Also, I'm not sure that humor is a definite no-no. Try to picture the buyer and let that guide you. For example, I can imagine a webmaster for a wedding site wanting a humorous piece about wedding disasters -- if a useful angle is there. Maybe "Wedding Disasters and How to Avoid Them." On the other hand, a narrative about a wedding gone bad, while funny, probably wouldn't find a home here.

Yes, sunny Southern California is great! It was 80 degrees and gorgeous out the other day, but it's raining and gloomy today

[jadedragon]

Thanks for checking out my site. When I write on my blog or for revenue share I know I make the occasional minor error but I try to catch anything I see wrong. I spend more time proofing articles for CC though.

Actually I don't make $100 a day on the internet most days but there is a specific reason for that. I have a real estate related business that takes up most of my time and I just write for fun and profit, mostly to build long lasting income streams. I could definitely make more online if I spent the time but I have a little girl that deserves my attention too. A $100 a day would be about $12.50 an hour assuming an 8 hr day. I'm sure I make that over time for the time I actually spend working online.

My site is not really optimized for Adsense and my audience is mostly people looking for ways to make money writing or working online that are pretty ad blind. Writing on other topics targeted at the general public is a better way to earn Adsense but is less interesting to me.

Also I'm not a fan of sites that require voting and commenting to make articles rise and earn. Simple is better for me.