Rejections and what to do when a mistake is spotted

[KMartin]

Without going into detail, and trying very diligently not to show anyone up, I just read an article by an author in the "expertise group" and found 3 errors. And although minor, the mistakes are still noticeable, even by an amateur such as myself. I'm not naming the author or article, as this isn't my job, but just felt like saying, that we are all capable of making mistakes, from either the author's point of view, right up to the editing. I'm not sure what to do in this situation, when a mistake or mistakes are found, so any advice would be welcomed.

Since I'm still relatively new here and have had my share of rejections, I can relate to other writers' concerns. So my question is this: Is there a way to have our articles proofread before submitting them, other than someone volunteering to to do the job? I guess what I'm getting at is, if there are a lot of rejections, and author's are having their accounts closed, then maybe the team at CC could look at a (paid) editing service on the site. In essence, when an article is submitted to the editing person/s it would be guaranteed to be accepted, however, at a cost. Let me know if this is too far fetched.

(Sorry this question should probably be posed somewhere else, maybe in the suggestion posts.)

Thanks,
Still new but getting older.

Karl

[Celeste Stewart]

Hi,
Most of us wouldn't mind a friendly note along the lines of "I was reading your article titled ___ and noticed a few minor typos. Thought you'd want to know." (An added compliment might be a nice touch to soften the news but not absolutely necessary).

I don't think anyone's getting kicked off for minor typos though.

As far as proofing, why not team up with a like minded CC writer and take turns proofing each other's work? Just a thought.

[KMartin]

Hi Celeste,

I like both of your ideas. I was thinking of contacting the author, as I would appreciate someone doing the same for me.

Still being new, I'm not sure what the criteria is for getting the boot, so to speak. I definitely want to stick around awhile though, and I like your idea of "teaming up" with another author if possible. It may take a little while to meet up with someone who writes about the same amount of material (in my case not very much yet), to share the workload evenly. I'll definitely consider it however, and thanks for a great suggestion.

Karl

[Amy W]

Hi Karl,

I think every new author here worries about getting those three rejections. When I was new here, I was terrified! I must have edited each article hundreds of times over the course of a week before I submitted anything. But I might be able to calm your fears a little - I don't want to speak for Ed, but he has said in other posts that authors who do not show improvement will be booted from the site. If one of your articles is rejected, and you make all the improvements Ed suggested, and you then submit a great article that gets accepted, then you're showing improvement. Its the people who constantly submit the same error-filled articles again and again who have to worry.

I know other authors have suggested implementing an editing service. You might want to post your idea in the Site Renovations category, to see what those in charge here think about it.

[Celeste Stewart]

Maybe those wanting to join a critique group or proofreading exchange can create a thread for trading proofreading with each other? Maybe post what you have in mind ala "I need someone who would like to trade three proofreads/critiques per week" - Critique groups have been vital to my personal growth as a writer and it would be great to find a way to connect CC writers with each other. An extra set of eyes - and support - is so worth doing.

I know many of us volunteer to look over a couple new writer's submissions too. That's awesome and helpful, but I do think developing longer term critique partnerships could be really cool. Let's put our thinking caps on and see what we can come up with.