Rejected for Following Directions?!

[KateWrites]

Could someone please help me?

I asked about adding websites to a bibliography prior to submitting my article. Ed said to remove the http:// from the addresses and it would be okay. I did this, leaving the "www..."

I just got a rejection for the article. The only comment was that articles with web addresses are not accepted and I should read the guidelines.

Not sure what I should do. I spent a good deal of time on the article. I would like to know what I need to do to actually get it accepted or rejected on its merits.

Besides that, it's my only rejection for content (rejected once for wrong file format). I don't want this mark on my record.

Could someone please advise me?

[KateWrites]

Oh... I see... I need to remove "www" also.

Crud.

[Ed]

Hi Kate,

The rejection notification also included a note about following formatting guidelines. Please submit in 12pt font.

Thanks,
Ed

[CaseReynolds]

Hi--My first article was just rejected with an editorial note to follow all formatting guidelines. I submitted the article in 12 Pt Times New Roman and left a space between each paragraph. I thought I saved it as a .doc file, but was having trouble. Maybe it went through as a .docx file. Would that make a difference? The only other thing I can think of is that I may have left my name and the word count at the bottom of the article. Would that be the problem? Could it be anything else? I want to make it right. Thanks.

[Ed]

I'm sorry, but your article was not submitted in 12pt TNR. However, your other article pending review has been, so that one is okay.

Thanks,
Ed

[CaseReynolds]

Thank you for letting me know. I'm not sure why it didn't save in the proper format, but I will try again. So, was that the only formatting error?

Now I have more related formatted questions: Should I leave the title and my byline on the article or omit them, given that the information is entered into the submission form?

[Debbi]

Keep the title and byline in your uploaded document since the buyer will not have the form info after he/she buys and downloads the article.

[jadedragon]

When you submit articles include your byline like this:

Article Titles are Key
By Ima Writer

275 Words

Blah blah good intros are also really important.

At the end I also add:

Article Short Summary (excluded from word count)

This is a great article for people who want to write on Constant Content etc...

Keywords:

writing, using titles

I actually created a template to use that I've shared with one of my affiliates now. The template is already the right format and font.

[rohishetty]

Thanks Jadedragon,
I'll follow this format from now on.

[Sharion]

Wow! You include the word count, keywords and summary in the article?

I think I've seen the summary addition mentioned elsewhere, I just didn't know if it was a beneficial addition to the article. If I were buying an article, I'd love to have the extra info.

[jadedragon]

I include the Article Summary and Keywords for two reasons -

1. because the buyer might want to use the summary to introduce the article and
2. because I don't need to go looking for it elsewhere if the article needs revision and resubmission.

With this system almost all of what I need to use to fill in the submission form is all in one document. (Price and Category excluded). I know others put the article summary into the document properties but I can not figure out how to do that.

The guidelines are silent on this but since Ed reviews the Article Summary anyway having the text in the document clearly labeled is not going to hurt anyone and it sure is handy for both the buyer and me. The word count and keywords (to a lesser extent) are likely also useful to the buyer and match what displays on the website for the article. Submissions are way faster with this system since I just copy and past for Title, Word Count, Short Summary, Excerpt, and Keywords from a single document then close the document and upload it. Of course you have to add prices and select the category but almost all the typing is eliminated.

Hopefully Ed does not mind this system.

[Sharion]

Would love to hear Ed's opinion.

I have a solid system in place to keep the summary, keywords, word count, pricing, etc. No worries there. For me this would be about adding benefit for the buyer. Anything that adds to the buyer's experience and makes his job easier would surely boost our sales and make CC look good

[Debbi]

Jade,

I did this by accident the other day because I was originally writing my short summary in the form and then copy/pasting to a word docuoment to spellcheck. Then I was cut/pasting it into the PropertiesComment box but forgot this time. When it passed rewview I thought, hey, this is much easier! And since I noticed that a lot obuyers were using my short summary as an intro when they posted my work, it seemed like a win-win for all. I hadn't thought about word count and keywords but I thin k you are right. All this info is an added benefit to the buyer--and it sure makes my life a lot easier. Hopefully, Ed won't mind since it could reduce misspellings and grammar errors in the form as well.

[Ed]

This system is fine. Short summaries should go at the end of the document with a CLEAR heading. An alternative font choice is not helpful; in some cases, a slightly different font does not adequately distinguish the short summary from the text.

What is not fine is:

• Including notes to the editor in the submitted document.
  Including notes to the buyer in the submitted document.
  Including information about a request in the submitted document.
  Information about rights.

*All notes to Ed must go in the short summary so they can be removed later - preferably at the very top of the short summary to make sure they do not get missed by me.
*Any communication with the customer should take place through the messaging system.
*Any information about the original request is completely irrelevant. The original customer knows what she requested; future customers don't care that the article was written for a request or what the request's specifications were. But they should be able to expect a clean document without a bunch of text that is irrelevant and may be confusing to them.
*Our licensing structure determines how customers may use the content they purchase. Authors may not determine in what way customers can use their articles, except by pricing them using our existing rights structure, and this information may not be included anywhere in the uploaded document or on the submission form.

Articles submitted to CC must be submitted with the knowledge that the original requester may choose someone else's article. In this situation, the submitted document must be in a condition that it may be sold to another customer in the future, which means that it must be free of irrelevant information particular to one customer/request.

Thanks,
Ed