Best to split a big article?

[dmgray]

I need some advice about a long article I wrote and submitted. The article is a 10-step guide, over 3000 words and priced at $195 for full rights. The subject matter was on a popular niche and I priced the article on the time it took me to write and the fact that the article could easily be used as a small book, weekly email promo, or as 10 seperate articles for a website. I think that a $20 price tag for a 310 word article is fair and in theory my article contained 10 of them! Actually, I originally priced it as $250 for full rights, but later reduced the price to $195.

The article has had over 100 views but has failed to sell. I have just had an offer for $95 for full rights and though I have folded far too easily in the past, when it comes to accepting offers, I am loathe to accept this bid.

My question is this: I know that it is rare for articles to sell for over $100 on CC and that most customers are looking for articles in the $10-$40 range. Do you think I should break the piece up into 10 seperate articles and price each segment at $20?

I have considered that maybe all of the mini-articles will not sell and I could end up making less than the current $95 offer.
Or should I just stick to my guns and wait for a better offer? I think it is a decent piece and targeting a popular market (article marketing) but I may struggle with the price and length of the article.

Any helpful advice is appreciated!

Cheers

Darren

[Celeste Stewart]

I am loathe to accept this bid.

That tells me right there what you should do. If accepting the bid makes you feel horrible, don't do it. You'll be happier simply by ignoring this offer. What would you rather be, $60 richer and miserable or at your current income level and content?

As far as splitting it, I'd wait a bit longer. Sounds like a good value for customers looking for a complete solution such as an ebook or set of email responders.

[PeggyTee]

My first article here sold for only $20, a 900 word baby I'd first priced at $80, then dropped way way down because I was convinced it wouldn't sell at the higher price. The sale was nice, but its sweetness was marred by the lower price. I know better now!

I don't think you should accept a bid that you are not happy with, and like Celeste says, wait awhile before deciding to split it. If you do split it, you could perhaps add in the short summary that the article "forms part of a series" or something to that effect so that buyers may decide to buy them in bulk, the way you meant to sell it.

[dmgray]

Thanks for the advice and reassurance Celeste and Peggy. I will refuse the offer and let the article sit for a bit longer. Maybe I will stop writing really long articles and try break my ideas into smaller pieces.

Peggy, I tried the 'this is part of a series' once and got my article declined and got scolded by Ed (well not really scolded, just told it was a big no no). CC does not allow article series apparently and I had to retitle the pieces and submit them as seperate articles with no comments that they were part of a series. Pity!

[Evelyn]

I've also written series articles and I titled them, "Heirloom Vegetables: Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage" and "Heirloom Vegetables: Pink Beauty Radish" etc. The clue to the customer is the Title: Subject stuff, with all the titles consistent across the series. This trick would work even for a tutorial type document in smaller parts. Customers are smart enough to poke around in your profile or see several with the same title in a search. I tried to help myself/the customer a little by submitting all 10 in the series at once and not allowing other titles to get between in the list.

Can you tell I'm a hopeful writer? Who do you think will glom onto a series of articles about heirloom seeds? Oh, well, I already got paid for those...getting paid again will be a bonus.

By the way, I'm with the rest that you should neither split the article yet nor take a pay cut. Someone out there wants that big article. The analogy I like is "waiting for Mr. Right." In that arena, I settled for a few wrongs before being blessed with my current right, if you catch my drift.

[Antonia]

Why not have your cake and eat it too?

Keep the biggie live...

AND...

...write several 400-600 wd articles using different words but covering the same topics. As long as none of the sentences are exactly the same you should have no problem with getting the new articles accepted. 300 is generally a less attractive wordcount in my experience; that's why I'm suggesting the medium length. Each article could still be one step, and you could title them Article Marketing: How to Sign Up For a Promotional Account; Article Marketing: How to Choose a Product to Promote and so on. Just add a bit more detail. For example, you could give examples of Clickbank products or mention a few alternatives, like Commission Junction etc. It's obviously a topic you're familiar with so I don't think it would take you too long to flesh them out (and I do mean flesh not fluff!)

If you price the shorter articles around $35 that's still an attractive price to a buyer, and if you sell them all you'd make $350 (and still have the original long article).

Good luck Darren and let us know what you end up doing, as this is a topic that comes up occasionally in the forums. I have had good luck with the method I described above but am curious to hear what works for others.

[CRDonovan]

dmgray - why not do both? Leave the article as is. As long as you can afford not to sell it right away, let it wait for the right customer. I've written articles of my own interest, priced them relatively high, had them sit there for a long while, then sell. But, in the meantime, perhaps you can take another pass at the same topic, and rewrite it in a different way - smaller articles for a lower price.
And Evelyn? I recently noticed your series - interesting, I thought, and well done.

[CRDonovan]

Great minds, Antonia...

[Ed]

The trick with writing "series" is that each article must be able to work as a stand-alone article an no article can be dependent upon another. Customers can't be expected to have to purchase a whole series when the articles are offered seperately, and we don't want the entire series to be rendered useless to other customers if someone purchases only one.

As was suggested, the articles may be linked thematically by the titles, but they may not reference other articles and they must be able to work as individual units.

Just to make a slight correction regarding writing new content on the same subject - there's more to it than none of the sentences may be the same.

For example, two articles entitled Three Ways to Cure Your Dogs of Fleas may not list the same three ways and then describe these ways using different sentences. For related articles, you could examine one way to cure a dog of fleas in a more focused manner, suggest natural ways to cure your dogs of fleas, discuss ways to rid your house of fleas, or talk about diseases that are carried by fleas. Think of it this way: don't plagiarize yourself.

Thanks,
Ed

[dmgray]

I just have to say a huge thanks for everyone that has offered all this fantastic advice. I have used article marketing myself in the past and have had a lot of success, so do know a bit about the subject. With this in mind I have decided to follow Antonia's advice (and CR Donovan's too!)and create another set of articles on the subject. These will be medium-sized, as suggested, and I will title them as suggested by Evelyn and Ed (plus I will wait till I finish the series and submit them in bulk as Evelyn recommended). I have also heeded Ed's comments about ensuring that the articles are standalone and offer valuable information that does not conflict with the original piece.

I have been previously tempted to reduce the price of articles, only to see them sell for full prices months later. I need to learn from past experience and give the article a fighting chance.

Thanks to you all.

Darren

[Celeste Stewart]

See how happy you sound? Follow your heart and it usually works out. Plus, you're inspired to write more content on the topic and will likely come out far ahead in the long run.