Constant Content

I am an award-winning English writer currently residing in Australia. I recently submitted an article which was my first attempt at writing US content. It was rejected apparently on grounds of incorrect spelling or punctuation.

I was just wondering if other non-American writers have achieved success in having their articles accepted and if you have any advice on how to adapt articles for the US market.

If not, are you aware of any similar market arenas that are UK or Australian based?

I know that CC accepts UK spellings. Also, every now and then a customer comes here looking for UK authors. Some writers will note that they are using UK spellings in their short summaries to assist the editors and potential customers. Just be consistent with whichever style you are writing for and you should be ok. Who knows, maybe you had the UK spellings picture perfect and made a minor spelling error or typo on something unrelated to either style? Good luck!

Hi and Welcome to Constant Content!

Whatever the problem is with your article, it's not because of you being non-US. I write in both UK and US English, and have had both language versions accepted here. Not all buyers are from the US. One of the great things about Constant Content is that it's international and welcomes non-US writers unlike the other content site which shall remain nameless!

Katie-Anne

Hi and Welcome to Constant Content!

Whatever the problem is with your article, it's not because of you being non-US. I write in both UK and US English, and have had both language versions accepted here. Not all buyers are from the US. One of the great things about Constant Content is that it's international and welcomes non-US writers unlike the other content site which shall remain nameless!

Katie-Anne

Yes, the dialect thing can be tricky. You'll generally get away with spelling variations, but sometimes there are different grammatical and punctuation conventions between US/UK/Australian English which the editors may or may not accept. From my experience so far, it's a little hit-or-miss.

If you don't get specific-enough feedback in article rejections, try looking things up in a US style manual such as the Chicago Manual of Style or the AP Style Guide. (Google 'Chicago style' and 'AP style' for some useful links on both.) It is especially worth looking up the use of punctuation marks, because many differences lie there.

Also, remember that for CC you are generally writing web content, which has some conventions all its own--such as this trend to write en-dashes as two hyphens with no spaces on either side.

All that said, it [i]is[/i] possible to adapt to this way of writing without feeling like you're out of your element, even if it takes some time to adjust. I hope all this helps, and good luck! [/i]

Thanks Raya - your advice was most helpful. The article in question has since been purchased and published elsewhere but I shall bear your advice in mind for future submissions.