Any Changes I Should Know About?
Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2018 9:15 pm
I'm returning to CC after a hiatus of several years. I had a good thing going here for quite some time. Occasionally I would have an editor send something back for a minor error that I'd managed to miss during my paranoid proofreading, but everything was mostly peachy. I'm a niche writer, so I never picked up requests, but I had regular clients who often purchased my work as soon as I posted it.
Then one day I get a legal piece kicked back by an editor with a note that said something to the effect of "Don't be formal. Be informal for the everyday reader." That made the request impossible. If I changed the article to match the editor's request, my clients--who were mostly attorneys and other legal professionals--would not be interested in purchasing the work. If I explained this to the editor and resubmitted the article as is, there's a good chance it would have been rejected outright.
The whole thing put me in a sticky situation because I wasn't writing everyday articles. I was writing mostly legal pieces, and it's almost impossible to discuss statutes, federal acts, legal precedents, etc while using a "Hey buddy!" tone. I wrote what sold and I sold what I wrote. The idea that CC might be packed up and moving from a solid, professional editing process to the mystical netherworld of opinion brought on flashbacks of Demand Studios. I couldn't just keep doing what worked and bank on only rarely encountering this particular editor. I submitted work very frequently, and I was under the impression that there were only a few editors here.
I've done some reading on the forum, and I will do more, but I'm sure there have been editing changes over the past few years that I am not aware of. I want to believe that the editors here are far more professional than those at DS and that an explanation of why I am doing things the way I am doing them would be understood and respected. Is that the case? Does anyone use a disclaimer and find that it helps you avoid miscommunication with the editing staff? Have there been any other major changes over the last few years? I really would like to come back, but I put too much time and effort into my CC articles to strip them down, rewrite them all in a different voice and lose regular buyers as a result.
I'd appreciate any info anyone can share, and I apologize for my lengthy post. Thanks!
Then one day I get a legal piece kicked back by an editor with a note that said something to the effect of "Don't be formal. Be informal for the everyday reader." That made the request impossible. If I changed the article to match the editor's request, my clients--who were mostly attorneys and other legal professionals--would not be interested in purchasing the work. If I explained this to the editor and resubmitted the article as is, there's a good chance it would have been rejected outright.
The whole thing put me in a sticky situation because I wasn't writing everyday articles. I was writing mostly legal pieces, and it's almost impossible to discuss statutes, federal acts, legal precedents, etc while using a "Hey buddy!" tone. I wrote what sold and I sold what I wrote. The idea that CC might be packed up and moving from a solid, professional editing process to the mystical netherworld of opinion brought on flashbacks of Demand Studios. I couldn't just keep doing what worked and bank on only rarely encountering this particular editor. I submitted work very frequently, and I was under the impression that there were only a few editors here.
I've done some reading on the forum, and I will do more, but I'm sure there have been editing changes over the past few years that I am not aware of. I want to believe that the editors here are far more professional than those at DS and that an explanation of why I am doing things the way I am doing them would be understood and respected. Is that the case? Does anyone use a disclaimer and find that it helps you avoid miscommunication with the editing staff? Have there been any other major changes over the last few years? I really would like to come back, but I put too much time and effort into my CC articles to strip them down, rewrite them all in a different voice and lose regular buyers as a result.
I'd appreciate any info anyone can share, and I apologize for my lengthy post. Thanks!