Constant Content

Wouldnt it be more productive in when rejecting new writers' articles to summarize ALL that is wrong instead of just one thing?

Thomas

We do try to list all reasons your article was rejected. One way to avoid rejections is to read the Writer's Guidelines and follow them stringently. Proofread your work more than once. If you have trouble proofreading your own work, get a friend or colleage to read it for you. Another option is to leave it to the next day and then read it. Mistakes are often picked up at that time.
Thanks, AA

I think it's nice that admin. will list reasons for an article's rejection, but I also think it's a courtesy. Asking them to explain to an author why the work is unacceptable is a bit like telling them to be teacher and mark their students papers with red pens listing all the errors. This is a business. I don't think admin should waste time by talking about comma placement and questions of style. I would be happy if rejection notices contained three items (grammatical, punctuation, content) and then checked the appropriate choice.

As the site continues to blossom and branch out admin may simply have less and less time to contend with petty punctuation issues. They may even decide to reject a piece which has no grammar or punctuation problems simply because they don't want it on their site. In such cases probably the less said in a rejection notice is better.

Having had a few things rejected--I just feel like it's the writer's responsibility to submit top notch work; the site shouldn't have to point out all the errrors to a professional--even a budding professional writer. --J.

All authors agree to a statement that says they will submit only their best work. There are also clear guidelines posted. Nothing irks an editor more than flagrant ignorance of guidelines.

So in actuality, it is more productive if the author follows all posted guidelines, all other set-in-stone rules about the English langauge, as well as traditional formatting rules. All an author has to do is take a look at the submissions of some of our top-selling authors to know what they should be doing themselves.

Ed

I do my best to work with writers to help them out. That is only a personal courtesy and not required of any editor. However, as the site grows and requests and submissions increase, I find less and less time to do this.

Ed is correct. If you don't understand format or wonder what you should be doing, look at submissions of the top writers on the site. Follow their lead and you will learn a lot.

Some writers, believe it or not, submit articles that are so badly written I can barely understand what they mean. There is no sense to them at all. Some people think that anyone can write. That is true, but not everyone can write well, nor is everyone cut out to be a writer.

While I agree with these comments for the most part, I also feel it is important for admin to briefly explain their reasons for rejection if they are a simple fix. No, I do not think admin needs to do major correction and editing, but as a new writer, learning the ins & outs of this site requires something of a learning curve, particularly regarding format. Some of the tutorial information is ambiguous, as is the message you get on the submissions page when an improper format was submitted (It's tough to tell if it was processed or not). Thanks to the efforts of editors to remedy this, I quickly fixed the problem and it hasn't happened again.

We try our best to work with writers. When there are very few articles in the q, I try to take time to be more specific about rejections. However, I do have my own writing career and must keep up with deadlines as well as take care of home responsibilities. Thank you all for your patience. If you have any questions about rejections, please ask them in the rejection forum. Thanks,
Article Admin

Ellen Russell wrote:While I agree with these comments for the most part, I also feel it is important for admin to briefly explain their reasons for rejection if they are a simple fix. No, I do not think admin needs to do major correction and editing, but as a new writer, learning the ins & outs of this site requires something of a learning curve, particularly regarding format. Some of the tutorial information is ambiguous, as is the message you get on the submissions page when an improper format was submitted (It's tough to tell if it was processed or not). Thanks to the efforts of editors to remedy this, I quickly fixed the problem and it hasn't happened again.

I'm going to second this. I'm a new writer and I have found places on this site or in your emails that states that you cannot use bold. Other places say bold is only for titles. Other places (and editors) say that bold can be used for titles AND subtitles. Finally, some state that bold can be used for titles, subtitles and key words.

I still am unsure which it is.

Darcy

Darcy,

There is a wealth of information on writing on this site:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/freelance_ ... icles2.htm

Your might consider searching out other writing sites for more information on how to write for online venues. Hope this helps.