I've had a few rejections lately where I was told not to resubmit. Felt like quite a slap in the face. Okay, I've been humbled. Maybe should have let the articles simmer longer. Anyhow, I'm not to resubmit so what suggestions does anyone have to sell elsewhere or put to good use? One I put on my personal blog today.
Sometimes I think it's a topic that bothers the editor. I worked hard on a palliative care for dogs article and was told not usable. Was it really not? Or did it make the editor too sad?
Anyhow, this is my main livelihood just now and am feeling very sad about the 3 recent rejections that I'm not supposed to revamp or resubmit.
How to Use Rejected Articles?
Moderators: Celeste Stewart, Ed
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cmcmahon66
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2012 2:29 pm
Re: How to Use Rejected Articles?
I have been frustrated with that too! Sometimes it feels like a particular editor has a pet peeve or something because I'll get rejections for things that were never previously an issue. If it gets rejected twice, I've begun pulling it down before I'm told not to resubmit. My plan is to use it elsewhere or as a portfolio piece, or let it sit for a couple of months, rewrite and retitle, and try again. I think it's often luck of the draw with editors.
The thing that drives me absolutely nuts is to see them being super picky about things that are matters of personal taste, when articles with glaring errors (typos in the title sometimes!) are still in the catalog. I know standards have improved over time but there should be some kind of a middle ground...
The demands for more formality are especially frustrating. The editors need to understand that most articles bought from the site are for blogs, and blog writing is friendly and less formal and almost always addresses the reader directly in the second person ("you"). I also hate that the use of "hypothetical" first person in the titles ("Should I Buy a Dog from a Breeder?") is banned because:
1) It used to be fine and I have sold plenty of articles in the past with first person titles. I still have a few in the catalog because they were usage licenses and are still available for resale.
2) More importantly, SEO increasingly looks at natural language (especially with voice search coming on strong) and I like to construct titles and subheadings that are phrased as the way people would search -- which is often in the first person, such as "How Do I..." "Should I...." as well as second person "How do you know if..." "How do you tell your husband..." etc.
I understand that the site doesn't want creative writing or memoir type pieces which relate first person experiences -- that makes perfect sense. But there should be differentiation between an actual first-person piece and the use of a hypothetical first person in a title, subheading, or rhetorical question.
It's short-sighted of CC because buyers WANT articles that hit keywords and look for that when they are shopping here. Several times I've sold an article with a CC-editor-approved generic headline and when I went looking to see if or where it was published online, the headline was changed to first or second person to be more search engine friendly and eye catching!
Colleen
The thing that drives me absolutely nuts is to see them being super picky about things that are matters of personal taste, when articles with glaring errors (typos in the title sometimes!) are still in the catalog. I know standards have improved over time but there should be some kind of a middle ground...
The demands for more formality are especially frustrating. The editors need to understand that most articles bought from the site are for blogs, and blog writing is friendly and less formal and almost always addresses the reader directly in the second person ("you"). I also hate that the use of "hypothetical" first person in the titles ("Should I Buy a Dog from a Breeder?") is banned because:
1) It used to be fine and I have sold plenty of articles in the past with first person titles. I still have a few in the catalog because they were usage licenses and are still available for resale.
2) More importantly, SEO increasingly looks at natural language (especially with voice search coming on strong) and I like to construct titles and subheadings that are phrased as the way people would search -- which is often in the first person, such as "How Do I..." "Should I...." as well as second person "How do you know if..." "How do you tell your husband..." etc.
I understand that the site doesn't want creative writing or memoir type pieces which relate first person experiences -- that makes perfect sense. But there should be differentiation between an actual first-person piece and the use of a hypothetical first person in a title, subheading, or rhetorical question.
It's short-sighted of CC because buyers WANT articles that hit keywords and look for that when they are shopping here. Several times I've sold an article with a CC-editor-approved generic headline and when I went looking to see if or where it was published online, the headline was changed to first or second person to be more search engine friendly and eye catching!
Colleen
Re: How to Use Rejected Articles?
Has anyone gotten anywhere with this or learned anything new? I'm having the same problem now, and the articles they won't accept are the same type that I've been selling. I don't have a lot of sales here, about 6-8 a month, but I get much higher payments for articles I submit in a specific category. My work scattered across various topics tends to hang around a few months before it sells, but submissions in my main category sell fast. I brushed the first rejection off as a mistake on my part, but they rejected the next submission too.The site really isn't much use when they don't take articles I write for that category anymore. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Constantcontent doesn't make money unless articles sell, right? There is no feedback or reason provided that I could use to improve future submissions and avoid rejection. I dont even want to try another submission when I don't know what the problem is.
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JoyRCalderwood
- Posts: 123
- Joined: Fri May 28, 2010 9:13 pm
Re: How to Use Rejected Articles?
I agree with you two. I just got 3 rejections. One asked a question in the summary and I was told the last paragraph was for a conclusion and shouldn't be asking more questions. It was something like, "Could this be the time for you to take your first step?"
What a bunch of nonsense.
The other two I was told I had a paragraph that was only one sentence long and that wasn't allowed. I'm sure I've done this before and, as stated above, we write for web content--short concise sentences are wanted by most. Easily scannable pieces. If I embellish the paragraph for the sake of making it 2 or more sentences then it's likely going to be wordy. I think the editor is confusing this with the rule of the short submission being more than one paragraph long or something.
This is very discouraging as I already waited a full week to have it reviewed. Now I have to try again and not be discouraged with what may happen!
This is currently my only income source and I've tried to make more effort to complete about 5 a week if possible, but this is making me think it isn't worth my time here much longer.
What a bunch of nonsense.
The other two I was told I had a paragraph that was only one sentence long and that wasn't allowed. I'm sure I've done this before and, as stated above, we write for web content--short concise sentences are wanted by most. Easily scannable pieces. If I embellish the paragraph for the sake of making it 2 or more sentences then it's likely going to be wordy. I think the editor is confusing this with the rule of the short submission being more than one paragraph long or something.
This is very discouraging as I already waited a full week to have it reviewed. Now I have to try again and not be discouraged with what may happen!
This is currently my only income source and I've tried to make more effort to complete about 5 a week if possible, but this is making me think it isn't worth my time here much longer.