Constant Content

Hi, I have two articles rejected recently for errors. I would like to post some of the sentences on these articles (for a private request) that I think caused the rejection. Could someone please look at them and suggest if I am right?

1. Since only the registered, paid e-book reader can read this e-book, the author and publisher are protected from piracy.

It should be "the author and the publisher" right since they are two parties?

2. Purchasing and reading e-books and e-magazines directly through an electronic handheld reader has become pretty popular

Should it be 'have'? I used 'has' since it could be regarded as a single noun.

3. Companies have come up with innovative, standalone readers for e-books, such as Amazon Kindle, Sony reader.

Should I use 'several companies'? I think the comma after innovative is correct. Does the 'such as' expect e-book readers or e-books? I used e-book reader names. Do you think it's a mistake?

4. There are many reading applications and devices available in the market, and most of them overlap technologies.

Is 'overlap' awkward?

5. The supported e-book formats include BBeB book (from Marlin), TXT, RTF, ePub, Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word (DOC); JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP for images; and MP3 and AAC for audio.

Is the punctuation in this sentence okay?

6. Through Wi-Fi, LAN, USB connectivity, or a network using a MyiRex account, you can transfer e-books to the reader

Anything strange about "a network using a Myirex account"? Or anywhere else in this sentence?

7. Hanlin eReader, known in various brand names across the world, such as Endless Ideas BeBook, is a popular e-book reader.

Is this sentence awkward in any sense? are the commas correctly used? I think they are!

Thanks...

Ok, let's see if I can help. Be warned. I haven't had anyyyyy coffee yet and my dog is in play mode. LOL

1. This sentence is a little clunky since you have "paid e-book reader can read this e-book"
reader+read makes it sound redundant. I think a rearrange of the sentence might be better. and use "display" instead of "read." The mechanical reader isn't reading.

2. You're right that it should be "have," but this is clunky "has become pretty popular." Take out "pretty."

3. Commas are a problem for me too, but I think this is wrong "e-books, such as Amazon Kindle, Sony reader." The comma after e-books.
Honestly, I don't think this sentence led you to a rejection.

4. The term used is "on the market." I don't think this led you to a rejection.

5. I just think there's a little too much in that sentence. Pick a few popular formats and list them.

6. Rearrange the sentence. Transfer of purchased ebooks is processed through...

7. Clunky sentence. Take out the "such as" part. I think this needs to be in 2 sentences. It's kinda 2 ideas comma spliced together


Those are my thoughts. Of course, I only see sentences, but I've had rejections from a poor flow of ideas. Make sure your ideas flow. Make sure you have a point, ya know? Just from my humble experience, I know if I have an idea by the strength of the opening paragraph. If you think the opening paragraph is weak, then dump it. I've started about a dozen articles for CC and dumped them after the first paragraph.

Also, avoid generalities like "many places" or "several places" ...stuff like that. It leads the reader to think "oh, many places like where?" I liken it to saying "everyone knows..blah blah" and you have that friend who says "oh really? like who?" Be specific .

Anyway, I hope I helped a bit. I'm bad with commas, so I might have missed some.