Suspended Account

[Serendipity]

As much as I'd rather not post my problem in such a public forum, I feel that perhaps doing so may result in a response, since my email from 2 days ago has gone unanswered.

When I logged onto CC on Monday, I received the notification that my account has been suspended, with no explanation or terms of renewal. It was only after going through these message boards that I realized it may have been from too many rejected pieces.

Well, if that's your policy, there's little anyone can do, but why is not spelled out in the author guidelines regarding the amount or percentage of rejections, and why is the author not given a warning when they are close to reaching that point? It seems to me that doing so would save a lot of time responding to emails like mine from folks who are in the dark.

Furthermore, in my case, I have about 7 or 8 articles that have been accepted and I've no clue about how to retrieve them if I wish to edit. Will I be notified if any sell? What if I wish to withdraw them? These are questions that need answered, and I'm sure that any writer here would be asking the same thing.

Unfortunately, instead of just submitting my first article 3 weeks ago and then learning about the strict editorial standards, I sent in a batch of 10 at once. Well, all but one needed revising, which I did, resulting in acceptance of over half of them, and the other 3 are still pending review. However, now I don't know if one of those had a rejection that tipped the scales, if I can never submit any again since I'm at my "quota", or if any of those pending were accepted.

Obviously, I don't know much because I can't find anything on your site about it! The frustration is made worse from not having my email answered in almost 2 days. I understand the editors are busy, but a person's questions about the sudden inability to even check on their accepted articles should take a little priority.

This matter affects all writers here, since everyone makes mistakes and the majority of us are willing to correct them. We don't want to waste your time anymore than we want to waste ours, so if any writer knows that they're reaching some unexpressed limit of errors, of course they'll take a break rather than risk being suspended!

If this truly is a subjective matter between the administrative and editorial staff, and the decisions are on a case-by-case basis, then at least do us the courtesy of discussing our individual situation privately. It's embarassing enough to know that I've "failed" by racking up too many oversights, but to not have or to not get answers concerning my work that's available for sale should not occur with a professional organization such as Constant Content. Please provide the parameters of account suspension, either in general format to everyone here, or in specifics to my email address.

Thank you.

[Ed]

Our official limit is 3 rejection notices. You were given many more chances to improve the articles you submitted. We saw your articles more times than was fair to us - or to the other authors. Our rejection notices and explanations were our warnings and our "discussion" with you. After realizing that there would be no permanent improvement in your writing, we had to make the difficult decision to suspend.

It is my understanding that your articles are no longer for sale here at Constant Content. Support may correct me. However, if you have made any sales, you are still bound to the rights of those sales if you wish to market your submitted articles elsewhere.

Thanks,
Ed

[Serendipity]

Ed,

Thank you for getting back to me.

I was not aware that i was being given more opportunities than other writers, so thanks for that as well. Since I did not know about the 3x rejection until after the fact, I wasn't keeping track. It did not seem that any one article was was rejected more than twice, but if you saw no permanent improvement, then I can't debate your view. However, to prevent your editiorial time from being totally wasted, a good business decision would be to keep my accepted articles active in the hope of recouping some revenue. That seems to make more sense, just as a "submission termination" appears more logical than throwing out articles that went through the editorial process and calling it an account suspension!

Since you're not sure-and Support never did get back to me-I'm still unclear about those accepted articles. I want to be able to use them elsewhere with the assurance that they have been deleted from Constant Content. Can someone verify this?

Again, I don't wish to complain to the wrong party, but since I can't check myself, this is the only route available.

Thank you.

[Serendipity]

Well, it’s now been almost 2 weeks and I've received no response....Since no one at CC has gotten back to me, I have turned my articles over to another company who has published all 10. They have been informed that Constant Content has implied it will no longer be selling them. I hope that is the case, and that no copy-scape program reflects otherwise.

Of course I’m still smarting about the fact that you did not wish to retain my pieces, but that’s minor compared to my feelings about the treatment I’ve encountered here. Reading more of these threads, I see a harshness towards rejected articles-and authors-that is simply unnecessary. It is commendable that you wish to be seen as providing the best written work, but you can achieve that end in a less degrading manner. I am not arguing with your decisions to place limits on rejections, merely with your processes of implementing them.

Most people need a warning spelled out in black or white OR the courtesy of being told directly that their services are no longer required. This business of cutting one off from being able to get onto your site or even accessing previously accepted works is not professional. Furthermore, your failure to respond to my email (where I so clearly did not know what was occurring) is rude. It’s too bad, really, because you may have been able to make a few sales off my accepted pieces to even out some of the editorial costs.

I am aware that, as a fairly new writer, I have some growing to do. Even though I have made decent money by freelancing in the last year, I have taken your comments to heart and will continue to implement them. However-all other new writers: be aware the same thing could happen to you. Keep track of the articles that have been accepted in case you find yourselves suddenly shut out of this site.

It's surprising. It's disappointing. But apparently that's the way it is.

[Ed]

Support and Editing are different departments. The editors do not see the emails that come to Constant Content, nor are we aware when one has been sent or received.

It may have been that your email was not received or that you did not include your return email address on the "Contact Us" form.

[constant-content]

Support never received an email about this... I have double checked and still don't see it. Be sure to include your email address where is says "Email" some people put a subject in there and we have no idea who to respond to.

[constant-content]

FYI - 3 rejections is spelled out in the agreement form when you signup for the site, but we don't often follow this rule exactly. Many times we will leave this to the editors to make the call if a writer is listening to rejection emails or if the writer just is not following our standards.

[constant-content]

As for your articles they are removed from the system and are no longer sold here at CC. However if you have sold articles licenses still remain and you still must follow the license guidelines or give the customer a refund.

The "suspension" also allows us to activate your account again if the suspension was a mistake. This way the writer does not lose any articles that he/she has put up.

I must apologize for not seeing this post, but the “General” section is more for random thoughts not related to Constant Content.

[J. A. Young]

I noticed recently that Ed was ready to welcome back a suspended author who had requested to be reinstated after working to improve his writing. I thought his response was really great and optimistic. In that case, suspension becomes a tool and not a final sentence. People serious about improving their writing can work hard to get better and later apply to the site again. I don't know how it all panned out in that case, but I would think that six months or a year could reasonably allow a writer to develop their skills.

Of course, I realize that the editors may not want to hear from some folks again for any number or reasons, but based on the writing quality of this particular author's posts, I wonder if, she too, might request another chance down the road. I'm not sure about CC's policies regarding reinstation, but I just thought Ed's attitude and response was really encouraging for struggling writers. And, of course, we all struggle at times with this word-thing, but writers really do get better with constant revision. Just my thought for the day. JA

[Serendipity]

Thanks to Ed, Site Admin. and J.A. for your responses; my faith has been restored.

I thought that I had sent my email properly, but apparently something happened. In any event, I appreciate the information that you have provided.