Purged article...

[Gauderbock]

Ok, following Judith's surprising rejection for wordiness, it does seem some new editors are a bit more picky. I've just had an article purged for being promotional.

Okay, fair enough, it does deal with a common brand name. I could easily make it generic, I suppose, readers would still know what I was writing about.

But this is my first purged article in 1000+ submissions, and I'm a bit wary of resubmitting even after stripping out the brand stuff.

Any thoughts? Major rewrite, or just junk it and put it down to experience?

[HiredGun]

Have you tried adding similar products/companies to the piece? For example, instead of "Five Reasons Constant Content Rocks" maybe try "3 Content Creation Agencies Freelance Writers Should Be Using". I've found that focusing on one company will earn you a rejection, but adding comparable products/services/companies to the piece will usually be okay with the editors.

On the topic of 'too promotional', I've always found it weird that CC editors will accept "5 Google Chrome Extensions You Should Know About" yet if you try writing a piece like "5 Reasons Google Rocks", you'll get a rejection (they both focus on Google).

[Gauderbock]

I think I'll probably rework it to focus on the generic term, and say something like 'major manufacturers such as BRAND and UNKNOWNBRAND' somewhere in it. I might let it lie for a while first though.

But yes, I find it odd that I can write countless articles on how Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram or whatever is a marketing essential, but do the same in another niche and it's a straight purge.

[GailF]

I haven't heard of that as a reason before! Surely someone would want to buy something that was 'promotional'. Articles are often used to sell. But I would just make it more generic and resubmit.

[HiredGun]

I haven't heard of that as a reason before! Surely someone would want to buy something that was 'promotional'. Articles are often used to sell. But I would just make it more generic and resubmit.

Nope. 'No promotional content' is right in the writer guidelines:

Submissions Must Not Include:

•Poetry, fiction, op-eds, or first-person POV (Why Aren’t Personal Accounts Allowed?)
•Promotional content
•Active linked web addresses – Please follow our protocol if you must include web addresses by removing the http://www prefix. Ex: Google.com (good), www.google.com (bad) (Why Aren’t Links Allowed?)
•Sig lines, bios, or author contact info
•Plagiarism*

I got one of the new editors today and got the 'we don't accept articles with links/URLs' reason for the rejection. Sent the article back to the editor with the link to the writer guidelines explaining that yes, Constant Content does accept articles with links (just no www in front of link) and emailed Constant Content's admin. The lead editor is going to update the new editor on correct policy. Just as there are bound to be hiccups when a new writer starts with Constant Content, guess there are bound to be a few hiccups with new editors learning the ropes.