Long Time For Approval

[psharmon]

Just wanted to ask how long it takes to get approved. When I first joined, I found that things were being approved the same day and sometimes with in an hour of being submitted. For the last 20 hours, there are no recent articles being shown. I look under recent articles to see if things are moving at all and they dont' seem to be. How much does this hurt us when we are submitting for a request?

[Celeste Stewart]

I know they are short handed but yes, it definitely hurts. For example, I wrote 3 articles for a requester even before I got the official email saying a new request -- I happened to stumble on the request before the email went out I guess. So I'm thinking great! I'll be one of the first to let the requester look at my stuff. But alas, the articles still sit 24 hours later awaiting approval, no one has purchased anything and now the request has been removed (the guy must've found someone on some other website)! So even if they get approved, they'll just sit there because they are specific to the request, not a general purpose type article. So, ouch! That was a waste of time. Glad they were shorties and didn't take too much time.

Anyway any of us could volunteer here and there to help get articles up and ready for sale?

[psharmon]

Yeah, this is what just happened. My article is still waiting for approval and the request is now gone.

To be honest, when I first started this site, I was submitting at least 4 articles a day. For the last couple of months, I haven't bothered. I've found other places to submit my work to and while the prices might be lower, they are getting sold and I'm making more!

Is there a possibility CC will be hiring more people to approve articles? This would definitely help.

[Ed]

We are having system problems which has made it impossible to approve articles.

I have been very conscientious about clearing out articles after our initial backlog a couple of weeks ago. I am a little disappointed that there is some discontent after "20 hours" of no approvals. When authors submit articles, they are informed that it can take up to three days to get articles approved.

Ed

[psharmon]

I understand it can take up to 3 days. What I'm saying, however, is that when I first joined, they were done almost immediatly. At one point, I was having articles approved within an hour. Then, over the past couple of months, things have slowed down. I still try to submit for requests, but what is the point when the request disappears by the time the articles do get approved. Yes, I know that requestors should be more patient and perhaps, they've just changed their minds. But, when some of us do this for a living, we've got to be quick and try to get are articles in immediatly and hope for a sale. This is my point.

Perhaps there is a way to approve articles written for requests first? This will prevent requestors from disappearing.

[Ed]

Penny,

As I have said, we have had problems with the system. As we speak, I am trying to get approvals through, but I am getting time-outs, so the process is taking *much* longer than usual.

If you haven't been keeping up, one of our editors is out because of a family illness. Your articles were being approved immediately because she was often at home in front of her computer. I was hired as someone to pick up the slack. I also have to provide for myself--I work my rear off at my day job, and still make time to approve articles every week day. I enjoy doing it when authors are appreciative and patient. It is as frustrating for me as it is for you--I make my living off of writing and editing as well.

Serious requestors will not pull their requests within such a short period of time. There are a dozen or more requests right now, but only a couple are being written for. It's just the luck of the draw if a requestor buys or doesn't buy. Sometimes they put in a request and don't touch even one article; there are other factors involved beyond approval time.

As for approving for requests first, I do so.

Ed

[constant-content]

Couple things....

1. We are moving to another server to solve the slowness issue.

2. If someone places a request they are not going to pull it in a day or two unless they had no intentions of using one of our writers. I can't say I have seen this.

If your worried your article is not being approved but others are this is not the case.

3. This slow period is just a stage and it will not last.

[Word Gypsy]

I don't want to step on any toes here, but I do want to say that I think Ed has been doing a great job. I will admit that the first time that I had to wait for approval for an extended time, I did become frustrated.
I work a day job, then write half the night, so naturally I want to receive approval as soon as possible. Then I reminded myself that no one works a 24 hour day, so delays will happen.
Plus, after one of those long spells, Ed did approve articles that were for requests first. On top of that, I must say that my rejection notices have been "gentle" for lack of a better word.
Anyway, a little patience goes a long way.

[Celeste Stewart]

It's easy to forget that in cyberspace we have real people behind the scenes. Ed, you rock!

We've been spoiled by your fast service and don't mean to beat you down for taking a breather....

[J. A. Young]

I'd like to chime in say that I'm still really pleased with the site despite some of the delays. Nobody owes anybody any loyalty, but I think this site has fairly well earned mine with the ease of their operation and paying their writers on time. A few delays here and there probably won't kill those of us who have additional 9 to 5 jobs--and the delays haven't been that bad--as Ed said, the site has something like a three day window.

I won't complain about the extra day or so for approval--I'm sure there is a lot of stuff to wade through. I'd rather look forward to happier days to come--an ever-growing customer base, traditional print journals buying our wares, booming profits for the site, and higher-priced articles selling for us writers! --J.

[Sarah81]

My fiction goes to print-magazine editors. Since I write quite a few short stories, and have been doing that for years now, I'm used to waiting for a few *MONTHS* - just for a Xeroxed rejection letter. No explanation, no critique, nothing.

So ... even when the people running this site are playing catch-up and can't get to my articles the same day that I submit, I still think they're working super-fast.

[Galskygge]

Sometimes we have to remember this: Do you really think it woud go any faster if we approving the articles ourselves? Keep in mind that not everything can be done right on the spot. Human beings aren't as quick as a computer. They are real, and we can't expect to have everything giving to us instantly. Good things come to those who wait. We must all have a little patence in life with anything we do, including waiting on an approval on an article we submit. Without CC we wouldn't be able to do what we do here, not to mention have a nice little forum in check of it all. If you don't get an article to a requester quick enough then don't worry about. You'll get it to them or someone else next time around. In any case you still have an extra article sitting in your list of articles, waiting for someone to pick it up. Patience is the key to almost everything. I'm not trying to talk bad about anyone at all, just hoping that some people can try to be a little more patient is all.

Thanks for keeping CC going strong, admins and proofreaders .

[cbhrbooth]

Just wondering if anyone else is waiting on articles to be approved? I submitted one Friday (5 days w/ weekend; 3 days w/o weekend) and it hasn't gone through the channels? Thought it was probably a backlog, but wondered if somehow got lost and I need to resubmit.

Anyone else?

[Word Gypsy]

Hi! As long as it appears in your content with "under review," you will not need to resubmit. I am sure there are others in the same boat. Sometimes there is a backlog, especially when a lot of authors submit articles. I am guilty myself of writing quite a bit lately. In fact, I am waiting for approval for one that I submitted on Saturday. As soon as they can, they will get to all of the articles. Happy Writing!

[cbhrbooth]

Thanks! I figured it was a backlog, but wanted to check since I'm new to this site.

Bridgette