What is the Optimum Length for Article Sample Text?

[LindaM]

Hi. I'm new to CC and wondering just how much article text should be offered for preview? I provided the full text for a couple of my smaller (400+ wd) pieces and about 3/4 for the somewhat longer articles. I don't want my work stolen out from under me, but also feel that articles might sell better if the publisher has an opportunity to read nearly all of the text?

[Celeste Stewart]

I 100% believe that including the full text is the best approach. In fact, I had a conversation with a lady who viewed a "sample" of an article on CC (not one of mine) and she complained that the article failed to mention a key point. She did not realize that what she saw was just an excerpt, the first couple of paragraphs. The article may have mentioned that key point and been perfect for her, but neither she nor I could tell. By not showing customers what they are getting, I really think that writers are missing out on potential sales.

If you go the excerpt route, I highly recommend that you identify it as an excerpt and then at the end of the excerpt say, "****** Article continues.... ****" perhaps even giving details such as: *********** End excerpt. Article continues to discuss: pesticide use, pruning, and harvesting. It concludes with a discussion of why investing in heirloom seeds is better. **********************

[LindaM]

Celeste,

It sounds like it would be best to go back in and replace my article samples with the entire text, which is fine with me. Will the articles go back into review again, even though the article is unchanged?

Thanks.

[Celeste Stewart]

You can edit the long summary to include the entire text of the article without it having to be reviewed. Go to My Content > Edit. You should only edit the long summary in cases like this. For example, if you saw a typo in your article, changing the long summary would do nothing for correcting the actual Word document, so the typo would remain. But for these purposes, the edit is appropriate.