Reworking a rejection

[FivetoNine]

Okay, so now we now it's a formatting issue so let's look at document type, spacing, font, etc. One super common formatting problem here is when Word adds spacing between paragraphs (rather than when the user hits the enter key twice). When this happens, when you copy and paste the text into the long summary, you get one huge block of text with no spaces between paragraphs. That would be one thing to look at because it's fairly common. What format is the file saved in? .doc and .rtf are safe but if it's a Works .wps file, it will probably be rejected. Font - go with Times New Roman 12 point - nothing fancy. Nothing too small.

Now it really doesn't make sense. When I got the first rejection, I wanted to be sure it was right the second time around, so I made sure to use Arial 12 as stated in the guidelines, double-checked for spacing when I posted the first part of the article in the preview box, and I saved it as a .doc document. This is why it's confusing. It might be just one small thing but I don't know what it is and it doesn't seem fair to reject the article because of one tiny formatting issue that I may have missed. I'm not sure whether to try again because I read something about a "3 strikes and you're out" rule here (?)

I will probably work up the courage to try again but if I get rejected a third time, I hope that the people who reject it have the decency to at least tell me why.

In any case, I appreciate your help.

[Celeste Stewart]

Hopefully Ed will remember and chime in tomorrow with his recollection of the problem.

[Sharion]

Another formatting problem, one that bit me, is called "Smart Quotes". I use an older version of Appleworks and for some reason, even with the preference "Smart Quotes" turned off, it put them in anyway. What that meant for Ed was that instead of seeing a quotation mark or apostrophe, he saw some strange hieroglyph.

I still work in Appleworks. But when the article is finished I save it as a TXT file, then open it in TextWrangler and "straighten" the "smart quotes". I do this for every article before submitting it. No other solution I tried fixed it. Bit of a hassle to work with the file in three different software programs but if it allows me to keep submitting, I can handle that.

(As for the third software program, I do something else after TextWrangler but it's just to help me automate part of the process. It's not a necessary step, just a helpful one.)

[Ed]

Not sure what the problem is. While the article in question was rejected before for formatting issues, the article is now in the article queue and the formatting is fine.

Thanks,
Ed

[FivetoNine]

Just got a notice that my article has been accepted. Yay! Thanks much! (^_^)

[IncaustumDomina]

I am feeling slightly desperate, and in dire need of advice. I am new to CC, and after an initial feeling of euphoria, due to my first submission being accepted, I have sunk to a slither, as both of my following submissions were sent back. I would like advice before resubmitting, I have changed them, but because there were two of them, I am terrified of the dreaded '3 strikes' rule.

I am absolutely new to internet-speak (really, in every way, I did not even know exactly what a blog was a few months ago), so I am unsure of how to seek help regarding this - can I submit my article titles here for advice? The problem with article two, which I have only recieved this morning, is that my 'short summary needs to be free of errors'. I have double-checked, no spelling, and (hopefully) no grammar errors, so I need some guidance as to what should have been said, or where exactly I am going wrong, for now and for future reference.

Thank you, IncaustumDomina.

[Debbi]

Posting articles in the forums is not allowed. If you want me to check over your short sumary for article two, send it to me via CC email. My author name is DM Gutierrez. If you go to my profile page, there is a link to contact me.

[IncaustumDomina]

Hello Debbi,
Did you get the mail I sent to your CC address? Thanks again.
Mellissa.

[Debbi]

I'm afriad not.... You might try again (DM Gutierrez), but I'm wondering if new authors can send mail before they have an article accepted. If you just want the short summary reviewed, I think you can post it here, just not the whole article.

[jadedragon]

i don't think new authors without an accepted article can send emails (anti spam feature).

Just post up the short summary. Who cares if it gets indexed; you are not selling it anyway.

[IncaustumDomina]

Actually, my first article was accepted, so I am not sure why my email never went through. Nonetheless, here it is. I have pasted it here as suggested, and I have also taken the liberty of including my other article rejection, and the reasons why. I hope you won’t mind advising on both, I would like to correct and resubmit them, so as to continue with my other submissions. Hopefully the teething troubles will iron themselves out. Both of these were for public requests.

Thank you for the help and advice.
Mellissa.

ARTICLE A

‘We have reviewed your content, "The Value of a Point of Sale System in a Retail
Environment." Unfortunately, this article requires revision before we can
accept it.

==== Editorial Information for Your Article: ====

Short summaries must be clear and free of errors.’

Short summary
Having a foundation on which to build all aspects of your business is crucial. A POS system enables the business owner to concentrate on the business, relying on the Point of Sale system to monitor, among other, sales, stock and orders. The ease and convenience of a POS system speaks for itself, like having a reliable, hard-working administration assistant who is always on hand, 24 hours a day. Once the report specifications have been inputted, the Point of Sale system does the rest - from stock level data to tax collection.

ARTICLE B

‘We have reviewed your content, "Cause and Effect of Snoring, and How Best to
Eliminate or Control It." Unfortunately, this article requires revision before
we can accept it.

==== Editorial Information for Your Article: ====

Please proofread for clarity. For example, the first sentence is unclear.
Snoring means different things to different people, and research shows that the
predominant sufferers are men, the ratio being as high as 2:1.


Please do not end your title with a period.’

What do they mean by ‘period’? And I think I see the problem with the first sentence – the ratio (2:1) is mentioned in relation to men only, i.e. women are not mentioned, and thus there is no basis for comparison. Am I correct in saying this?
Thanks again.

[JD]

Mellissa

A 'period' is also known as a full-stop - the point you end a sentence with. Don't end your titles with a period/full-stop.

In respect of article B, the snoring one, I think the opening 'snoring means different things to different people' is redundant, unless you follow it up with some sort of example of what it might mean to some people and not to others. I also think you may need to clarify the statistic, as you say, so that it's clear that you're talking about the ratio of men to women, or re-write, e.g:

Research shows that more men than women snore, the ratio being as high as 2:1.
Research shows that men are twice as likely as women to snore.
Snoring affects twice as many men as women.

Also, I found the word sufferer a little ambiguous: is the person who snores the sufferer or the person who sleeps next to the person who snores the sufferer?! Just thought I'd throw that in for you to mull over

In respect of article B, I don't think there's too much wrong with the summary. However, I would spell out in full Point of Sales system where it appears first and then use the acronym POS thereafter. I would also perhaps change the second sentence:

A Point of Sales system monitors, among other things, sales, stock and orders, thereby enabling the business owner to concentrate on the business. [You need something after the words 'among other' - not too sure 'things' is the right word though!]

The third sentence might read better if it were amended to: The ease and convenience of a POS system speaks for itself. It's similar to having a reliable, hard-working administration assistant on hand 24 hours a day

Anyway, hope those few comments help.

Good luck!

Jane

[Debbi]

Article A's short summary seems too long. If you cut it in half and fix the errors, it will make your article sound more appealing. Here are a few things I noticed on first reading.

* You left out the word "things" in the phrase "among other htings".
* There is no need for the comma before "24 hours a day."
* The sentence about ease and convenience is very awkward.

"Having a foundation on which to build all aspects of your business is crucial. A POS system enables the business owner to concentrate on the business, relying on the Point of Sale system to monitor, among other, sales, stock and orders. The ease and convenience of a POS system speaks for itself, like having a reliable, hard-working administration assistant who is always on hand, 24 hours a day. Once the report specifications have been inputted, the Point of Sale system does the rest - from stock level data to tax collection."

Alternative:
Using a Point of Sale system allows a business owner to focus on growing the business. Automated and available 24 hours a day, a POS system can monitor sales, stock, orders, and tax information. This article describes the Point of Sale system and the ways it can benefit a small business.

The last sentence can be used to explain to the buyer what your article will discuss.

Be aware that once Ed hits an error, he might not review any further so there may be mistakes (like unnecessary commas or missing words) in your article itself. Read it out loud to yourself or have someone else read it to you to catch errors.

Hope this helps

[jadedragon]

Your Short Summary:
Having a foundation on which to build all aspects of your business is crucial. A POS system enables the business owner to concentrate on the business, relying on the Point of Sale system to monitor, among other, sales, stock and orders. The ease and convenience of a POS system speaks for itself, like having a reliable, hard-working administration assistant who is always on hand, 24 hours a day. Once the report specifications have been inputted, the Point of Sale system does the rest - from stock level data to tax collection.

My comments:
This is pretty awkward. Use the short summary to summarize the article. It is your chance to give a little pitch that will interest the buyer to click for more.

"Having a foundation on which to build all aspects of your business is crucial."

The first sentence is motherhood and apple pie. We all know it and it does not tell how the article will help anyone. I suggest "A Point of Sale system (POS) is a good foundation to build all aspects of a good retail business on."

"A POS system enables the business owner to concentrate on the business, relying on the Point of Sale system to monitor, among other, sales, stock and orders."

Suggest "A POS system will monitor sales, stock levels and orders automatically, allowing the business owner to concentrate on other aspects of the business like customer service."

"The ease and convenience of a POS system speaks for itself, like having a reliable, hard-working administration assistant who is always on hand, 24 hours a day."

"administration" should be "administrative assistant". No comma before "24 hours a day." If something speaks for itself, why are we writing about it?

"Once the report specifications have been inputted, the Point of Sale system does the rest - from stock level data to tax collection."

After inputting the correct report specifications, the POS takes care of all the details from stock levels to tax collection automatically.
Try to avoid dashes. I love them but it is very rare they can be used grammatically correctly.

Reviewing others work helps me find my own errors easier. Hope this was helpful.

[IncaustumDomina]

Thank you Jane, Debbi and jadedragon. I have taken all your advice into account and (hopefully) used it wisely. I have shortened the short summary, amended grammar, and sentence structure and removed dashes. I do tend to overuse them. I feel ridiculously apprehensive about re-submitting, but I have spent a lot of time trying to get it right, hopefully the Ed sees the effort.

I realise the importance of all articles being 'just right', but I think that I possibly bit off more than I could chew in that I strayed from my chosen fields, as both of these articles were for public requests, and only my 2nd and 3rd submissions to boot. Not sure why that would make too much difference, but the topics were quite foreign and the writing did not come naturally to me.

Thanks again. The article was submitted today, hopefully it meets approval.

Mellissa.