I'm not really a writer, I guess. I have only written about 35 articles for Textbroker as a level 4 writer, and so I'm thinking it may be risky for someone like me to submit that first article to CC without doing a lot of grammar refreshing first. Could be fatal. What do you think?
The thing is, I really want to make more money writing. It takes a whole lot of Textbroker articles to make anything close to what one of these CC articles sell at "Buy Full" rights. I was rejected by both Demand Studios (but I believe because I lack credentials) and Break Studios (no reason given), and was recently accepted by Bright Hub.
I really like the idea of writing about what I believe is a good topic that will sell, using some keyword targeting, and submitting it, knowing I could make some decent money for my effort, and the only place that allows a person to do that is CC.
Here is a question for some of you: What criteria do you use for pricing? I noticed some of you will sell cheap at 10 bucks or less a pop; Others want much more. Do you base pricing on popularity of the topic, or more on how much work you put into it? Seems to me that popularity rules over work invested, as the buyer does not really know, or care, how long it took you to write the article. The article either suits their needs or does not. Also, I would think the majority of buyers would want full rights. True or no?
Thank you.
Should A Person Wait Before Submitting A First Article 2 CC?
Moderators: Celeste Stewart, Ed, Constant
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Re: Should A Person Wait Before Submitting A First Article 2 CC?
Good morning,
You already have a good grasp of some of the nuances of CC. For example, you're absolutely right that customers don't care how much time you spent on an article - they only care about the results. Most want full rights as well though some probably find usage a real bargain, especially if using the article in a newsletter where duplicate content isn't an issue.
For me, I do consider time (at least as far as what I want to make per hour) when I price. A higher priced article isn't so much because it took longer, but rather if it can command the given rate. Is the article well researched? Tightly written? Written with both SEO and the reader in mind? Is it interesting to read and informative or is it "fluff"?
It works both ways, too. For example, if a well written, informative, interesting-to-read article only takes 20 minutes to write because the writer drew on his area of expertise, why should it be priced less than one that took several hours due to lack of knowledge about the topic?
Anyhow, back to your original question. Should you wait? If you think your writing skills aren't quite up to par, you have two choices. You could wait, but what will you do in the meantime? Take a class? Buy a writing book? On the other hand, you could write and polish an article to perfection and submit it. I'd do both. First, I'd buy Strunk & White's The Elements of Style if you don't have it already and read it from cover to cover (it's less than 100 pages long). Then, I'd write an article for CC keeping all those pesky grammar rules in the back of my mind. Once you're confident in the article, give it a try. It may get rejected or it may not. Unless the article is horribly written or plagiarized, your account is unlikely to be suspended. Most of us have had initial rejections here and lived to tell about it. The rejection notice will tell you what was wrong such as semi-colon misuse, comma problems, typos, spelling errors, etc. From there, go back to your Strunk & White book and re-read the specific rules about the specific problem, make the corrections, and resubmit. Good luck!
You already have a good grasp of some of the nuances of CC. For example, you're absolutely right that customers don't care how much time you spent on an article - they only care about the results. Most want full rights as well though some probably find usage a real bargain, especially if using the article in a newsletter where duplicate content isn't an issue.
For me, I do consider time (at least as far as what I want to make per hour) when I price. A higher priced article isn't so much because it took longer, but rather if it can command the given rate. Is the article well researched? Tightly written? Written with both SEO and the reader in mind? Is it interesting to read and informative or is it "fluff"?
It works both ways, too. For example, if a well written, informative, interesting-to-read article only takes 20 minutes to write because the writer drew on his area of expertise, why should it be priced less than one that took several hours due to lack of knowledge about the topic?
Anyhow, back to your original question. Should you wait? If you think your writing skills aren't quite up to par, you have two choices. You could wait, but what will you do in the meantime? Take a class? Buy a writing book? On the other hand, you could write and polish an article to perfection and submit it. I'd do both. First, I'd buy Strunk & White's The Elements of Style if you don't have it already and read it from cover to cover (it's less than 100 pages long). Then, I'd write an article for CC keeping all those pesky grammar rules in the back of my mind. Once you're confident in the article, give it a try. It may get rejected or it may not. Unless the article is horribly written or plagiarized, your account is unlikely to be suspended. Most of us have had initial rejections here and lived to tell about it. The rejection notice will tell you what was wrong such as semi-colon misuse, comma problems, typos, spelling errors, etc. From there, go back to your Strunk & White book and re-read the specific rules about the specific problem, make the corrections, and resubmit. Good luck!
Re: Should A Person Wait Before Submitting A First Article 2 CC?
Thank you, Celeste. Really good advice! I'm going to do exactly that.