)Anyway, this is the first time an article of mine has been rejected for a non-technical reason and I think this rejection 'reason' is somewhat subjective. Is there any recourse when you disagree with the editor?
What If You Don't Agree with Rejection Reason?
Moderators: Celeste Stewart, Ed, Constant
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FivetoNine
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What If You Don't Agree with Rejection Reason?
I just got a rejection notice stating, "connect the dots for the reader". I don't agree with this. The subject is online dating safety. Anyone over the age of 10 knows WHY you need to be safe online, but I included several tips as requested. My submission was over the requested word count by about 80 words. I think dumbing it down for the reader will increase it to twice the count, but more importantly, I just don't agree with the rejection reason. For example, one of the tips was to not post personal info online like address and phone number, another was to meet the person in a public place, etc. (which I wrote using more descriptive language than I'm using here. )
Anyway, this is the first time an article of mine has been rejected for a non-technical reason and I think this rejection 'reason' is somewhat subjective. Is there any recourse when you disagree with the editor?
)Anyway, this is the first time an article of mine has been rejected for a non-technical reason and I think this rejection 'reason' is somewhat subjective. Is there any recourse when you disagree with the editor?
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HayleyWriter
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- Location: Sydney, Australia
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Re: What If You Don't Agree with Rejection Reason?
Hi and welcome to CC,
I don't think there is a way to argue a rejection (and personally, I think it will just make things worse). You could contact Support and ask that the article receives a review, but it has probably already been deleted from the CC system. However, as a long-time writer here, I know that the rejections are fair. Even if you don't immediately perceive the reason for the rejection, you will see it in the end. Keep looking at it. Look at your article as if someone else has written it. Give it to someone who knows NOTHING about online dating and ask if it makes sense to them. The golden rule of writing is never to assume knowledge of the reader. Think about possible readers. What if you are 45 years old and just entering the dating world again for the first time in 20 years? Last time, you met your partner at a friend's house or at a party. These days the dating scene is very different. If you don't use computers in your daily life and have never thought about dating safety, you may just post personal details without realising the danger, even if you are sensible. You might want to explain why meeting in public is better than meeting in private or explain that what you enter on the internet stays there forever. Now, I haven't got access to your article and I haven't read it, so these are just suggestions. You may find these suggestions too obvious, or not helpful, and that's okay. It's hard to give specific suggestions when you are working 'blind'.
You don't need to dumb it down and you can look at ways of re-writing to stay within the word count (although I usually find the requestor is happy to receive longer articles if the article is good). Think about your article carefully and review it several times before you submit it again. Every writer can find some ways to improve, so think of this rejection as a learning experience.
Whenever you receive a rejection, especially from CC, think to yourself: "Don't get "mad", get better!" That way, your writing will show continuous improvement and you will be proud of what you write and sell here. Hang in there!
Kind regards,
Hayley
I don't think there is a way to argue a rejection (and personally, I think it will just make things worse). You could contact Support and ask that the article receives a review, but it has probably already been deleted from the CC system. However, as a long-time writer here, I know that the rejections are fair. Even if you don't immediately perceive the reason for the rejection, you will see it in the end. Keep looking at it. Look at your article as if someone else has written it. Give it to someone who knows NOTHING about online dating and ask if it makes sense to them. The golden rule of writing is never to assume knowledge of the reader. Think about possible readers. What if you are 45 years old and just entering the dating world again for the first time in 20 years? Last time, you met your partner at a friend's house or at a party. These days the dating scene is very different. If you don't use computers in your daily life and have never thought about dating safety, you may just post personal details without realising the danger, even if you are sensible. You might want to explain why meeting in public is better than meeting in private or explain that what you enter on the internet stays there forever. Now, I haven't got access to your article and I haven't read it, so these are just suggestions. You may find these suggestions too obvious, or not helpful, and that's okay. It's hard to give specific suggestions when you are working 'blind'.
You don't need to dumb it down and you can look at ways of re-writing to stay within the word count (although I usually find the requestor is happy to receive longer articles if the article is good). Think about your article carefully and review it several times before you submit it again. Every writer can find some ways to improve, so think of this rejection as a learning experience.
Whenever you receive a rejection, especially from CC, think to yourself: "Don't get "mad", get better!" That way, your writing will show continuous improvement and you will be proud of what you write and sell here. Hang in there!
Kind regards,
Hayley
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FivetoNine
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- Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2010 9:14 am
Re: What If You Don't Agree with Rejection Reason?
Hi -
I fear I've misrepresented myself.
I don't spend that much time here in the forums but I'm not new to article writing and actually, I usually do have someone else look at some of my articles before I submit them. I agree with you for the most part; I have found the editors here to be very fair; I just don't think they are always right.
In any case, I really do appreciate your response.
Best to you!
*.Lee
I fear I've misrepresented myself.
I don't spend that much time here in the forums but I'm not new to article writing and actually, I usually do have someone else look at some of my articles before I submit them. I agree with you for the most part; I have found the editors here to be very fair; I just don't think they are always right.In any case, I really do appreciate your response.
Best to you!
*.Lee
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Celeste Stewart
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Re: What If You Don't Agree with Rejection Reason?
Maybe by "connect the dots" the editor means that the ideas are there, just not completely connected. Transitions? Conclusion? Does everything flow from one point to the next logically?
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FivetoNine
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Re: What If You Don't Agree with Rejection Reason?
That's entirely possible, Celeste. I'm going to take another look and see what can be done. Thanks!