Homonyms by Choice

[write2earn]

My article, which was written for a public request, was rejected because the title I chose [Rejection: A Right of Passage] was deemed grammatically incorrect. It was not grammatically incorrect because I was talking about Rejection as a right of every human being and the forms of actionable responses to rejections as you move from one stage of life to the next. There is no ceremony here.

CC has whatever right they decide belongs to them to reject an author's work and the author has a right to embrace the rejection and choose the path to follow going forward. I'm bummed out. My title was correct. If I was writing about a celebration, a role or some ceremony, I would use the words Rejection: A Rite of Passage. I wasn't, I didn't and I received my article back. So, I'm bummed. I have a right to be bummed and I am exercising my right to deal with rejection by being bummed.

By the time I manage to squeak this article past the staff reviewer, the public request will expire - along with any chance to receive my hard earned money. My right to payment has been effectively taken away. There must be some kind of a rite for this occasion, but darned if I know what it could be.

[Celeste Stewart]

I'm guessing the reviewer saw the title and assumed you meant "rite" and then rejected the article without reading further. Try resubmitting with a note (set off with asterisks so it will be eye-catching) in the short summary or maybe enclose the word "right" with quotation marks.

My other thought is that maybe the title is too clever for its own good. Maybe: Responding to Rejection No Matter What Stage of Life You are In? Hmmn, not sure I like that. I like the other (since you explained the context), but it has the potential to confuse readers (as it did the editor). Remember, the customer could have the same initial reaction that the editor did. If so, he may stop reading based on this assumption of a mistake. If you can't get the customer to read past the title in order to see the actual meaning, you won't have a chance. The same is true of the customer's readers. Unfortunately, on the Web we have just a few words to make an impression. If that first impression, even if incorrect, is that the writer made a major word choice mistake, then. . .

Another idea is to add an adjective to "right" so that it's obvious that you're using the word in this context (Rejection: A Human Right of Passage). Not sure I like that either. Just giving some thoughts to ponder.