Rejection of an Article

[Pearl Grace]

Hello.
I have just received a second rejection of my article, "Unique Baby Gifts." I initially submitted it in Works and was told it had to be in Word. So, I went out and bought Word 2007 and re-submitted it. It was rejected again--I was then told I need to use an "acceptable file format". Plus, it said I need to specify a category (I had), and that I should use "Unique Gifts" (I had). I had also specificed a subcategory and typed in Children and Infants. So, I am at a loss to figure out why it was rejected the second time. I have just re-read the publication requirements. I don't see any mispells or grammar issues. And it is in 12 point font.

Any help you could offer would be appreciated. Thanks.
Pearl Grace

[Celeste Stewart]

Oh, that's too bad you had to purchase Word 2007.

CC doesn't accept .wks files but they do accept .txt and .doc formats. Unfortunately, they don't yet accept the Word 2007 default file extension of .docx. Hopefully someday soon. I guess it's because it's still relatively new and not all customers will be able to open the documents if they're saved in this format.

DOn't worry - you can save your Word 2007 documents in the .doc format and get it accepted. I'll show you how:

When saving the file in Word, choose "save as" and then pick "Word 97 to 2003" as the format. This saves it in the standard .doc format. I have my Word 2007 program set to automatically save in this format just for CC purposes.

For those who want to make it automatic, go to the Office Button at the top left of the screen, choose Word Options, choose Save, and then pick "Save files in this format" and click the drop down box. Choose "Word 97 to 2003" and then click OK.

Hope this helps!

[Elizabeth Ann West]

It's a little latein your case, but another solution to the Microsoft Word issue is to download OpenOffice (found at OpenOffice.org). It's completely free, and allows you to save file formats in word format, like .doc.

Plus it has open source formats for Excel (they call it Calc), Powerpoint (Impress), and Publisher (Draw) plus some additional programs like Math which is a great program for writing mathematical notation.

OpenOffice isn't the prefect solution for everyone, and some of the features are a little different than Microsoft Word. But, they do regularly update it, and it takes about 6 months for OpenOffice to catch up with Microsoft.

There are lots of open source solutions to a bunch of the more expensive programs out there. Right not I am using an open source alternative to FrontPage called Nvu for my website.

[Pearl Grace]

Thanks, Celeste and Elizabeth!

I will definitely use the 'save as' function and save it in an earlier Word format and try again.

I do appreciate your suggestion, Elizabeth, about using the other software. In fact, I may check out the equivalent to Publisher to see how it works.

Thanks again.

Pearl Grace