| > | | | | published the article multiple times. For example, a |
| | | | gardening ezine was interested in it from the point |
| Writers talk about rejection all the time — | | | | of view of "pest control" rather than any humane |
| just part of the job. But getting rejected by a | | | | reasons per se. Semantics aside, people who |
| no-pay publication really scrapes the barrel. I know: | | | | might never have read the thing in some radical |
| it's happened to me more than once and now | | | | animal rights newsletter were potentially reached. |
| that it's been years [of therapy] later, I can admit | | | | 3. Regurgitating |
| lessons learned. | | | | There may be nothing new under the sun, but at |
| 1. Competing Market | | | | least try to give your article a unique twist or |
| My first novice article submission was to an | | | | perspective. To my knowledge, I've never been |
| AboutCom site. The writing was good, and loaded | | | | rejected on the grounds of simply rehashing; |
| with links to other helpful sites. It was the latter | | | | however, as an editor myself, I've turned down |
| that got the piece booted. The website editor | | | | many submissions due to repetitive themes and |
| simply did not choose to publish articles that might | | | | outlooks. |
| lead readers to sites similar to her own. | | | | It's shocking how far some writers go to avoid |
| This goes directly to the "study back issues" | | | | writing: I obtained permission from a recent |
| mandate offered by experienced writers. Even if | | | | journalism grad to reprint a wonderful article of |
| you don't agree with a specific editor's approach, | | | | hers that I'd stumbled across. While doing |
| you need to write to those specifics or submit | | | | research into the topic (for purposes of artwork), |
| elsewhere. | | | | I found the exact same article. Verbatim. Written |
| 2. Preaching to the Choir | | | | by someone else. |
| Animal organizations are usually sorely in need of | | | | Use those No/Low-Pay Markets |
| donations, whether financial, by way of goods or | | | | I'm still using those free articles to get paying |
| content for newsletters. However, an article on | | | | jobs: clips from a couple of humor parenting |
| the care and feeding of feral cats, garnered from | | | | stories written nearly five years ago pulled in two |
| years of experience in rescue work, was | | | | assignments from national US print publications. |
| rejected on the grounds that it was targeted to | | | | Similarly, I base everything I write on rejection |
| the wrong readership. | | | | lessons learned over the years: study the |
| Acting on that advice, I searched out and | | | | publication (not just the guidelines); put yourself as |
| submitted to "how-to" publications directed at | | | | a reader of that magazine; flip your angle, dig |
| readers not involved in stray cat rescue, and | | | | deep and work hard for originality. |