Writer’s often spread themselves out and write for numerous sites in order to ensure a constant flow of work. Many sites rate writers based on some “secret” formula that is not always evident. One of the problems with these rates is they may or may not reflect the “vision” of the person who is using the work but instead is being rated by an editor. Editors are human beings too, but in reality, it is largely their jobs to evaluate the work that is submitted based on criteria set down by the site who is paying them for input. Editors often get a bad rap, and being a writer as well as an editor I can empathize with both sides of the equation.
None of us likes being corrected
Sometimes editor comments make us feel like we are being scolded for something. In fact, it’s not all that unusual to see editors notes and “freeze” up in panic. The next reaction is generally that we are angry because we’ve been told we did something wrong. This is typical, most of us don’t like being told we’ve done something wrong and we thankfully fight the impulse to prove we were right (even if we were wrong).
Making excuses for mistakes
Then there is the other side of us that forces us to begin the process of making excuses for our mistakes. We simply don’t want to take the responsibility and admit that we were wrong. Interestingly enough, one of the things that seems to come up time and time again as an excuse is that the writer feels that the expectations are too high for the rate they are being paid.
Why this is wrong-headed thinking
As a freelance writer, one of the few things we have to “trade” on is our name. When we are making a name as a freelance writer, regardless of whether it is on our own blog, writing for a content mill or writing for clients, quality matters. Regardless of whether a writer is being paid 10 cents a word or 10 dollars a word, the bottom line is that quality should always matter. The real bottom line is that writers need to take pride in the work they are submitting. This means regardless of what you are being paid, it should never be acceptable to provide work that has not been carefully proofread. What do you think?
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I agree, Doreen. No matter the venue or the rates, the writing should always be carefully edited. I find that if I write in one session and go back and edit in another session, I can look at my own content with an editorial eye and gain enough distance from it to make the changes that need to be made.
Excellent article, Doreen! I already left a comment on it too..but it seems that it did not show up…~r
Marc you touched on something very crucial. As a CM at Helium I agree with you that work is inconsistent. But it’s not only Helium! As you pointed out CC has issues too. When work is sent back by an editor it should be returned to that editor. I often wonder who does pick “editors” and what standards are they using?
I consider myself a decent writer, there are many who are far better at it than I am. However, I have to admit to getting my dander up when someone “dings” me for something silly. I recently had an editor return a piece to me because I used a capital letter after a colon. Clearly that editor doesn’t subscribe to the same AP guidebook that I do
Great post, Doreen! And very timely!
The thing is, who rates the raters? Who edits the editors? When I submit content to some sites that have editorial reviews prior to article acceptance (constantcontent.com) sometimes the article is rejected due to a misplace comma or one typo. Them when it’s fixed and resubmitted, another editor turns it down for a different reason. I’ve even had the same article returned to me 4 times, one for a comma that needed to be there, the next time for one that shouldn’t have been there, and so on – you guessed it! The exact same comma! And I had spent hours proofreading that article each time too!
Helium is a lot more accepting of poor grammar and spelling errors. Is that a good thing? No, it turns publishers away from the site because they’re sick of seeing crap and having to hunt for the good stuff, which is usually rated in the lower 60% (as a long-time stew, I can attest to that).
Are any sites better? They all have problems, it’s just in picking the ones that have the fewest.
I think that the quality of the content needs to be good to excellent, and that the editors should be assigned to writers, not incoming articles, so that the same editor will re-evaluate a returned submission.
I think that Helium is allowing submissions with too low a quality factor, and that has turned publishers off of the site. How many “Marketplace” type articles have shown up in the past year? Fewer than used to show up in one month! Aside from the CS gigs, which is now the only real way to earn there, helium has lost it’s edge in the market due to it’s incessant marketing for writers campaign.
I think your article stirred a hornets nest in me!
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