Posts Tagged ‘article submissions’

Maintaining Article Integrity

July 3, 2009 - 2:42 pm No Comments

Inasmuch as I enjoy writing, I do not enjoy participating in schemes to create “templated” articles for other “authors” to use or misuse to their delight. Or, at the very least, to profit from my hard work!

On occasion, I am asked by a client to take someone else’s article, make some changes, and make it their article. Quite frankly, this smacks of plagiarism…I won’t do it, so please don’t ask!

Instead, if there is a general idea in a particular article that strikes a responsive chord in you, I would be interested in taking a look at the article and see if it inspires me to create original work. The key, of course, is original work, not a rip off of someone else’s writings and not a thinly disguised rewrite of the article.

My policy regarding working for others is this: if you trust my writing talents, you can trust that what I write for you will be “knock their socks off” good writing that will stand on its own two feet.

A good writer is a wellspring of original material while a poor writer hangs on to coattails of other writers or, worse, steals their information outright. Don’t get caught up in the “article mill” schemes that some so-called writers are involved in. Your reputation is at stake and you will be found out.

Maintaining Article Integrity

July 3, 2009 - 10:22 am No Comments

Inasmuch as I enjoy writing, I do not enjoy participating in schemes to create “templated” articles for other “authors” to use or misuse to their delight. Or, at the very least, to profit from my hard work!

On occasion, I am asked by a client to take someone else’s article, make some changes, and make it their article. Quite frankly, this smacks of plagiarism…I won’t do it, so please don’t ask!

Instead, if there is a general idea in a particular article that strikes a responsive chord in you, I would be interested in taking a look at the article and see if it inspires me to create original work. The key, of course, is original work, not a rip off of someone else’s writings and not a thinly disguised rewrite of the article.

My policy regarding working for others is this: if you trust my writing talents, you can trust that what I write for you will be “knock their socks off” good writing that will stand on its own two feet.

A good writer is a wellspring of original material while a poor writer hangs on to coattails of other writers or, worse, steals their information outright. Don’t get caught up in the “article mill” schemes that some so-called writers are involved in. Your reputation is at stake and you will be found out.

Shifting Deadlines

June 17, 2009 - 9:22 pm No Comments

As a writer who works on multiple projects at any given time, I attempt to pin down a deadline from my clients even if one is not stated. Why? Because, the “I am in no hurry for these” statements invariably becomes, “are you done with the articles?” How embarrassing is that if I make the assumption that a project could be put off, especially if my client wants it now?

I have learned to do the following: as soon as I get a project I ask for a specific timeline for when the job should be completed. If the client wants to receive proofs by a certain time, they will. I will also ask them to return to me the reworked article by a certain time too, especially if the “final copy” deadline is fast approaching. No one likes to respond to a panicked, “where is my finished copy?!” statement especially if the hang up is on their end. Regardless of the reason, the burden falls on you, the writer, if there are any snags.

Fortunately, most jobs I do are “in progress” almost as soon as I accept the assignment. Generally, I start my research right away and then I start working on an outline of the article. Once satisfied with the outline, I craft a rough draft and, finally, I write my final copy. Sometimes I take a break between the various steps in order to get more information, give my mind a rest, or simply to attend to other matters.

So, if I receive an urgent request [or demand!] for the completed project I can usually respond very quickly with at least some of the work immediately. Human nature, being what it is, I can expect that even agreed upon deadlines will shift around from time to time. How I respond to these types of demands is indicative to how well I work with my clients.

Shifting Deadlines

June 17, 2009 - 2:05 pm No Comments

As a writer who works on multiple projects at any given time, I attempt to pin down a deadline from my clients even if one is not stated. Why? Because, the “I am in no hurry for these” statements invariably becomes, “are you done with the articles?” How embarrassing is that if I make the assumption that a project could be put off, especially if my client wants it now?

I have learned to do the following: as soon as I get a project I ask for a specific timeline for when the job should be completed. If the client wants to receive proofs by a certain time, they will. I will also ask them to return to me the reworked article by a certain time too, especially if the “final copy” deadline is fast approaching. No one likes to respond to a panicked, “where is my finished copy?!” statement especially if the hang up is on their end. Regardless of the reason, the burden falls on you, the writer, if there are any snags.

Fortunately, most jobs I do are “in progress” almost as soon as I accept the assignment. Generally, I start my research right away and then I start working on an outline of the article. Once satisfied with the outline, I craft a rough draft and, finally, I write my final copy. Sometimes I take a break between the various steps in order to get more information, give my mind a rest, or simply to attend to other matters.

So, if I receive an urgent request [or demand!] for the completed project I can usually respond very quickly with at least some of the work immediately. Human nature, being what it is, I can expect that even agreed upon deadlines will shift around from time to time. How I respond to these types of demands is indicative to how well I work with my clients.

Writing Articles: Pinpoint Accuracy

May 7, 2009 - 3:32 pm No Comments

This may not be a politically correct analogy, but if you were to shoot off a cruise missile from 200 miles away you would want it to hit your target, am I correct? The same can be said for an article writer — the substance of any article is very important, but an article misses the mark if it doesn’t do what you intend it to do: that is, bring about a call to some sort of action, i.e., buy my product, sign up for my newsletter, etc.

Most web based articles are very precise. They have to be. Start off with an attention grabbing opening, followed up by three or four main points, and then tightly wrapped up with a conclusion that invites the reader to take some specific sort of action is the way every successful web content article should be written.

Anything less than what I have outlined is like a cruise missile gone astray. Aim for your target and make certain that you hit it each and every time, no matter how far away you start. Although cruise missiles are prone to go astray, at least you have the luxury to write, examine, and rewrite your articles before they are delivered to your target, i.e., your customer.

Writing Articles: Pinpoint Accuracy

May 7, 2009 - 8:49 am No Comments

This may not be a politically correct analogy, but if you were to shoot off a cruise missile from 200 miles away you would want it to hit your target, am I correct? The same can be said for an article writer — the substance of any article is very important, but an article misses the mark if it doesn’t do what you intend it to do: that is, bring about a call to some sort of action, i.e., buy my product, sign up for my newsletter, etc.

Most web based articles are very precise. They have to be. Start off with an attention grabbing opening, followed up by three or four main points, and then tightly wrapped up with a conclusion that invites the reader to take some specific sort of action is the way every successful web content article should be written.

Anything less than what I have outlined is like a cruise missile gone astray. Aim for your target and make certain that you hit it each and every time, no matter how far away you start. Although cruise missiles are prone to go astray, at least you have the luxury to write, examine, and rewrite your articles before they are delivered to your target, i.e., your customer.

Edit or Rewrite: Either Way it is Work for You!

April 19, 2009 - 7:43 am No Comments

As a freelance writer, some of my least favorite projects are those where the client wants me to rewrite an existing article. I have since learned that this type of statement, “It’ll only involve a little editing,” usually really means, “You’ll have to rewrite the entire article in order for it to make sense.” My advice to you, the freelancer, is try to determine in advance just how much “editing” you will have to do, otherwise be prepared to initiate a time consuming rewrite that won’t pay for itself.

My first sizable rewriting job was one I now call, “my blunder from down under.” By down under, I certainly don’t mean Australia &ndash you have to dig a lot deeper to go to where it is hotter. Get it? A real “devil” of a job!

The job involved “editing” five articles by including new information and cleaning up verbiage and syntax. Or so I thought. As it turned out, each of the five articles lacked clear and concise purpose and failed to produce a tight and sensible conclusion. I saw the “writing on the wall” and decided that the editing job would need to turn into a complete rewrite in order to make any sense of them.

Two full days later my work was done after submitting the drafts to the client, having the client send back additional changes and comments, and resubmitting the final copies back to the client.

After this experience I was mentally exhausted and frustrated, but I learned a valuable lesson: work diligently to uncover what a job entails before agreeing to take on a project and/or leave open the possibility that your price may change [read: will increase] should extra work be involved.

It was a tough lesson learned, but I found out that the “devil” is really in the details when it comes to accepting a rewriting project. Either way it is “work” for you!

Edit or Rewrite: Either Way it is Work for You!

April 18, 2009 - 7:10 am No Comments

As a freelance writer, some of my least favorite projects are those where the client wants me to rewrite an existing article. I have since learned that this type of statement, “It’ll only involve a little editing,” usually really means, “You’ll have to rewrite the entire article in order for it to make sense.” My advice to you, the freelancer, is try to determine in advance just how much “editing” you will have to do, otherwise be prepared to initiate a time consuming rewrite that won’t pay for itself.

My first sizable rewriting job was one I now call, “my blunder from down under.” By down under, I certainly don’t mean Australia &ndash you have to dig a lot deeper to go to where it is hotter. Get it? A real “devil” of a job!

The job involved “editing” five articles by including new information and cleaning up verbiage and syntax. Or so I thought. As it turned out, each of the five articles lacked clear and concise purpose and failed to produce a tight and sensible conclusion. I saw the “writing on the wall” and decided that the editing job would need to turn into a complete rewrite in order to make any sense of them.

Two full days later my work was done after submitting the drafts to the client, having the client send back additional changes and comments, and resubmitting the final copies back to the client.

After this experience I was mentally exhausted and frustrated, but I learned a valuable lesson: work diligently to uncover what a job entails before agreeing to take on a project and/or leave open the possibility that your price may change [read: will increase] should extra work be involved.

It was a tough lesson learned, but I found out that the “devil” is really in the details when it comes to accepting a rewriting project. Either way it is “work” for you!