Re: [epub] Article Submission

[Doug Green <flowers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Now I'm not bothered if the other 35 weren't interested in my articles, heck
>that's just part of life. What does bother me is the fact that the other 35
>couldn't be bothered to let me know one way or the other if they were
>intending to run my article or not.

Now, I'm sure this *isn't* the case in your example, but this happens to me
all the time. I get submissions from people with "articles" they want to
give me.

I seldom reply.  Why?

1) The articles are disguised ads. Mostly poorly ;-) disguised ads.

2) The articles are not related to my newsletter or to the important
times/periods of the year (I write a gardening newsletter and why some
writers think a business article would be of interest to my readers is
beyond me but I still get them.)

3) Its so poorly written or full of grammatical errors that it is obviously
not of value.

4) It is not an interesting subject nor done in a compelling manner. Poor
writing is poor writing. 

5) It is not up to me to me to educate the writer on what is or is not
appropriate to my newsletter (a cursory glance would tell them that I write
it all myself except for some outstanding plantsperson articles and then
only rarely and by invitation.)  

6) Any freelancer knows that it is up to themselves to sell the article,
and no the price (free) doesn't change the fact that it is still selling.
An article has to be compelling to impress a jaded editor who's seen most
of the stuff that is common to "freebies" on the Net.

7) If I run a decent sized newsletter and receive several queries a day
from people wanting to give me something "free" - why is it up to me to
spend my resources (time) to reply to every unsolicited email I receive.
Remember in many circles, unsolicited email is called spam. There's an
interesting discussion on this going on right now over at i-sales
(www.adventive.com)

If I *ask* for free submissions, then I can provide an autoresponder to let
you know it arrived safely and say thanks for submitting etc. (if it didn't
bounce back to you, relax - its there.) If I don't ask for your submission
- then I owe you nothing.  You're the one who wants something - otherwise
you wouldn't be writing it for free.

So - you can be upset that editors don't respond to your writing or you can
be pleased that an editor did. 

I've browsed some of the so-called free business writing available on the
Net in my capacity as a contributing writer for a business magazine. The
average article fills many of the above reasons for any editor not responding.

>Those editors who did not reply to me in any way what so ever have left a
>negative impression on me. I will have to think twice before doing business
>with them ever.

Now, let me repeat that I'm sure your articles don't fit into any of those
characteristics and this isn't a personal attack. However, don't assume
that all editors share your enthusiasm for your work and if you choose not
to send them any more articles - that's probably fine with both of you.  

The bottom line here is that they control what their readers read - if you
want to fit into their life - its up to you to figure out how to do that.
*That* is what being a freelance writer is all about. The price you charge
for your articles *free* in no way changes other aspects of the relationship.

>I know your going to say that editors are just to busy to answer every email
>they receive. Well maybe so, if they have 200,000 subscribers, but that
>didn't stop one lady editor I know of from replying to me and even giving me
>some good advice.

There's always a good hearted soul out there and even the most jaded of
editors will sometimes write a note in a "weak" :-) moment.  

>What I'm trying to say is, if you value your ezine and more importantly the
>business it bring in for you then reply to people who go out of their way to
>help you.

As I indicated earlier - the bottom line here is that the vast majority of
writers and articles are not "going out of their way to help" poor editors.
There is an expectation of something in return for the "free" articles.
Editors recognize this implicitly even if writers don't think they do.

 Simple, straight forward good business tactics. Just because your
>publishing on the internet, doesn't mean that you can be ignorant or that
>you'll loose business because of it.

No - they might lose one supplier of an article. They already have the
business - their subscribers - and it's meeting the needs of those
subscribers that determines the success or failure of the newsletter. Not,
I'm sorry to say - meeting the needs of those people who provide them with
*free* articles.

Bottom line - editors don't owe you anything.

Doug Green
Doug Green, Gardening columnist-55 papers across North America
http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com to get your gardening questions answered.
Author, "Gardening Wisdom, Time Proven Solutions for Today's Gardening
Challenges



--------------------------------------------------------------------<e|-
Find long lost high school friends:
http://click.egroups.com/1/8016/2/_/327135/_/966618911/
--------------------------------------------------------------------|e>-

How low can humanity go?
http://DailyDarwin.com/

To subscribe to Epub, mailto:epub-subscribe@egroups.com
To unsubscribe, mailto:epub-unsubscribe@egroups.com
Digest version: mailto:epub-digest@egroups.com
Epub archives: http://EzineSeek.com/archives/