Yesterday I had two scares. The first scare was that an article was flagged for plagiarism. The second scare was that another article was rejected.
I had written an article “How to Register a New Business Online” under the impression that it meant something along the lines of “How to Register a Domain and Start a Business.” Now, I realize that my interpretation was wrong, and the title actually meant how one would register their business online with a Secretary of State office and obtain the required licenses and permits to keep the business legal. So, the article was sent back by a copy editor with the following message:
May 26, 2010 – I think that the article does not fir the title. If this article is supposed to be about registering a domain name for a new online business, please focus on that. You have some information on launching an online business, and some info on keyword phrases, etc., but that’s gets away from the focus — how to register a business online.
My interpretation of this title is how a person with a new business can go online to register that business with her state’s Secretary of State’s office, or Department of State in some states. I don;t know if you had guidlance form the editorial team, but either way, this article needs to be refocused on the title. Thank you!
Yes, typos were all there. Apparently the copy editor was in too much of a hurry when writing the message to proofread. Anyway, since I had to rewrite the whole article over again, I used what I already wrote for a new article titled “How to Start Up a Business Website & Domains,” since the information fit that title perfectly. I used this information while “How to Register a New Business Online” was still in rewrite phase, so my second article (How to Start Up a Business Website & Domains) was flagged for plagiarism, and I had to go through the grueling appeal process. When I first got that plagiarism letter, I remember first the feeling of shock and then the feeling of being semi-relieved as the shock slowly ebbed away once I realized what probably happened (that I copied previous information from another article in need of a complete rewrite, but still under the rewrite status, that I didn’t get the chance to rewrite before using the information I intended to erase). I’m still waiting for the flagged article to be cleared. I’ll inform you once it is. Find out whether my flagged article was cleared or not in my new update.
I responded to the copy editor of the first article (the one about registering a business online), after rewriting the entire article again (taking me some time to research the topic), with:
May 27, 2010 – Thanks for your feedback! I wrote a whole new article on how to register a business according to your point of view.
All I had to do was wait for the copy editor to approve my rewrite and the flag to come off of my other article. Then everything would be taken care of. However, the copy editor did not approve the rewrite and actually rejected it. I almost cried. He/she responded with this message:
Thank you for the go at a rewrite. You found some useful resources and references, and the article is more focused now. However, there are some areas where I would have some questions and comments, and I think some more info would have to be added. If this was the first look, I think we could get things done on a rewrite, but DS only lets us have one chance to re-do an article. Thank you for refocusing and reworking it, but I’m afreaid I’m going to have to reject it this time.
In future articles, please keep in mind a tight focus on the title, and please use specific examples to support your steps. Again, thank you for the effort, and good luck on your next article!
Again, spelling errors were left untouched in the message. I spent so much work reworking the article and writing a completely new article from scratch, citing information from references and so on. The copy I sent for approval was perfectly done and informative, or so I thought. The copy editor then continued to point out errors in each step, minor errors for most of them.
That day I had gotten an article rejected and another article flagged for plagiarism. Strangely enough, both articles were connected. I felt as though the ceiling was crashing down on me, slowly crushing me under the weight. I had never before received a rejected or flagged article from Demand Studios and, to happen on the same day, it hit me hard. I felt like giving up altogether. During the time, I also had personal issues that only strengthened the impact.
I sat frozen in the chair for a few minutes just contemplating, until I finally decided to give myself a break from writing. I went to the library for a few hours and that helped relieve my stress. By the time I got back home, I was able to go right back on schedule, finish writing the 7 Demand Studios articles, finish editing 4 eHow articles, and work on my fiction novel.
As for my progress on Demand Studios, it’s improving rapidly.
Compared to the last Demand Studios Challenge image that I posted, both my grammar and my research scores increased. Grammar increased from 3.1 to 3.2 and research increased from 3.2 to 3.4. I also received more approvals without rewrites. Out of 8 approved articles, 7 articles went through without having to be rewritten. At this rate, I’ll probably reach my goal of maintaining a 3.5 average grammar and research score by the end of the month.
Tags: Demand Studios
I've been making money with my writing since 2008. With this income, I'm able to travel the world, indulge in my hobbies, and govern my own life. And the best thing is, I love every second of it!
Hillary Bost (1)
Wow..i would love to join that challenge..only if i could!
campfire
Everyone is welcome to join the challenge if they want to. The first step is to set reachable goals. Then, spend some time each day on Demand Studios to achieve those goals.
If you haven’t yet submitted an application or gotten approved to work for Demand Studios, you might want to read my Become a Successful Demand Studios Writer series.
Christina
So what happened with the plagiarism….I just got my first one after about a year and a half at DS and they say they suspended my privileges…..?