Fed up with DS -- Quitting!!!

[TeenMommy]

I’ve also had an article rejected this week over an idiotic reason, which is the first time in months. I also find that when you DO manage to get through to the help desk, nine times out of ten, they’ll side with the editor. It feels to me as if we’re working to satisfy the views of the editor rather than DS itself. DS needs to get a handle on their editors and explain to them what are acceptable reasons to send back a rewrite and what are not.

I will always believe that is it unacceptable to ask writers to complete an opinion based rewrite. I refuse to jump through hoops to satisfy fickle editors who don’t even act like they’ve read the same Style Guide. I know that some of you are having good experiences at DS, and I hope it stays that way for a while. But, I truly believe that many of the writers will leave over the next year as DS releases an extensive amount of the “We are excited to announce that you’ll now have to write seven to ten sections in an about and track down government sources for each article” forum posts.

Not saying it to sound pessimistic, but it seems like its only downhill from here for the earning potential at DS. Even if they do increase their pay, their quality standards will surely slash the hourly rate in half.

[Irish1970]

I used to get a lot of rewrites when I wrote How-to's but now I only write Strategy and average about 15%. The vast majority are very minor things that I can fix in less than 5 minutes. The only thing recently that has been annoying to me is the time it is taking for articles to be reviewed. Before they went to the twice weekly pay, all of my articles were reviewed in 24 hours or less. Now it is 36 to 48. I know according to the guidelines it can take 4 days but I am an immediate gratification kind of gal!

[Writing Mom]

I haven't had any problems with them. I very rarely get any rewrites, though I only write how to and strategy articles. And on those, I only write on topics I know very well. I've been there for a while, maybe a year or so? and have had about 4 articles rejected I believe. I rarely get rewrites, but they have always made sense. Except one...but that was completely crazy.

I don't write for them as much anymore since my private clients have been keeping me busy. But I am concerned about the pics. I do not want to put a picture of myself anywhere on the DS site, even if I'm hiding behind a plant or have a wig on (am I the only one who thinks those rules are totally insane?). Don't know what I'm going to do about that...

[Julia]

So far, so good for me and my Demand experience. I have very few rewrites and the ones I have are very quick fixes, usually just to clarify a word or two. I'm very picky about what I write; I stick to one or two types of articles, write about my niche topic only and reference every fact with rock solid references from a .gov or .edu type site. It's kept me out of trouble so far and I love being paid twice weekly.

[adbullock]

Originally Posted by Julia

So far, so good for me and my Demand experience. I have very few rewrites and the ones I have are very quick fixes, usually just to clarify a word or two. I'm very picky about what I write; I stick to one or two types of articles, write about my niche topic only and reference every fact with rock solid references from a .gov or .edu type site. It's kept me out of trouble so far and I love being paid twice weekly.

For a $7.50 fact sheet it seems like a waste of time and to search and search for government or edu sites that back up every step of the process but that's just me. Why do we put references and resources at the bottom if we're going to have to state a different reference or resource in every "step" of the process.

I understand the frustration. I had two rejected this weekend. First, they wanted sources. I sent sources and returned them. Then they were rejected because the sources weren't trusted. That's an arbitrary thing. I trust a lot of the sources I gave (Medical News Now) much better than I'd trust anything from the government.

I understand that some people love Demand but my experience is that I make more money writing for private clients who aren't nearly as inconsistent with what they want and expect from writers. I think my biggest problem has been, and continues to be, the inconsistency from one editor to the next. I feel like I'm playing roulette every time I submit an article to them that THIS editor will like what I have to write.

[debng]

The only time I had an article rejected was when I forgot to put in the required links. I still feel DS offers better opportunities than many of the other "content" places online.

[lindawrites63]

Originally Posted by WAHMBrenda

I quit a while ago too. They are in over their heads if you ask me. They might have been a great company at one time but anymore they're just a PIA.

What is a PIA?

[beanandpumpkin]

Originally Posted by lindawrites63

What is a PIA?

I think she means a pain in the butt.

I enjoy Demand Studios. I've gotten only a couple of crazy rewrite requests, and since starting over the winter, have had two articles rejected. One was because I did not understand the format for a Fact Sheet, and the other, I have no idea why.... but I put it up somewhere else. I almost exclusively write List articles, and I only occasionally get a rewrite request.

Do different CEs only grade one type of article, I wonder? Or if the LS CEs are different than the ehow CEs, for example?

[prhilton]

That's a good question, beanandpumpkin. I would like to know the answer to that. Are there copy editors for specific types of articles?

I was planning to ask here if I could re-submit rejected articles elsewhere, but you answered that for me. I couldn't recall if it was in the Terms of Use for DS or not. I haven't had a reject yet, but if and when I do I'd like to turn around and put the article up on Suite101 if possible. Might as well use it to meet my quota there if I can, so someone correct me if I'm wrong!

[writingandliving]

Originally Posted by prhilton

I was planning to ask here if I could re-submit rejected articles elsewhere, but you answered that for me. I couldn't recall if it was in the Terms of Use for DS or not. I haven't had a reject yet, but if and when I do I'd like to turn around and put the article up on Suite101 if possible. Might as well use it to meet my quota there if I can, so someone correct me if I'm wrong!

It's my understanding that you can submit rejected articles elsewhere, but since DS owns the titles, you need to use a different title. Just be sure you have a copy saved elsewhere, because once the article is rejected, I don't believe you can access it again.