Stay Out of the Reject Pile! Tips for Avoiding Rejection from AC

Anyone who has been writing for Associated Content for any amount of time has had some articles rejected. The question is, did you just scrap those and think "Hmmph! They don't know what they're missing!" or did you take a look at why they were rejected? You can learn a lot from your rejections if you just take the time.

I, myself have been the author of several articles that didn't make it to publication. I've learned some valuable lessons from those undesirable articles, however. Here they are:

Be specific. The majority of my articles which were turned down came with a note that read something like "This topic is too general". Right there you have a very good lesson on how to get your articles accepted! Just be very specific. For example, don't write an article about how to cultivate a flower garden, write about how to cultivate tulips, or go even more specific and write about a certain type of tulip! These articles are far more appealing to AC because they will show up better in Google search results.

Check the site first. When you have a flash of brilliance, don't bother wasting your time writing it out into a full-blown article until you have done a search for the topic on AC. Let's say you want to write a bio on Jensen Ackers, the famous Supernatural heartthrob. If you do a search on his name, you will find that there are 26 documents with his name in them, many being biographies. So this is probably not the best topic to write on. You can avoid a lot of rejections by simply paying attention to what is already on the website.

Avoid reviews. Although some content producers seem to earn money writing product reviews, they are often rejected and you would probably be better off working on another type of article. Unless, of course, there is a call for content on reviews.

Move fast on Call for Contents. Everyone is getting the same email telling them what AC is looking for. If you aren't among the first to get your articles on this topic in, the opportunity could be lost! So when you learn about a new topic, get writing immediately and start submitting. These articles are far more likely to be accepted, but only if you pop them out in a hurry!

It can be disheartening to be rejected anywhere, but when the rejection means you just lost time and money, it is even worse. So, follow the tips above and start getting paid for your articles!