New Media Operation Writing Guide!

What should a novice do if his writing is rejected many times? On the road of writing, the most frightening thing is not not being able to write, but writing an article that you think is good but it is always rejected. This incident really hit my self-confidence. I thought my writing was good, but why didn’t the editor accept it?

I have really met such a student. After being rejected many times, he lost all confidence and gave up writing. No matter how much encouragement I get, I just can't muster the confidence to write. I feel like I'm wasting my time.

In fact, being rejected is not such a terrible thing. What is terrible is that you do not analyze the reasons after rejection and just vent your emotions. If you can figure out the reasons for rejection and prescribe the right remedy, then acceptance will be just around the corner. Generally, there are two reasons for manuscript rejection: external reasons and internal reasons.

The external reason is the platform reason . It is possible that your manuscript does not meet the platform requirements, does not conform to the platform's recent manuscript collection style, and is inconsistent with the platform's preferred manuscript collection model. It may also be that the platform has recently stopped accepting manuscripts, or has contracted authors, so there are fewer manuscripts accepted from outside.

Internal reasons are personal reasons . An article cannot be written simply by itself. You also need to pay attention to whether your manuscript is poorly formatted, the email is not well written, you are impolite when chatting with the editor, or the content is seriously inconsistent, or even the article has too many typos and no author information is left...

We will carefully sort out the reasons why the manuscript was not accepted from two aspects. If you are a novice writer, you can save this [Rejection Guide] for future reference.

1. Analysis of external rejection reasons

1. The article does not meet the platform requirements

The most common mistake made by novice writers is to think that "everyone will accept a well-written article."

I met a very rude girl some time ago. The first time she sent me an article, I told her that my public account collects articles on time management, and sent her a letter of invitation to write an article, asking her to study it carefully.

As a result, she would throw an article at me every once in a while, including emotional articles, parent-child articles, hot topic articles, and campus romance novels. In short, she had no time management. After her manuscript was rejected, she said that I did not respect her work and verbally abused me.

Everyone must pay attention that each platform has its own requirements for receiving manuscripts.

Before writing an article, be sure to research which platform you are going to submit it to and what the platform's requirements are.

Generally, public accounts that receive invitations for articles will clearly state what kind of articles they want. For example, a parent-child account will specify that it wants parent-child articles. Some may also require the parent-child articles to contain clear parenting methodologies, and some may require them to be combined with hot events.

Then you need to write the manuscript according to the requirements of the platform, so that your manuscript will meet the needs of the platform.

If you write without reading the letter of invitation in the early stage, and submit without reading the platform requirements in the later stage. Then no matter how well you write your article, it will not be accepted.

2. Does not conform to the style of the latest manuscripts

In addition to reading the letter of invitation, you should also pay attention to the original articles included in the platform within the past month. (Note that we are talking about original articles here, and reprinted articles do not count.) To determine whether it is an original article, just check whether the platform marks it as original.

Recent original articles can basically reflect the editor's recent manuscript preferences. For example, I saw a platform some time ago, where the manuscript invitation letter required a methodology, but the recent original articles did not contain any methodology section, and most of them were just expressions of opinions.

The letter of invitation is time-limited. For example, the invitation letter issued at the beginning of this year basically only shows that the editor's manuscript requirements were like that during the period at the beginning of the year. After two or three months, there may be changes in the style of manuscript collection, so it is best for everyone to pay more attention to the original articles in the past month in addition to reading the letter of invitation.

Another point is that some platforms like to choose positive topics, and basically all articles are sunny and positive. Points like this, which are generally not written in the letter of invitation, also need to be clarified by studying past articles. Negative topics such as "cunning and strategy" are obviously not suitable for such a platform.

If you have studied the invitation letter and written the article according to its requirements, but it is still rejected. Then you must take a look at the platform's recent original articles to see if there is any deviation in style from the platform.

3. Inconsistent with the manuscript mode preferred by the platform

The manuscript collection style is the style of original articles recently published by the platform, and the model is a more detailed part.

For example, when collecting articles on practical workplace knowledge, some platforms prefer to collect methodologies for solving common problems in the workplace. In this case, the required structure for problem analysis may be "What is the problem, why does this problem occur, and how to solve the problem." This methodology is "practical."

However, some workplace writing platforms may prefer to propose some uncommon methods and techniques. For example, "Newbie in the Workplace" prefers to propose some methodologies in management, economics or even psychology, and strictly requires that the theoretical explanations be accompanied by illustrations.

These will definitely not be clearly stated in the manuscript submission requirements, so you will need to carefully study the article structure. For the same methodology, some people like the three-step method, some like management research, and some like psychology research. These are all different.

During the early stages of writing, most authors would be lucky if they could meet the requirements of the manuscript.

But to be honest, if you want to improve your manuscript acceptance rate, it is better to sharpen the knife before chopping wood. It will be faster to study the platform articles thoroughly and then start writing.

4. The platform stops accepting manuscripts

In addition to the higher requirements of the platform, style and mode. It is also possible that the platform has stopped accepting manuscripts. When the platform commissions an article, it will inform you that it is ready to receive the article. But when it does not accept manuscripts, it generally does not send out a deliberate notification.

So how do you tell whether a platform is still accepting manuscripts? ——Study its past articles.

If a platform has not published an original article in the past two months, then in all likelihood, the platform has stopped accepting manuscripts. Therefore, before submitting your manuscript, take a look at the platform’s recent original articles to avoid your manuscript being ignored.

5. The platform receives few manuscripts

Although some platforms have been accepting manuscripts for a long time, the number of manuscripts received is not large. For example, my official account has been soliciting manuscripts for a long time, but the manuscripts I received are basically old stuff, and very few of them can be passed. Because the field is relatively small and there are not many people who can write well, there may be an embarrassing situation where there are no manuscripts to collect.

This situation may also occur in some large accounts, mainly because these accounts are relatively large and have more editors. So most of the time, even if you add the editor on WeChat and submit your article on WeChat, the other party may not be able to see it. Moreover, many big accounts have their own special authors and their own group of authors.

Considering the time cost, the editor will definitely adopt the manuscripts of authors in the author group first. Only if no one submits articles will we consider accepting external articles. Therefore, even though some accounts update original content every day, they may not necessarily receive a lot of manuscripts from external channels.

Therefore, when you submit your manuscripts in the early stage, try to avoid large ones. Find some small and medium-sized accounts that are easy to get published and submit your articles to. After you have gained experience in submission, you can gradually move on to larger accounts. In this way, firstly, it will not undermine your self-confidence, and secondly, you can gradually gain recognition from editors and enter the circle of authors.

The above is an analysis of the external reasons for manuscript rejection. You can reflect on your own situation. Check whether you ignored the platform requirements or chose the wrong platform when submitting your article. Adjust your mindset and start again.

2. Analysis of internal reasons

Apart from external reasons for rejection, most of the reasons for rejection are due to the authors themselves. The biggest taboo for new authors is to submit a work that only scores 60 points. What is even more taboo is not knowing that their work only scores 60 points. Because most novices have not received systematic learning and training before writing. This leads to problems in the written manuscript.

I once received an article that did not have a single punctuation mark in the entire article. I was so dizzy after reading this that I turned around and asked the other person why they didn’t add punctuation marks? Instead, I was despised: "This is my style. People who don't understand it don't have to understand it."

New media articles are always short, concise and concise, and most platforms will not accept articles with obscure and difficult-to-understand language.

If you want to write a personal account or your own blog, you can write whatever you want. But if you want to submit an article and want to earn royalties, it is more reliable to write according to the platform's requirements. Otherwise you're just wasting your time and the editor's time.

1. Quality issues

First, you need to make sure your article is good enough. At least it was written in accordance with the platform's manuscript requirements, without abusing punctuation marks or expressing lengthy inner feelings. The author used materials when it was necessary to write about them, and expressed his views sharply when it was necessary to prove his point. The whole article has smooth logic and progressive layers, which makes people feel involved when reading it. It is not just a pile of stories.

If it is a story, then the article as a whole has foreshadowing, character creation, background explanation, introduction, development, turning point, conflict and contradiction, as well as story development.

The biggest internal problem is poor writing. If you really don’t know how to write, it is recommended to buy basic writing-related books and study them carefully. Or you can sign up for one or two reliable writing training camps to conduct systematic basic learning.

With a solid foundation, you can avoid taking detours when writing articles . If the quality is basically acceptable, then consider other issues besides quality.

2. Messy layout

Some people write good articles, but do not pay attention to the layout. You should pay a little attention to this point.

Because editors often read articles like marking papers, they do not pay much attention to each article. Therefore, it is recommended that you carefully format the content of the article. For example, leave blank lines where they are needed, and use at least a subheading for each part of the article (use 1234 if there is no subheading) so that the editor can tell at a glance how many major parts your article has.

Then the sentences and golden sentences expressing opinions are marked in bold or changed in color. This will also make it easier for editors to see the logic and highlights of your article at a glance.

Basically, typography can show an author's professionalism and seriousness. Most mature new media authors always have very nice layout of their articles when they submit them. A good layout can indeed increase the acceptance rate of your article.

3. Bad title

The title is very important. A good title can quickly catch the editor's attention the moment she browses emails and messages.

For example, they all say "What you do when you take the subway reflects your cultivation."
An article titled "My impressions of taking the subway"
Another one is "The way you look on the subway reveals your upbringing"
Most editors will choose to open the second article.

Because the title of the first article is too ordinary, so ordinary that it looks like a personal diary, making people have no desire to open it.

As for how to choose a title, I will talk about it systematically later. But remember this, your title reveals your level. If the title is not well chosen, it is likely to be rejected at the title stage. No matter how well the article is written, it will not be seen.

Spend some time researching what the titles of popular articles are like. Then try to come up with some titles that are sharp, read smoothly, rhythmic, and attractive, and practice titles more.

4. Typos

There is also a very basic problem: typos.

After writing the manuscript, be sure to check it thoroughly several times. If you write for your own public account, it doesn’t matter, everyone is very tolerant. But if you submit an article, you must be careful to avoid typos. Manuscripts with lots of typos are easily rejected. Now that you have already written it, be serious and check it several times to ensure that the expression is fluent and there are no typos before submitting it.

5. There is a problem with the email name

Many magazines and public accounts accept submissions via email, so a problem easily arises at this time: how to write the email name correctly when sending an email. Some novice authors do not consider this issue and just write the default file name, which is not a good idea.

It is recommended to name the submission email as follows:

“【Submission】+Article Title+Author’s Pen Name”
For example, [Submission] - The best education for children is to speak nicely - Lao Bai .

In this way, the editor will know that it is the author's submission by looking at the name of the email, and will not ignore it as spam.

An editor friend of mine once received a submission with an email titled "Please contact 156********".

She always ignores it as spam. Finally, the author reported the incident to the official account and the editor refused to read his email. She then realized that the phone number was the contact information left by the author. He was afraid that the editor would not be able to contact him, so he wrote his number as the email name.

Therefore, the email name is very important and you must remember to check it.

6. Impoliteness

When submitting an article, you should also pay attention to basic etiquette. This does not mean that you have to flatter the editor. Just maintain basic respect.

First of all, a few points:

(1) Most editors do not read every manuscript. Some people skip the email if they think the opinion in the email is not sharp or does not match the original opinion. Some manuscripts are needed less frequently, so you may only check your mailbox once every few days or even weeks. If your email sinks to the bottom, it's not surprising that you don't see it. If there is no reply after 3 days, you can basically apply for another one.

(2) Editors will not respond to every manuscript or even give comments. If the editor reads your manuscript but doesn't reply to you, don't be discouraged, just keep trying;

(3) It is impossible for the editor to be online 24 hours a day to reply immediately, so if the editor replies late, do not curse.

Don't ask "Are you there?" every 2 minutes.

Don't ask, "Why didn't you read my article?"

If your manuscript is useful, the editor will definitely reply to you. If the editor does not reply for a long time, you should submit it to another journal.

(4) Do not assume that it is natural for the editor to answer your questions . Most of the time, the editor may not reply to your message because your message is not relevant to the submission.

Common problems for novice authors, ask the editor to help you make revision suggestions, or ask the editor to teach you how to write an article.

If you can meet an editor who is willing to give you revision suggestions, that is a great editor. Because editors have limited working hours every day and may only have one or two hours to review manuscripts, helping authors revise their articles is not part of their job. Don't be a beggar, say thank you to the editor for his help~

Being polite and communicating well will help you gain more favor from editors.

7. No author information left

Finally, when writing an email, be sure to leave your personal information. It is convenient for editors to contact you, pay manuscript fees and provide revision suggestions.

It is best to leave your own: pen name + author introduction + WeChat in the body of the email.

In this way, the editor can contact you as soon as the manuscript is approved.

Of course, most editors will send you an email reply when the manuscript is approved, with their own WeChat attached. At this time, you must remember to check your mailbox in time. Don’t think everything is fine after submitting your manuscript. If you miss the editor’s message, you will miss the manuscript fee.

Finally, I attach the five-step submission method that I have summarized . Newbies who are submitting their manuscripts can follow these five steps. Basically, the acceptance rate will be higher than if you just write something randomly. Of course, whether your manuscript is accepted or not depends on your writing ability.

Five-step submission method:

1. Find manuscript information - 2. Research past articles on the platform - 3. Write manuscripts - 4. Optimize (check typos, layout, illustrations, document names) - 5. Submit manuscripts (email format/email content)

If you don’t have any writing skills or knowledge, just follow these steps and try writing and submitting your article.