When You Refer Authors . . .

[Ed]

Hi Writers,

When you refer authors to CC , be they friends, strangers, writing group members, colleagues, or otherwise, please (please please please) refer them to our guidelines and indicate that these must be followed for articles to be considered.

For example, many of our guidelines are requests to follow basic rules - like properly capitalized titles and use standard punctuation. Others indicate what we do and do not accept. The more knowledgeable new writers are about our guidelines from the get-go, the faster I can process everybody's articles. Many days, CC runs at a more than 50% rejection rate. This means that those articles that have been written in accordance with our guidelines and contain no errors sit in the queue longer than usual because rejections take much longer to process than do accepted articles.

Thanks,
Ed

[Elizabeth Ann West]

I have just begun using the referring part, as I am now more comfortable in leading them on their writing journey :) I only have 2 referrals and so far neither has really submitted anything, so I'm taking a different approach.

I always include my affiliate link, explain how C-C works ( I use an art gallery analogy, since the commission is taken at the sale, not before) and also disclose the 5% "finder's fee" but explain it's not multi-level marketing, since I am not there to build a team or anything. Any authors they bring in is their 5% and I have nothing to do with that.

Then I start with "So what type of "art" is C-C interested in?" I put the links to the help section and say read all of this before submitting, C-C is a professional writing commission based gallery. I also explain some of the more confusing rules like "No personal accounts." I state that writing from personal experience is fine, but it is expected you are authoritative enough to state facts, not your emotions or individual details. I then give a sentence example like

Personal Account: When I moved across country, changing all of my addresses over on my billers was a huge headache!
Writing from my experience: Cross-country moves are frustrating when it comes time to update address information with billers, identification cards, and personal property registrations.

I cover citing websites ( no www and why), choosing a category, how to answer a public request, and then give insight to my own personal experiences and rough time it took me to reach certain earning thresholds (I make it clear I write mainly part-time, and it does take time to build a portfolio here for consistent sales)

[Elizabeth Ann West]

{continued last post... character count uuurrgggghhh}


Finally I remind them I am here for them, offer to look at their first submittal or help them brainstorm topics to write about. I also offer to help them set goals and work with them to define their expectations. I don't do this from a money point of view, but because I only refer people I truly care about, and don't want to jeopardize my relationship with them because they feel I misrepresented reality or tried to take advantage of them. I have a great deal of experience in home based businesses and their failings, and I think one huge contributing factor is the "pitch" to get people to sign up is often misleading and always requires some kind of "investment" to start. I don't want to see C-C have to move to upfront membership costs to cover the waste of manpower in rejections. :)

[Ed]

This is super, EAW. I hope others will see this thread and follow your lead.

I appreciate it. :)