Poll: Should Article Directories Just Fix Simple Mistakes?

[Allen Graves]

I am wondering what you thoughts are on this.

If an article directory is reviewing your article and they come across something like a simple accidental misspelling or a missing word or something...perhaps misuse of the word their, they're or there...or maybe a missing letter like in the first sentence of this post.

Would you prefer the directory editor simply fix it and approve your article or decline it and let you know why.

Some may say just to fix it, while others may WANT to know of the mistake so they don't continue submitting it incorrectly elsewhere.

What are your thought?

Thanks for your help!

Allen Graves

[KarlWarren]

What a nice idea...

It would be nice if they did both... sent a quick email saying.

"Hey _______, we noticed a couple of errors in the grammar on your article __________, to save you having to edit and resubmit - we made the amendment for you.

Here's a list of the things we altered:

"

Kindest regards,
Karl.

[Stallion]

I think the only real answer is to reject, even if it is minor. I don't like it, but it's the way it has to work. If you don't reject it, they'll just do it over and over again.

[Allen Graves]

Winkypee,

What do you two feel about it being accepted and you getting an email?

Stallion,

I'm just talking about honest mistakes. If someone is doing it all the time, that's different, but for those who submit great stuff on a regular basis...

AL

[Sylvia Meier]

Al,
this just happened to me and you know what, I think it is GREAT. Due to the fact I had the same article submitted to your directory, in wait for review with EZA and on my blog. It allowed me a quick fix of it all in those places ensuring they are all correct. All I have to say is it is a great idea and much appreciated.

Sylvia

[Rachel Goodchild]

and are we going to pay themfor that?

I dunno,it's a good idea in theory but how many simple mistakes would they allow? what if they start with one or two, then it goes to three,four

I like the idea of reasons though eg:

your article was not accepted because grammatical errors/ spelling mistakes/ complete pile of crap....

[KarlWarren]

It should be fairly easy to implement on the back-end and not involve too much extra work...

Would require customisation of your script to allow it to track the changes automatically and email the writer, without the reviewer having to type/copy & paste into a new email. A VERY GOOD programmer could even have the script identify the specific words that have been changed for inclusion in the email - which would be automatically generated and sent after review.

[Allen Graves]

All good ideas.

Sylvia...your article is what prompted this thread.

Sylvia simply typo'd a single word. This is a great example. I know that Sylvia is NOT going to start with one, then two, then several.

This would only be for the authors with great track records. I think it might just be a good idea.

AL

[Andy]

Hi Al,

As much as I would love to have it happen, I hope you like to fish 'cause I think you'd be opening a huge can o worms.

On the one hand, it might be easier for you to simply correct and move on. But where do you stop?

Let's say the first sentence has a minor error. You fix it. Then the next paragraph and so on.

I'm not great at editing my own stuff, but even I have days when I wonder where my head was at. Even AFTER running it through the spellcheck mill.

If you want to offer such a thing as a premium service - great. But make sure you get paid for your editing skills.

My 2 bits.

God bless,

Andy

[trafficwave]

The only real option they have is to inform and reject. Making corrections sounds nice but if they start making corrections, where do they draw the line?

They are asking authors to create and submit quality content.
Quality content should already be proofed and ready to go, IMO.

If they want to offer a paid proofing service like ideamarketers.com, that would be an option.

But suppose the directory spots an error, makes the correction, and then the author goes off about the directory making "corrections" that changed the context, meaning, intent, etc....

I think their best bet is to reject and inform. Then the author can take care of it. This lays all the liability squarely on the author's shoulders which is where it should be.

[Carol666]

No

If Article Directories start fixing mistakes without informing the author of the article they would lose control of the article. I would be upset if someone changed part of one of my articles. I would rather have an article rejected for me to correct, than for someone else to do it.

Carol

[Allen Graves]

Guys and gals,

I am not talking about rewriting an article or changing the content in any way, I am talking about, like adding the letter 's' to the end of a plural noun that you missed.

Many times I have (and I'm sure you have too) proofread right over a mistake. When you have written the content, stuff like a missing letter or a typo can be virtually invisible.

Real life example: "you can always try a picnic n the backyard"

What would you get in this case?

"Grammatical Error" or "Misspelling"...what does that do for you?

I am in no way suggesting any changes in the content...just simple fixes that would otherwise cause your article to be declined for a "stupid" mistake.

AL

[Terry Hatfield]

I would say approve the article then give you 3 days to fix it or it wil be taken down.

Terry

[Bev Clement]

My personal opinion is that it would be fine to do, as long as you let the person know about it.

But, I don't think it would always work. This is my thinking, and I might be totally wrong here.

I think when someone is running a fairly small article directory (compared with EZA) then it is easy to know some of the people inside. You said Sylvia had a typo and that started this post. You know her and her normal writing, so easy to do. But, what happens when you have thousands of people who are making mistakes, do you have time to make all the changes.

The other thing is some people are passionate about their writing, and refuse to listen about mistakes they make. A true example, I know it's a book, but the principle is the point. Someone asked me to do some work on their book. There was a term in the book which was the main element to the niche. But, over 90% of the time they had the ie the wrong way around. My spellchecker showed it. I mentioned it to them, but they refused to make a change for it. Their argument was that knew what they were talking about. So their book was released with the keyword spelt correctly part of the time, but mainly spelt incorrectly.

I would think that as the article directory owner you wouldn't want the hassle of people who object to any corrections being made.

If it is people you know, then do it, otherwise I would just reject the article with a reason.

The other thing is a spelling might be British and correct. I had someone look at something I wrote and they pointed out an error, it turned out that the way an American writes it is totally different from the British way. But, unless someone had told me, I would continue to use the British way, because that is what I learnt.

[Jose Delgado]

If they corrected all mistakes from EVERYONE,

it'd take them forever...

I don't think they'll do that.

[mmurtha]

Hi Allen,

If it's a feature or something to a paid directory, yes it would be a very nice one.

I know I use to do it with my AD when I owned it until I started finding tons of them. Then it simply ate up my time in the backend. The next thing you know, I was spending more time with that site then building up the rest of my business.

If something like this is done, I think the AD owners should be compensated in some way for the service.

Like I said, it's a nice perk, but it can be over powering if you get 500 articles or more a day.

Another thing I just happened to think of ...

If AD owners start doing this sort of thing, are they really helping people? Or are they giving them an excuse to be even more lazy about how they submit their articles?

Just a thought ...


Mary

[Allen Graves]

Wow...we're certainly covering all the bases here.

Honestly, whether I know the author or not, it is easier for me to correct it than to write up a reason for declining it. I have heard that authors who submit to paid article directories are VERY different from the ones submitting to free directories. I have a very good source. Those authors rarely submit articles with ANY mistakes...they actually care about their content more than (or at least as much as) the backlinks!

Points well taken.

You made me laugh with the British/American example. That is the very first hate mail I got years ago after declining an article for the word "realise." I thought it should be "realize."

I got a very quick and abrupt lesson in regional grammar and spelling LOL

AL

[Andy]

Hi Al,

You brought up the other point I didn't want to get into. What's best for you? Indeed it is easier to simply correct the error in many cases.

The only time I get real picky about what I'm writing is when I'm purposely doin' somethin' I shouldn't. Other than that, I'll be the first to admit I"m a lousy typist.

What gets me is the directories who seem to hold a grudge. While I do make every effort to present a perfect article - it's hard for me. If a mistake is found, I'll own up to it. But I've seen mistakes in newspapers, magazines, and in bestselling books. If THEY can miss stuff now and then, why should I face a firing squad if I do?

My own nose woudn't be out of joint if you quietly corrected a stray error or two. While I do tend to repeat some typos, like "becuase", I usually know about those and look for them even before spell checking. (Is this a form a eye-finger dyslexia? I wonder if it would show up in Braille?)

As far as authors getting sloppy as they depend more on "the fix", I have no doubt this kind of problem would surface quickly and could be dealt with.

In any case, I don't envy you dealing with "those" tempermental writers on a day to day basis.

God bless,

Andy

[mmurtha]

Originally Posted by Allen Graves

Wow...we're certainly covering all the bases here.

Honestly, whether I know the author or not, it is easier for me to correct it than to write up a reason for declining it. I have heard that authors who submit to paid article directories are VERY different from the ones submitting to free directories. I have a very good source. Those authors rarely submit articles with ANY mistakes...they actually care about their content more than (or at least as much as) the backlinks!

Points well taken.

You made me laugh with the British/American example. That is the very first hate mail I got years ago after declining an article for the word "realise." I thought it should be "realize."

I got a very quick and abrupt lesson in regional grammar and spelling LOL

AL

Hi Allen,

This relates to the area I bolded ...

Yes, I'm sure most paid members should think that way, but surely the reality is that there are also people who simply think, "what the heck, I paid for the service and therefore I shouldn't have to spend extra time fixing everything so perfect now should I?"

But then again, I have no experience with a paid AD membership, only free ones and other types of memberships.


When owning a free AD site, it seemed like the more I fixed, the more people expected me to fix. It's like simple this like categories, and stuff like that.

Anyway, like I stated in my first post, I'm sure it will be of great value for some members.


Mary

[Allen Graves]

Mary,

Truth is, there are not that many paid article directories out there. In fact, there's only one that I know of...so there's not really a "norm" to follow right now.

If anyone is thinking about starting a paid article directory and you are willing to put up with "half-ass" authors...you are not going to succeed.

You'll need to get rid of them and move on.

It may offend some people, but making the leap to paid is a dangerous one. You will be walking on paper thin ice and you need to maintain a high quality membership of people that are completely serious about their business and article marketing campaigns. Even if it means cancelling memberships and losing money...you simply have to do it if the member is not 100% serious.

And above all, you will need to maintain a back and forth relationship with your authors, educate them and communicate quickly when called upon.

Sorry, I got on a tangent there...

Yes, I think it is human nature to become dependant upon things that are given to you. Unfortunately, this may very well roll over to this type of thing as well.

Thanks,
AL

[Carol J Smith]

With the sheer volume of articles they receive the best answer would be to reject it. It would be nice if they explained the reason for the reject though.

Carol

[mmurtha]

Originally Posted by Allen Graves

Mary,

Truth is, there are not that many paid article directories out there. In fact, there's only one that I know of...so there's not really a "norm" to follow right now.

If anyone is thinking about starting a paid article directory and you are willing to put up with "half-ass" authors...you are not going to succeed.

You'll need to get rid of them and move on.

It may offend some people, but making the leap to paid is a dangerous one. You will be walking on paper thin ice and you need to maintain a high quality membership of people that are completely serious about their business and article marketing campaigns. Even if it means cancelling memberships and losing money...you simply have to do it if the member is not 100% serious.

And above all, you will need to maintain a back and forth relationship with your authors, educate them and communicate quickly when called upon.

Sorry, I got on a tangent there...

Yes, I think it is human nature to become dependant upon things that are given to you. Unfortunately, this may very well roll over to this type of thing as well.

Thanks,
AL

Hi Alen,

Yup! I totally agree with you. It will take a lot to run one, plus it will be a heck of a risk. BUT, sometimes the risk is worth taking.

If you ask me, I think every AD owner on the net should go paid at the same time. Why not? they paid their dues, and deserve to be compensated.

This would defenately lower the the risk factor.

Btw, there was nothing wrong with the tangent you went on. It's part of it.

Memberships like that depend on quality, and have to maintain it for the benefit of everyone. Even if it does mean you have to get rid of a couple to maintain that high standard. Otherwise it is just another AD site, and they come a dime a dozen.


Hi Carol,

With the sheer volume of articles they receive the best answer would be to reject it. It would be nice if they explained the reason for the reject though.

Carol

Yes, that would be nice, however it is unrealistic to think it is a possability when a site gets a large volume of articles per day, and many of them are junk at that.

Plus, you have to remember, most AD sites do a free service, so people shouldn't feeling slighted (spell?) because they don't get told.

Personally, I think submitters should contact the AD owners or editors and ask if they don't know why their article was returned or not published on the site.


Mary