Why Do Editors Reject Your Articles?

Shreeprakash Sharma

All the newspapers and magazines have their own style of publishing stories and news for the readers. Some of them introduce their stories or articles with an anecdote while others sim­ply do it with the bare facts and the contents of the topics chosen. They also use, inter alia, very conspicuous types of fonts, graphic designs, sketches and visuals.

Selection of particular cult of language, words and sentences for the use in the writing provides bizarrely unique identity to the magazines and newspaper. This conspicuousness in the writing is what we call in media as “House Style.” In fact, the house style of a newspaper or magazine is tanta­mount to the corporate brand upon which it survives and sustains the subscription by the readers.

House style, summarily, is the way in which each magazine or newspaper presents the information, uses the contents and various other literary genres on its pages. It varies magazine to magazine and newspaper to newspaper. It also varies from one publishing house to others. An aspiring writer needs to first know very well the sorts of articles printed, style adopted, quality and total number of words used in a write-up and genre of language used. In the absence of these inevitable home works one cannot succeed to get his or her stories printed in it.

Moreover, all magazines and newspapers are spon­sored and financed by various corporate houses and busi­ness tycoons. And, therefore, they essentially promote the products and philosophies of their financiers and spon­sors and all articles to be used in magazines and news­papers are assessed upon these criteria. So the budding writers must keep in mind what we may call one of the basic facts that their articles for the contribution must be based upon the ideologies of the sponsors of the newspa­pers and magazines. For this one must make a thorough market research or go through the particular newspaper or magazine seriously to find out whose philosophy or ideology it promotes. So any contribution which does not dovetail with such parameters of newspapers and maga­zines is mercilessly rejected and dumped.

The freelance writers often make the blunder when they chance upon a magazine in the market, come home and start writing on a new idea without making in-depth research of its house style and submit the write-up and wait impatiently to get the message from the editor’s desk about the use of his or her article in a particular issue. There cannot be any longer wait than this.

The editor does not take much time to reject it. Nor does he take pain to respond either. This is one of the biggest reasons for editors rejecting contributions from their esteemed writers.

So before mailing an article to an editor of a maga­zine or a paper, one must carry out a serious research into it and try seriously to find out the answers of the following questions-

• How are the titles of the articles printed in the mag­azine written?
• How many words have been used in sentences on an average?
• How many sentences are there on an average in a paragraph?

Make a list of all the goods and services that have been advertised in the magazines and newspapers which tell the writers what types of people read them.

Also make research into the difficulty level of words used in the articles.

You also must have the following information-

1. Editor’s name and his email-id (contact num­ber also, if you can).
2. Editorial address of the magazine or newspapers.
3. Frequency of the publication of the magazine and its cover price.

Keeping in mind the above facts, usually considered as the parameters of success in print media, choose a very thought-provoking, and fresh subject and write on it scrupulously and diligently to sell it to the magazines or papers of your choice.

WORDS MATTER MOST

Choose the closest meaning of the words given in the capital letters –

1. BUCKLE

(A) to insult (B) to fasten (C) to practise

2. BUSTY

(A). bosomy (B) rusty (C) impressive

3. PHOBIA

(A) an unreasonable fear (B) inertia (C) ready-to-use

4. SHELVE

(A) to blame (B) to decide not to continue (C) to resist

5. GROPE

(A) to disappoint (B) to try to find out something (C) to lick

6. SHIBBOLETH

(A) a defeat (B) a wound (C) a conservative idea

Answers: 1.B 2. A 3. A 4. B 5. B 6.C

Choose the word most nearly opposite to the words given in the capital letters

1. GREGARIOUS

(A) antisocial (B) aggressive (C) rustic

2. HERETIC

(A). believer (B) banished (C) weak

3. HEED

(A) to embrace (B) to mislead (C) to ignore

4. GUSTO

(A) disappointment, distaste (B) illegal (C) unsuc­cessful

5. SPURIOUS

(A) acute (B) genuine (C) occasional

6. STAMINA

(A) violence (B) constancy (C) weakness

Answers 1. A 2. A .3.C 4. A 5. B 6.C

IDIOMS

Firing on all cylinders – working at full strength (The multinational companies are firing on all cylinders to meet the unexpected surge in the demand for the con­sumer goods in the market.)

To be curtains for someone – to be the end or death of someone (It was nearly curtains for the old woman when a fast-speeding truck ran over her.)

Not cut out for something – not suitable or fit for something (Those innocent rural girls were not cut for the film industry- They lacked the beauty and brain to survive in it.)

Till the cows come home – for a very long time (They decided to sit and wait till the cows come home.)

A fair crack of the whip – a sufficient period of star­dom or success (Keep trying hard to succeed and the day would not be far off when you too will be given a fair crack of the whip.)

Crocodile tears – pretending tears of grief (The lady wept very bitterly over her husband’s death. But they were only crocodile tears because she married her old paramour only next month.)

PHRASAL VERBS

TO TAKE STOCK OF – to evaluate or assess some­thing, (The players took stock of the weather and odd circumstances of the city and planned meticulously to win the matches.)

TO TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY OF – to use a very fa­vourable chance to do something (The government must take the opportunity of making an appeal to the common masses for having more patience in this critical condi­tion of the cash crunch.)

TO WORK UP FOR – to develop, to increase, to stim­ulate (The opposition parties have been trying to work up for more support to oppose the financial policy of the government.)

TO WORK OFF (on) – to get rid of frustration or an­ger at somebody else’s expense (Parents worked off their frustration on their innocent children. / Stop making your anger off on me.)

TO WRIGGLE OUT OF – to avoid something unpleas­ant cunningly (He is the cleverest boy in the class. He always manages to wriggle out of the responsibilities as­signed to him by his teacher.)

WORDS USUALLY USED IN MEDIA

To bag – to record, to register (India has bagged the top spot in the Human Development Index rankings only followed by China.)

Ombudsman – an authority dealing with people’s complaints (The bank ombudsman is busy disposing of the cases relating to the complaints of interest rates on the deposits of the small investors)

To unveil – to open or start a new product (The Tata Motors has planned to unveil India’s first indigenous electric bus next week.)

Milestone – any important event (The little girl’s vic­tory in the national level chess championship is a sig­nificant milestone in the sports arena of the country.)

Collaborative – a work involving two or more than two people (The recognition of an academic institute is the result of collaborative work done by both the stu­dents and the teachers.)

Last but not the least:

WORD OF THE DAY

UMBILICUS: Noun. (Pl. Umbilici) Navel, a central point, heart.

• The Author Is Principal Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Mamit (Mizoram) and can be reached at [email protected]

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