By: Brandie King, Copyright 2004
If your articles aren't getting published very often, or
you just want to increase the chances of them being
published, then you will benefit from the tips in this
article.
1. Article Length
You should always keep you article 500 to 800 words long.
If you can't fit what you want to say into that amount of
space, then break your article up into more than one part.
2. Resource Box Length
When writing your resource box, keep it 5 to 6 lines long.
In a resource box you are simply trying to get people to
request more information, not sell them something. If you
want a longer ad, buy one!
3. Line Length
The lines in both your article and your resource box should
be formatted to 60 to 65 characters per line. One of the
consequences of not doing so is that, in some email
programs, your article may appear with every line at a
different length.
You can get your article formatted, as well as learning
its character, line, and word count, at the following
website for free. http://www.fwointl.com/FWOFormatter.html
4. Is Your Article Actually An Article?
Publishers want to provide their readers with actually
useful information and you should want the same. If you
write an article that is just a sales letter or press
release it will be rejected 99 percent of the time.
5. Inactive Links
Before you even think about publishing or submitting your
article check that all links within it are active and
working. Nothing is more irritating than to click on a link
for a site you're interested in only to find out that it no
longer exists.
6. Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar
If you submit your article and it's full of errors it will
be thrown into the trash folder so fast that your head will
spin. Submitting articles with these types of errors not
only makes you look extremely unprofessional, but it shows
disrespect for both the publisher and their readers.
7. S*AM Triggers
As a courtesy, you should run your article through a
program that will check it for triggers that could possibly
get it rejected by filters. This isn't a necessary step but
it will definitely impress publishers and increase the
chances of your article being published.
You can check your article for free at
http://www.lyris.com/contentchecker.
8. Publisher Guidelines
This should be understood without having to say it, but it
is still important enough to mention. Always, always,
always follow the publisher's guidelines when submitting an
article to them. Not doing so will get your article
rejected quicker than anything else.
Read this list, print it out, and keep it by you when you
are writing an article. Read each tip and make sure that
you are following it.
Making the above mistakes will insult the intelligence of
both the publishers and their readers, as well as wasting
your time and theirs.
Brandie King is a writer and author who teaches other
writers how to write, as well as promote, using articles.
She is currently looking for a wide variety of articles on
a wide variety of topics for her article directory. You can
submit absolutely free. http://www.articlesubmission.com
You are free to reprint this article in your ezine or
ebook, or on your website, as long as the contents in the
article and the resource box are not changed.
