WRITERS’ BLOKKE
Stricter Rules For The Writers’ Blokke Publication To Start Immediately
If you can’t read and follow the simple rules, this publication may not be the best fit for you
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I had always hoped that this day would not come but at the same time, I somehow knew it would. I just never expected it to come this soon. But the fact that it has and honestly, it’s about time as well.
You may be wondering what I’m talking about and it’s really simple.
Starting from today, the Writers’ Blokke publication will be enforcing stricter rules about publishing on the here.
As you may know, this is a publication that is being run mainly by myself.
With the help of a few other fellow writers who are also editors on here, we do this on our free time. None of us are getting paid to edit here, we’re not (and probably never will be) backed financially by Medium, and we’re doing it because we love writing and we love helping other writers out.
That being said, I’ve also written about how as a writer for the publication or any other publication on the platform, you should also try your best to help your editors to help you.
The reason is so that your submissions to the publications can be edited quicker and your work, published faster.
To date, I think I’ve written about 3 or 4 articles on the guidelines for the publication, what you can do to write better articles, and how you can help your editors to edit better, easier, and faster.
However, there are still so many writers who are still making the same mistakes, like:
- No titles
- Incorrect formatting
- Uncredited images
- Plagiarism
- Being rude/rushing editors
And these are just to name a few, but most commonly detected.
I get it, especially if you’re a new writer, that you’re still finding your way on the platform, still finding your own style, your own voice, your own niche, etc., but that doesn’t excuse you from not following the guidelines set by the publication and by Medium.
I mean, plagiarism is just a big NO. You can cite an article but you can’t copy it word for word and pass it on as yours. Even if you reference it, you’re still not allowed to copy it word for word.
And images, you need to credit your images. Even if it is your own image. Just add a caption under the image that says something like, ‘image is by author,’ or something along those lines.
If you’re using sites like Pixelbay or Unsplash, just searching for images and clicking on them will automaticall link them — it’s that simple.
Uncredited images can easily become a copyright issue.
All these things have been indicated very clearly in the submission guidelines that were originally published back in Sept 2019 and even the more recent updates.
If you’d have read them properly, you wouldn’t be making these same mistakes over and over again.
So, here’s what’s going to happen from now on.
Any submission that is found to not follow any of the submission guidelines will be rejected immediately. Depending on the editor, you may get a note to tell you why it was rejected, but if it’s for something as simple as crediting your images, you may not even get a note because you’d be surprised just how many submissions we get where that is the issue.
If your article is found to be a plagiarised piece, you will be immediately removed as a writer from the publication without notice and without second chances. This should be very clear from the beginning.
Please, please get your formatting right, with proper title, images, crediting, references, etc., so that you not just help the editors but at the same time, you help yourself improve as a writer too.
And don’t rush the editors to publish your work. Like I said, we’re all doing this in our free time and the majority of us also have a full-time job and families to focus on. I know how frustrating it can be to have to wait hours, days, or even weeks for your article to be published but we too have other responsibilities.
We will still try our best to publish your articles as quickly as possible but that’s also where your role as a writer comes in — to make sure there are as few to no errors so that we can edit and publish faster.
I still stand by the main reason this publication was created, which was to be a stepping stone for new writers to house their work and improve their craft.
However, the many mistakes that we receive on an almost daily basis shouldn’t even be happening should writers really take the time to read the guidelines and rules set by Medium and the publication.
I say this not to belittle anyone but in the hope that you take yourself seriously as a writer, otherwise, others won’t be able to.
I sincerely hope all writers on this platform will go on to do really well and the first step in doing so is to write well.
There are no shortcuts or cutting corners if you truly want to succeed on this platform, so please, take the time to write well, and do your editing properly before submitting it to publications.
If you like this article and want to read more such articles without any restrictions, why not consider becoming a Medium member (if you are not one already) by using my referral link below?
I get a portion from your monthly fee at no extra cost to you and it will go a long way in supporting me as a writer.
You can also buy me a ‘coffee’ if you’d like.
