Comments on: Open Post for Demand Studio Editors

By: Diana

Diana — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:56:05 +0000

Thank you Felicia for your advice (yet again!) and also to Julia. While I do have issues with aspects of the DS model, I also acknowledge at the moment they are the biggest player in enabling me to put food on our family table, and for that I am extremely grateful.

By: julia sherman

julia sherman — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 20:13:42 +0000

Hi all, I have been reading intently this continuing thread. And I have to say, while it was stagnate for a while, it seems as though more and more people are recognizing that DS is not what they claim to be and certainly not what one would expect from a content supplier.

I have to agree the smoke screen and charts, acceptance and declines, rejects and pretty picture graphs of how well you do are nothing to those who really are in charge.

While I could for a few months use that money that I made to pay some bills. But in truth in the end after working for DS I got a learning experience and I know now that not all flash and glitz is legit and professional, and thankfully through this website I got better paying opportunities.

All I can say is, if you are unhappy, leave DS, find other writing work while you are on top before you get that “Thank you but you are not needed anymore” email.
julie
PS thank you for the web sites that have great work!

By: Felicia

Felicia — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 09:45:15 +0000

Diana, I agree with you. There’s no excuse for rudeness. The anonymity of the internet gives some folks a false sense of power and security so they say things they wouldn’t say if it were a face to face conversation.

I actually feel sorry for folks who need the internet to make them feel powerful. Kind of makes me think of the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz (or for cartoon buffs, Pinky in Pinky and the Brain). Don’t let the unhappy and rude CEs cause you to lose focus of your earnings goals. As long as the money shows up in your PayPal account, it’s all good.

By: Diana

Diana — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 08:36:30 +0000

After another few weeks of putting much effort into writing for Demand, I’d like to make one last point. My gripe isn’t with the rewrite requests or the rejects, I’ve had one reject that I felt was extremely unfair, but I have taken a lesson from it not to pick titles that the majority of CEs will not have any knowledge of.

In general, I have felt the rewrite requests I have had received have been justified, and I also feel I have learned from the CE’s comments.

The only problem I have (luckily with a minority of the CEs) is the complete lack of manners they display when commenting on an article. It doesn’t cost anything to be polite, and for their information, they are not my employer.

I wonder how they would feel if they had spent two hours producing something, and then written to as though they were something the cat had dragged in?

As I say, it is a small minority of CEs that are guilty of this, but if I were a boss at DS I would take a very good look at it. A basic skill of being capable of addressing a writer politely in the written form, in my opinion, should be mandatory, and a rule to be upheld at all times.

I don’t care at all if my article is rejected, it is part of the package at Demand, but I do care if the person who chooses to reject it, also feels the need to comment to me as though I was a pile of dog’s mess he happened to tread in.

By: Diana

Diana — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:31:41 +0000

Thanks for the advice Felicia, I see that as a positive of writing for them – it teaches you to become thick skinned!

On the upside, I just had my second reject (out of around 25 submitted pieces) but the editor was so absolutely apologetic, and obviously sorry to have to reject it, it made me feel sorry for her (him)!

There are some decent folk working as editors, it’s just the luck of the draw I guess.