CEs, Time to Treat Them Like Dirt

[Hancock]

Editors should be punished. Demand has already told the CEs that they don't have anymore quotas. As soon as that happened, we got a 14,000 queue. That was the first mistake. This is just some suggestions I want to happen at DMS (yeah right, in your dreams...).

1. Editors are only allowed to edit one article at a time.

Writers writing when they want is perfectly fine. CEs should not be allowed to choose an article, "edit" it and then let it sit there for 8 years and then another CE gets it and sends it back for a rewrite, they let it sit there for another year and a half and then accept it. This does not fly with me. You cannot pick up another article without editing the one you picked up first. Writers for Textbroker can only write one article at a time and this should be a standard for CEs. You are the ones controlling the queue and you are the ones holding my money hostage. You determine how much money I make a week. CEs have become too complacent and lazy because of this. We are here to make money, but not on your time.

2. Editors cannot throw articles back in the queue after 24 hours.

I am sick of this. You chose my article to edit and you decided, "Wait, I changed my mind. Let another CE get this article." Sorry, I don't have time for you CEs playing "pass the dutchie." You chose my article to edit, just edit it so we can make some money. Making this job too damn difficult.

3. Editors' article queue is random.

I am tired of hearing the CEs in the DMS forums saying, "I am not picking up those automotive articles!" Well, I know for damn sure that 90% of the articles I write about I have no knowledge on the subject. I search Google for credible links for my articles and that takes time. It eats up my time, actually. If writers take time and effort to look for sources on every article, editors can edit any article. Many content mills say, "You are a writer. You are supposed to write about anything since that's your job!" CEs can do the same. This is a freelance job, however, you weren't allowed to choose what to edit in your old newspaper or magazine gig did you? Nope. Suck it up and edit articles.

I have so many articles "pending" without anyone touching the and the queue is at 9,000+ That is ridiculous. More laziness from the great CEs!

4. Editors need a weekly quota again.

Self-explanatory. Writers are writing like crazy and the queue is going up and up and up. "Hey, I don't have to do 75 articles a week anymore! I only do two!" Stupid mentality...Removing the CE quota was bad news and it should be in place again. CEs do not need to be "freelancers" like writers do. Writers should have the right to write when they want. CEs have too many articles to edit. Common sense.

CEs get paid far less than writers by a mile, but you know what? They have "authority" over us. They get paid for everything. Writers only get paid for approved articles. Rejection upheld? Tough luck, son. We are supposed to be a "team" and "equal." If you are living under a rock, you already know the CEs get away with far too much. They have far too much power. These people are the ones that determine your Tuesday and Friday paychecks. Writers have no problem writing content each day, but the CEs have a huge problem editing that content. Writers are the ones that give you work to do. You just sit there...and sit there.

How hard is it to edit? My articles don't even pass 200 words and many of my articles just sit there in "with editor." Is this job that difficult? Even before I wrote for DMS, the same complaints were made. "Ooh! Demand is so great...except for those damn CEs!" Same complaints are here a year or so later. The writers are the true workhorses of Demand and the CEs do absolutely nothing. It is time to treat you guys like dirt. Maybe if someone limited your complacency maybe you could take your job seriously for once.

None of this will happen, of course. I just want the reputation of the CEs to rise up and not be a reason why no one wants to write for DMS for more than a month. Change the CE atmosphere, but wait, that is too easy! Keep up the state of emergency, Demand!

[Page1News]

Simple solution to the multitude of issues you pointed out:

1. Increase the CE pay rate
2. Hire more CEs
3. Provide a DMS CE training program, which would include divulging the truth about DMS content: Edit just enough to fool the big search engine and make it look like everyone actually cares about the crap.
4. Get editorial staff, CEs and writers on the same page about the smoke and mirrors.
5. Tell the truth! It's not about the words; it's about ad clicks. The worse the content, the more a user will click on an ad to navigate away from the crappy content.

[sickofstupidity]

[Page1News]

Hi! Thanks for asking an intelligent question.

You could use:

" xxx applies to children who are between 2 and 19 years old."
" xxx applies to children between the ages of 2 and 19 years old."
" xxx applies to children between the ages of 2 and 19."
" xxx applies to children 2 to 19 years old."
" xxx applies to children 2 - 19 years old."

I personally prefer #3, but they all are correct.
The tricky part here is that, according to AP, a 19-year-old person is not a child. If you go by strict AP rules, you would have to say, "xxx applies to children between 2 and 18 years old and 19-year-old young adults." Or something like that.

Hyphenate only to use as an adjective. "2-year-old child" "19-year-old house."

I hope that helps.

[MsMoneyPenny]

I totally agree with these suggestions, especially the edit one article at a time. To add to that one, when the CE gets back a completed rewrite THAT counts as their next article and they cannot claim any more until that one is finished up. So if they've sent out 10 rewrites and they all come back at once, no more new articles until they clear up all those damned rewrites they dealt out. I'm so sick and tired of CEs leaving their rewrites to the last fucking day while they gobble up and hog other articles because they know that rewrite isn't going anywhere. It's a two second glance at what I fixed--get on with it already!!!!

[D.H.]

I've changed this post to sticky.

This is the type of discussion I'd like to see more around here. I also appreciate that Hancock followed an expletive-laden rant after a spurious rejection with this well-thought-out and clearly time-intensive analysis of how to improve the CE system. I want to encourage more threads like this, and I will heavily moderate this one, should it go off the rails.

Sorry, I also was trying to cross-link into the Suggestions forum, but I could only make a copy over there. That would just confuse things to have two of these. I deleted the copy and left this original in place.

[D.H.]

I would also add:

5. Editors lose their anonymity upon rejecting an article.

I know it'll never happen, but that right there would stifle all spurious rejections. Anyone who has written more than a few months or few dozen articles has seen one. There are too many rejections for bull reasons, having to do with the tone you took in your feedback to the CE, some minor nit-picky item that was never mentioned in the original rewrite, poor interpretation of the guidelines, etc. etc.

If a CE is going to reject an article, give them an immediate repercussion that has consequences. If they're not willing to stand by the rejection with the cloak of anonymity removed, they shouldn't be rejecting the article in the first place.

There's too much of a power imbalance between writer and CE. The rejection appeal system is a sad joke. It doesn't work. Trash the appeal system and remove the editor's anonymity at the moment they reject an article, and there will be zero need for an appeal system. The writer can contact the editor directly by PM. DMS can create a zero-tolerance policy on abusive follow-ups by PM. You'd weed out the problem writers very easily too with this type of change.

[The Batman]

I still say the only way to get CEs under control is to hit them where it hurts: the pocketbook. CE's are not paid for abandoned rewrites until someone reviews the rewrite request. If it wasn't justified, the CE doesn't get his $3.50. And CEs should not be paid for overturned rejections.

As things stand, there is little incentive for CEs not to abuse their power. Give them that incentive and a lot of the issues will clear up.

[LaughAMinute]

I think DMS basically had to take away the quota.
Now that the tax laws are more clear on what constitutes an "employee", they were hard pressed to get away with the contractor status.
Yeah, they were basically calling it one thing, when in the eyes of the law it was something else. (Tax Evasion)

The CEs do need training, and a better pay scale.
Honestly, I wouldn't work for the payscale they receive. I have never edited a piece for that little by professional writers and can't imagine what it is like to edit some of the pieces submitted by members of the drooling zombies over at DMS.

A competitive wage would draw a higher quality of CEs and they could eliminate the ones who can't tie their own shoes or who apparently stay drunk half the time.

[sickofstupidity]