The Dreaded Site Mismatch Rejection

1. 96

   PaulGoodman67posted 2 years ago

   In the past, I've had many articles that I submitted to niche sites accepted, but they ended up being published on a different niche site to the one that I suggested.
   
   This happened so many times that I had begun to believe (wrongly) that I might be immune to the dreaded "site mismatch" rejection email.
   
   For instance, with a recent article I submitted, I suggested Spinditty as its destination. It took an awfully long time to get a decision, so I emailed for an update and was told in the reply that it was probably going to be sent to Soapboxie. In the end, it was published on ReelRundown.
   
   That's all fine. I'm just making the point that editors have discretion about where something is published. Given this, what's the point of rejecting a submission on the basis of a "site mismatch"?
   
   If an article isn't good enough for some reason, why not reject it and tell me why?
   
   What do I do now? Just keep submitting to various niches every two weeks in the hope it will be eventually accepted somewhere? Or I leave it in Discover and do nothing? I guess those are the only two options.
   
   It's irritating because of the two week minimum time limit rule for niche submissions.
   
   Plus generic rejections are almost always unhelpful. Even a few words, or a couple of sentences from an editor can make all the difference and save me time.
   
   Understand that I'm not complaining about rejection per se, that's happened lots of times and I'm a big boy. I just don't think I've had the "site mismatch" before and I don't understand the point of it. (I am well aware that others have experienced it from reading the forums).

   replyreport
   1. 93

      OldRosesposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I would email the team directly and ask for guidance.

      replyreport
      1. 94

         GoodBrainsposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, I think I may do that. Let's face it, an editor could send it to an alternative niche, or write a one word instruction on where you should send it - so it's frustrating.
         
         That submission form for niches also just gets longer and longer, I think it has about 22 pages nowadays!

         replyreport
   2. 90

      Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I have a discover article that ranks top five. It's an anomaly from what I usually write. I've submitted the piece twice to two different niches to no avail. The last rejection said low word count was the reason. I don't think the editor read the article because it's over 1500 words. I even emailed the team about the word count, and they never got back to me.
      
      I have a theory that once you have an in with a niche editor, your articles automatically get moved over. Trying to branch out and write different topics for other niches takes more effort to get noticed.

      replyreport
      1. 94

         GoodBrainsposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         A high ranking in itself doesn't necessarily mean much. It certainly doesn't guarantee a lot of views or revenue.
         
         If you wanted me to put an article together to rank highly in Discover, I could do that easily enough by writing on an obscure topic and chasing keywords that don't earn much money. If the competition is low, Discover will do well.
         
         The hard bit is ranking in a competitive arena where there are a lot of views to be had and the keywords/phrases have value, and Discover is not good for that generally, in my experience.
         
         I've written on a wide range of topics for years. However, this particular article wasn't that much different to the previous two that I submitted  recently.
         
         I will likely take Old Roses advice and send them an email. See if I get an explanation.

         replyreport
         1. 90

            Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

            You have some excellent points. From my experience, when you have articles on a niche site, it is more likely your editor will welcome your next article.
            
            Regarding getting responses or help from emailing the team, I have found emails sometimes work, but in this particular case, I heard nada.

            replyreport
            1. 96

               PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

               Oops, I accidentally replied to your first comment with another account! I try not to do that!

               replyreport
2. STAFF

   Larry Slawsonposted 2 years ago

   I've had this happen several times before and it was super annoying.  So I feel your pain haha.   
   
   To be honest... I absolutely hate the "two-week minimum" for submitting articles to niche sites.  Its a stupid rule that should be done away with (at least for the authors that have proven themselves to be decent writers on here).  I would honestly write an article a day if it weren't for that rule.  But it seems pointless to write that much (only to see my articles sit in Discover for extended periods of time until I can get around to submitting them to a niche site every two weeks).  Plus, its been my experience that none of my articles are ever selected for niche sites by the editors (like they were in the past).  Several years ago, I could write an article on here and it would be moved to one of the niche sites within a week (without me ever having to submit it).  Now I have to manually submit all of them in order to get them moved.  But again... I have to wait every two weeks to do this.... 
   
   And now, with the whole "site mismatch" issue added to the mix, submitting to a niche site has become even more of a nail-biting experience... 
   
   I understand HubPage's logic for this to a degree (they are understaffed and its difficult to keep up with all the articles on here, I'm sure).  But all these hurdles we have to jump through in order for our articles to be moved to niche sites is super annoying (especially for those of us that take the time to write quality articles).

   replyreport
   1. 90

      Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I feel the pain. I stopped writing articles because of this issue. I edit the existing articles and submit accordingly.

      replyreport