A Checklist of Essentials Before You Publish an Article

Consistency takes work but is worth it

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

We’re all up against time. And when you’re a hobby writer trying to fit writing and publishing around work and life, sometimes corners get cut.

Yesterday I was scrabbling to submit an article before one of those crazy busy family days (the ones when you feel you would need a clone in order to be in all the places you need to be at the right times).

I skim read the final article (while having a shouted “conversation” between rooms about family logistics), rushed through my usual SEO routine, then hit submit.

Last night I got a response from an editor for the publication I’d submitted to. They hadn’t read further than the headline and subtitle because of two mistakes I hadn’t spotted.

• I hadn’t checked my headline with a capitalization tool
• There was a spelling mistake in my subtitle

The tone of the editor’s comments was direct. I was left in no doubt that I’d messed up. At first, I got defensive — you can’t reject an article having only read the headline and subtitle, surely?

(Plus I have to be honest, I don’t get the fuss about headline capitalization — if it makes sense and there are no spelling mistakes, who…