6 Reasons I Chose Not To Write For Elite Daily

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I won’t lie: it was tempting and I succumbed to filling out an application. Elite Daily has been hitting all channels of social media and seemed like a great platform to reach out to a different scale of readers around the globe. I received an email confirming my application was a success and I was elated.
I thought long and hard about whether I should write about Elite Daily or take up their offer as a contributing writer. It sounded so prestigious. After all, my mother once told me never to burn bridges. Yet my priorities prevailed: I believe more in writing about something I strongly stand for. Here’s why I chose to stick with writing for Thought Catalog instead.

1. Elite Daily’s 6-month boot kick.

I understand the reason behind boot kicking writers to prevent too many inactive profiles and a potential jam to the system. What I don’t agree with is setting a time limit for creativity and writing. Does that mean once I stop writing for 6 months because of a severe writer’s block (which I’m sure many writers can empathize with), I lose my account, and all content published loses its recognition from its owner?

At Thought Catalog, there is a page dedicated to us writers. We don’t have a minimum quota of how many articles we should write and given the boot for inactivity. And honestly, writer’s block is something that seriously messes with the mind. It’s frustrating to churn out something for the sake of a deadline. Trust me.

2. Elite Daily’s process of approving articles.

You have to pitch the idea of your article, and then wait for it to be approved. The pitch must contain 4 to 5 sentences and a potential article title. When it is approved, you have to submit a final draft between 600-2500 words. When submitted, it goes under review and into a “submission queue” before it is published.

Thought Catalog lets me submit my article online immediately. I don’t need to jump through hoops and pitch my article like a product to be sold. Words sell itself with passion. I don’t think I should have to go through so many channels of validation to get my article published.

3. Elite Daily’s crediting policy.

Sometimes I write very personal pieces and only share them with my close friends by giving them the direct link. Elite Daily expects you to share your article “across your social media platform as soon as you are notified of its publication,” once your article is published. If I want to share it on my blog, I have to quote the link to Elite Daily.

Thought Catalog shares every writer’s post on their Facebook page regardless, doesn’t make an attempt to tell us writers to promote the brand of Thought Catalog because they know the articles speak for themselves — not to mention the branding of Thought Catalog which sells itself too, having been around since 2010.

4. What writing means to me vs. what it means to them.

Everyone literate is capable of reading and writing. Writing takes a different meaning to every individual. To me, writing is a personal form of self-expression, a way to be heard, and a way for others to relate to your experiences.

Elite Daily gives you a list of Do’s and Don’ts for your article or whatever you intend to write about. Though some guidelines are sanctioned for, I don’t agree with the notion of not being allowed to voice your opinions and respond to something that’s from another publication. Are all our readings only to be done internally by other articles in Elite Daily? By doing so, we aren’t sharing ideas, feelings or opinions anymore. We’re coveting them, demeaning what it means to write.

Sure, you can draft out what others tell you to, but if your article lacks passion in the subject, you are nothing more than a drone being told what to do. I don’t like to be told where the limits of my article should be. Sorry but that’s as good as limiting my self-expression.

Thought Catalog allows me to write whatever I want to. If they like it, they publish it. If they don’t, they won’t. It’s that simple.

5. No, you don’t get paid.

Self-explanatory. Thought Catalog doesn’t pay me either, but they’re definitely less demanding than Elite Daily.

6. Elite’s Daily’s human touch.

Elite Daily’s writing process, submissions and interactions sound like a very cold process. As mentioned earlier, there isn’t much interaction between publisher and writer. You do everything through an account; to them, it’s business.

This is in stark comparison to Thought Catalog. For each time an article was posted, I got a reply directly from the publishers, different editors even and with sometimes little notes of encouragement and criticism to mould me into a more critical writer.

I have also received multitudes of reader responses expressing encouragement and thanks.

That’s what I call a personal touch.

Thank you Thought Catalog for doing what you do best. ☺