3. Regurgitating

There may be nothing new under sun, but at least try to give your article a unique twist or perspective. To my knowledge, I've never been rejected on grounds of simply rehashing; however, as an editor myself, I've turned down many submissions due to repetitive themes and outlooks.

It's shocking how far some writers go to avoid writing: I obtained permission from a recent journalism grad to reprint a wonderful article of hers that I'd stumbled across. While doing research into topic (for purposes of artwork), I found exact same article. Verbatim. Written by someone else.

Use those No/Low-Pay Markets

I'm still using those free articles to get paying jobs: clips from a couple of humor parenting stories written nearly five years ago pulled in two assignments from national US print publications. Similarly, I base everything I write on rejection lessons learned over years: study publication (not just guidelines); put yourself as a reader of that magazine; flip your angle, dig deep and work hard for originality.

Published freelance writer and copyeditor, Stephanie Olsen, is publisher of JustMarkets. For paying, telecommute writing jobs and markets (your only source on the web six mornings a week!), visit http://www.justmarkets.com