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"No More Handholding" (Read 1037 times)
Karen_137659
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Posts: 333
"No More Handholding"
Dec 29th, 2017, 11:35am
 
Ok, I'll admit my feathers were a little ruffled when my storefront received a culling. And ok, yah, so some of those cards were old, some of the first cards I submitted in 2009 rejected and some were't selling. So I decided that I was going to take a positive, proactive approach and let this experience make me a better artist.
 
Until, I went into my store to view all that had been culled. I am a little confused by what is meant be "No More Handholding." And for the record, hand-holding is TWO words, with a hyphen. How am I suppose to take that? What do you mean by hand-holding?   GCU wants me to spell correctly? Well I kinda expect the same from the reviewers. Sorry, I know we make mistakes, but GCU is setting the standard. In this subjective world of art and the changing standards, which I get, I understand that, but holy Hanna, I would feel better if someone just cam out and said, "I don't like it." At least I know where I stand.
 
Also, how can one card with the same image be declined but the same card with a different orientation and color be accepted??  914451 - approved and 914453 - declined, same card, different color, different orientation.  
 
This is all been said before nothing new here, I'm sure
 
I am trying really hard here, I understand the standards GCU needs to set stay competitive, I get it. But more often than not the reviews are inconsistent and subjective.
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Mindy
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Re: "No More Handholding"
Reply #1 - Dec 29th, 2017, 4:45pm
 
Hi Karen,
Thank you for your post.  Many artists are still caught off guard when it is their store's turn for re-review. This has been an effort that GCU announced and started 5 years ago, to bring all submitted cards in line with the Submission Guidelines (SGs). Ideally artists should have proactively reviewed their own older submissions and made improvements.  
 
See announcement here:
http://www.greetingcarduniverse.com/forum/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1421879451
 
As the office is closing for the turn of the new year, please allow me some time to research the specific reviews you've mentioned for pids# 914451 & 914453 that you feel are inconsistent and get back to you next week.  
 
Reviewers are keen to return cards for edits that they feel the artist is able to adjust and resubmit to meet the SGs. All declines and return for edits have very specific reasons / notes.  Based on these notes you should know where each card stands.  If there are specific pid#s you'd like me to further research please let me know.  
 
I'm curious where the "hand-holding" was used?  It is not a term GCU would normally use with artists.  I suspect it has to do with an artist who has been with GCU for a significant length of time and is expected to have mastering the basics.  Our apologies for the typo and also on any confusion this term may have caused.  
 
GCU does share the following response with artists that are expected to have mastered the basics:
"Your cards have great appeal and potential, however if not found by searching shoppers all is lost. Please give them the boost they deserve by using your Artist Notes, keywords and titles to their full advantage as is described on our GCU Community blog and Card Submission 101 guide:  
http://gcucommunity.com/2013/01/21/dash-of-inspiration-card-submission-101/
And some helpful examples here:
http://gcucommunity.com/2015/02/23/dash-of-inspiration-marketing-monday-2/ "
 
We appreciate your patience through the re-review and commitment to improve based on the re-reviews.  
 
Happy New Year!
 
Quote from Karen_137659 on Dec 29th, 2017, 11:35am:
Ok, I'll admit my feathers were a little ruffled when my storefront received a culling. And ok, yah, so some of those cards were old, some of the first cards I submitted in 2009 rejected and some were't selling. So I decided that I was going to take a positive, proactive approach and let this experience make me a better artist.

Until, I went into my store to view all that had been culled. I am a little confused by what is meant be "No More Handholding." And for the record, hand-holding is TWO words, with a hyphen. How am I suppose to take that? What do you mean by hand-holding?   GCU wants me to spell correctly? Well I kinda expect the same from the reviewers. Sorry, I know we make mistakes, but GCU is setting the standard. In this subjective world of art and the changing standards, which I get, I understand that, but holy Hanna, I would feel better if someone just cam out and said, "I don't like it." At least I know where I stand.

Also, how can one card with the same image be declined but the same card with a different orientation and color be accepted??  914451 - approved and 914453 - declined, same card, different color, different orientation.

This is all been said before nothing new here, I'm sure

I am trying really hard here, I understand the standards GCU needs to set stay competitive, I get it. But more often than not the reviews are inconsistent and subjective.

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Karen_137659
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Posts: 333
Re: "No More Handholding"
Reply #2 - Dec 31st, 2017, 6:29pm
 
Thanks for your reply Mindy. I knew the culling was coming and I had gone through some of my cards myself that just weren't selling or I wanted to update. I hadn't been able to get to them all.
 
"Resubmit Notes: 0140. No More Handholding If this is an older card that was previously approved please see this related forum post on the re-review of existing cards:" this is how it was presented to me for Product Id: 891394. I don't want to call out the reviewer here. I know these guys are just doing their jobs, but this isn't my full time job either, I can't keep up with all the changes and I know there have been lots in the past few years. I try to but, hey sorry I need to be honest, for the commission, the only incentive I have that keeps me here is I have been here since 2009 and it's exposure for me. It may not be the only exposure, but exposure none the less.
 
I find it challenging to get a card approved, because what one reviewer sees as not measuring up, another may not see it that way. I can allow this process to make me a better artist. I can follow guidelines all day long, it's still very subjective.
 
Product ID 677665 was declined for iMAGE QUALITY Grain/ Noise, well if I recall it was a digital image. The only grain I see is around the star, which is a glow effect. HOWEVER Product Id: 708997 has the same effect and it was approved. So I am confused.  
 
It's going to take some time to get through my cards, but I will get to them and try to keep up with the changes.
 
Thank you again for listening and Happy New Year!
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Mindy
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Re: "No More Handholding"
Reply #3 - Jan 17th, 2018, 4:12pm
 
Quote from Karen_137659 on Dec 31st, 2017, 6:29pm:
Thanks for your reply Mindy. I knew the culling was coming and I had gone through some of my cards myself that just weren't selling or I wanted to update. I hadn't been able to get to them all.

"Resubmit Notes: 0140. No More Handholding If this is an older card that was previously approved please see this related forum post on the re-review of existing cards:" this is how it was presented to me for Product Id: 891394. I don't want to call out the reviewer here. I know these guys are just doing their jobs, but this isn't my full time job either, I can't keep up with all the changes and I know there have been lots in the past few years. I try to but, hey sorry I need to be honest, for the commission, the only incentive I have that keeps me here is I have been here since 2009 and it's exposure for me. It may not be the only exposure, but exposure none the less.

I find it challenging to get a card approved, because what one reviewer sees as not measuring up, another may not see it that way. I can allow this process to make me a better artist. I can follow guidelines all day long, it's still very subjective.

Product ID 677665 was declined for iMAGE QUALITY Grain/ Noise, well if I recall it was a digital image. The only grain I see is around the star, which is a glow effect. HOWEVER Product Id: 708997 has the same effect and it was approved. So I am confused.

It's going to take some time to get through my cards, but I will get to them and try to keep up with the changes.

Thank you again for listening and Happy New Year!

 
Hi Karen,
My apologies for just getting back to you on your specific questions.
 
We try to build as much objectivity into the submission guidelines and review process, however there will always be some subjectivity in the process.  Our review team members work very closely with one another and we share reviews now and then to continue to calibrate the process.  
 
677665, 708997 - two totally different designs and two different stars. The Image Quality - Grain/Color Noise reason has been further clarified by reviewer #825 on #677665 as follows:
"the green background has noise, most likely from low resolution"
 
Embarrassingly, 708997 has a typo on the cover which escaped all of us!  I will have the review team return it to you for editing.  embarrassed
 
914451 (approved) 914453 (declined) - GCU does allow a photo card to be submitted in different orientation and in up to 3 different colors.  So typically these would be permitted.  However these cards appear not to be the same, 914453 was a Spring Break card which no longer speaks to the occasion yet resides in the Spring Break category.  We will return this card to you for edits and give you the opportunity to update the verse or the category.  
 
Please let me know if you have any other questions and thanks for your understanding!
 
 
 
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Karen_137659
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Posts: 333
Re: "No More Handholding"
Reply #4 - Jan 17th, 2018, 5:18pm
 
Thank you Mindy Smiley
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