News Break Rejected Me for Their Creator Program Three Times
Maybe they aren’t interested.
I first heard about News Break a few months ago in various articles written by Medium writers. According to the articles, a platform known as News Break was starting a creator program, and they needed writers.
You didn’t even need to write new stories to publish on News Break. You could simply repurpose the articles that you had already posted on Medium by submitting them to News Break.
If you got enough views or fans or whatever the terms of the contract were, you would get paid $1,000 each month for the first three months you submitted to News Break.
The articles said that it was easy to get accepted at News Break, and that anyone interested in it had better get on board immediately before their Creator Program filled up. That offer sounded too good to refuse.
The first thing I did was go to the News Break site to check out the writing style that they had on their site. I saw lots of local news, and it was written from a sensationalized angle. That wasn’t my style, but there were reputable Medium writers on the site; they weren’t gullible idiots; they knew what they were doing. I figured that News Break was worth a shot.
Besides, I really could use that $1,000 for the next three months. News Break offered far more money than I was ever likely to make as a newbie on Medium, so I decided to fill out the online application for News Break.
After submitting, I received a confirmation message that I would hear back in five to seven days. The clock started ticking.
On day seven, I received an email from News Break stating that they were sorry to inform me that they wouldn’t be extending an invitation to me for their Creator Program at this time, but good luck, blah blah blah. Shot down.
I wasn’t shocked that I was rejected, given that I was a newbie writer with Medium and hadn’t amassed much of a writing portfolio. I expected that.
Over the next few weeks, articles about News Break continued to be published on Medium, indicating that the Creator Program writers would be getting their $1,000 checks soon.
No one had written anything negative about News Break that I had seen. One of the articles that I read even had a link in it that I could use to apply for the Creator Program. So I did. This was application number two.
This time I didn’t get a confirmation email. I figured that might be because I used a link in an article to apply, but I wasn’t sure. I decided to wait five to seven days to hear something.
That money would be so helpful. I figured my chance of being accepted to the Creator Program would be better this time around because I had a more significant sampling of articles that I had written on Medium.
Some of the stories that I read on Medium said many people finally got accepted into the Creator Program by showing that they were serious about News Break by applying twice. I wasn’t confident that I would be accepted this time, but I felt much better about my chances than I did the first time.
Day seven arrived. Crickets. No response from News Break. I heard nothing. I tried my spam folder in case the email had ended up there. Nothing. News Break ghosted me.
A few days later, I sent them an email asking for an update. I never received a response to my follow-up email.
By now, people were writing on Medium about how News Break was the real deal; people were receiving $1,000 as promised. I sure could use that money.
A couple of weeks later, I went directly to the News Break site and applied to their Creator Program for the third time. In the comment section, I made my best sales pitch. Of course, I didn’t mention how helpful $1,000 could be. Never mention money in your pitch.
I immediately received an email confirmation reminding me of the five to seven-day waiting period. I started counting the days. Again.
Day seven came and went. Not. A. Word. Nothing in my spam folder. News Break ghosted me. Again.
I felt like that time I was stood up by my internet date for a hockey game, all over again. Alone, cold, and no reason why.
I give up. My parents raised me to be persistent; I was not raised to be an idiot. News Break just isn’t that into me. I get it.
I will not apply again. I am so soured on News Break’s lack of manners that even if they solicited me to write for them, I would decline. I would respond to them, though, because that’s what a decent person does.
They could have sent me an email telling me that they aren’t interested, my writing sucks, I’m not a good fit, or all of the above. I would not ghost them. That’s just plain rude.
I should have expected this from News Break when I saw their writing style in their local news section. I’m not a good fit for their platform. I’ll leave it at that.
The main reason I will not apply to News Break again is the following: Whenever I have done something where my primary motive has been to make money, it has come back to kick me in the rump and be more trouble than it was worth.
In this case, I was sucked in by the idea of a chunk of change. That was the only reason that I had any interest in News Break. That’s not the right way to operate. I should have never applied in the first place.
In the end, News Break ended up saving me from myself. Thank you, News Break. Thanks for nothing.
Linda Kowalchek is a work in progress and a member of the typewriter generation. She spends her time with her husband and her rescue cats waiting for golf balls to crash through their windows. PSA: Don’t live next to a golf course.
