In a two year period (2008 to 2009), I posted 98 articles on EzineArticles.com, and the results for me were amazing.  Before all this happened, I had never heard about an article directory before...and, I don't remember how I stumbled upon this directory. 

During this time period, I had a few articles posted on my own website...but, I had never had an article posted on somebody ele's site.  This was all new to me, and I loved every moment of it. 

Ten articles were required (at the time), to submit, and get accepted or denied.  There were 'live' editors that I had never had to face before, either.  Ten articles, is about what I had on my website, so all I had to do, was to polish them, and submit them.  After submitting the articles, all I could do now, was to hope for the best...but, I was worried that I would not make it.  The titles of the articles are as follows;

1) Halloween; The Two-Headed Monster
2) Here's the Skinny On How I Lost 40 Pounds;
3) Smoking Sucks; How I Quit Smoking;
4) Ageism; Discrimination Against Older Workers;
5) The Negative Side of Humor;
6) The Seriousness of Depression;
7) Sabrina; Another Smoking Casualty;
8) Ladies; Start Your Engines;
9) How I Saved My Dog Daniel;
10)  Humor Has Been My Life's Calling;

If the person gets accepted, you will be placed in one of three categories according how well you did on your articles, as shown below. 

1) Basic; 10 articles can be submitte; 
2) Basic-plus; a total of 25 articles can be submitted;
3) Platinum; no limit

When I got the results, I was designated Platinum writer, and off to the races I went.  A short time later, I got the following email from the directories owner Chris Knight, which read.

"Jerry; As the owner of EzineArticles.com, I have read hundreds, and maybe thousands of articles, and I can tell you that I have never read ten articles that were so clean, free from spelling and grammar problems.  CONGRATULATIONS"

Needless to say, I was thrilled with it all, I could hardly wait to get started. 

After submitting the TEN articles, and at the time, I thought if I could just write 50 to 75 more articles, it would be a lifetime accomplishment.  By the end of 2013, I now have nearly 400 articles, all about 1,000 words in length or more. 

So, once the articles are posted on the directory, how do I find them out in the jungle of the Internet?

The best way I found, is to give yourself an unusual and unique nickname.  In my case, my nickname, was and is humordoctormd...and you always place this name in the contact section of the article.  So, when you goggle "your contact name," it will come up in the pages of the search engine, and you will be able the article if it has been published.  I found this process to be pretty simple.

After about 18 months at the directory, I found out something that astonishing to me.  As a result of my surfing the Internet for my articles, I found one article directory that had taken batch of my articles, and they were published on their website.  There were 72 ARTICLES in this batch.  And, later I learned that other article directories were doing the same thing. 

I had batches or articles, ranging from 8 on the low side to 72 on the high side.  And, all this was done, and I didn't life a finger.  Marketing; Exposure for me; and name recognition for me as well, and I didn't do a thing. 

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As time went on, I was getting red flagged more and more.  It wasn't because I was getting to be an awful writer.  It had to do more with the fact that I take chances with my ideas, and 'live editors' didn't think much of my taking chances with words and the rules, and that's why I was having to re-write my articles. 

All this was affecting my STYLE of writing.  Taking chances was just part of it.  Solution?  At first, I didn't know what to do.  But, later, I decided to leave the directory before my STYLE was ruined.  I think style is the most important element in writing the writer can posses, so in the spring of 2009, I left the directory and got started at Authors Den.

I've been in the creative business for over 40 years, and I've always taken chances with my ideas.  Take a look at a few of my article titles, which are currently up and running at Authors Den, but would be rejected at the directory;

- SANTA; Your Breath STINKS!
- U.S. Congress; Best Little Whorehouse In America;
- The SpaMobile Has Arrived...
- Dear Primary Doctor...you're FIRED! 

I think the directory was good for me, and it gave me a lot of confidence that money cannot buy.  My articles are doing well, and they have gotten much exposure over the last several years.  Article directories are mostly for business people, who write about their products and service.  I found the article directory to be incredibly helpful to me, and, as I said earlier, it was one of the best things I have done for my writing.  See ya...

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