{"id":2326,"date":"2024-06-03T12:57:34","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T12:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/josephrauch.com\/therauchreview\/?p=2326"},"modified":"2025-07-16T20:50:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T20:50:10","slug":"false-prestige-fancy-bylines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/josephrauch.com\/therauchreview\/articles\/false-prestige-fancy-bylines\/","title":{"rendered":"The False Prestige of Fancy Bylines"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have bylines<\/a> on Forbes<\/a>, Vice<\/a>, Psychology Today<\/a>, Teen Vogue<\/a> and The Huffington Post<\/a>. Even if you already read the title of this article, a part of your subconscious might have reflexively said, \u201cWow! He must be a really good writer if editors at all those well-known places wanted to publish his work.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m happy to admit that acquiring those bylines had absolutely nothing to do with my skill as a writer.<\/p>\n

The Forbes byline was part of my tenure at the Forbes Communications Council. The membership committee invited me to join because of my record as a successful content marketer with startups. My writing record was not the primary factor.<\/p>\n

The membership required an annual fee. Its main benefit was the Forbes byline. In a way, I bought the byline. At the time I was able to use my company card to cover the cost. Later I allowed the membership to expire, but Forbes let me keep the byline permanently.<\/p>\n

From what I could tell, no one edited my Forbes articles. A content moderation system scanned them to ensure they met guidelines.<\/p>\n

With Vice and Psychology Today, I knew editors who worked there. They liked my pitches. The Psychology Today editor barely changed my drafts. She\u2019s great, and we are still in touch.<\/p>\n

The Vice editor butchered my draft, a sentiment my colleagues agreed with. I think the article you can see online to this day is far worse than my draft. Unfortunately I lost the original draft.<\/p>\n

As part of a business deal with my former employer, Teen Vogue syndicated a highly-trafficked blog post I wrote. I\u2019m sure they like the writing, but the main return for them was reusing a post with a clear record of profitability. Our return was the SEO and PR value of a link from Teen Vogue.<\/p>\n

During my undergraduate years, the NYU creative writing program helped me connect with The Huffington Post. The Huffpost team had launched a college blogger program. I pitched a political analysis piece about why I predicted Obama would win the 2012 election. The editor said yes, and I was in.<\/p>\n

When writers obtain a fancy byline, it\u2019s usually for one or more of the following reasons:<\/p>\n