5 Reasons I Say “No Thank You”

[serasempre]

I’ve been powering through submissions this weekend, and I decided to do another list in hopes of helping future submitting authors understand what makes a submission an almost instantaneous no. Some of these are probably universal nos, some of them may be just my own quirks. Most of these authors will receive a form letter on Monday morning

Comments

[debetesse]

> discover that the author used a “hard return” at the end of every line

Seriously! What's up with that?

[serasempre]

I have NO clue. I would have thought people would have gotten over that... until I started reading submissions.

[elainecorvidae]

I've seen those "do not steal" notices in the slush pile myself. Annoying the slush reader by treating them like a moron/criminal...not a good idea, peeps.

[serasempre]

Have you? It's nice to know I'm not alone. They're seriously off-putting.

[chicating]

My personal editorial not-fave? Colored text and little pictures along with your(usually cheesy) poems.
On a more serious note, I really wish I didn't have to read therapy "homework" anymore.
Hey, happy birthday.

[serasempre]

Oh goodness yes. I forgot those. I'm just waiting for the person who learns that you can do little dancing ants along a line, or other funky stuff with Word and sends me one that way.

[chicating]

Don't read it, if they do.

[serasempre]

I haven't read anything written that way since I was forced to do so by the soul-sucking day job from Hell, presided over by the mistress of Microsoft Tortures.

[riani1]

I bet the "do not steal" thing is because somebody told them "Oh, electronic publishers are just looking for suckers they can steal stuff from!" or have heard horror stories of people stealing manuscrpts and putting their own names on them.

You're a stronger woman than I am, Gunga Din.

[serasempre]

Probably, yes. I do understand wanting to protect your writing, but really... copyright it before you send it, with a real live submission to the copyright office first if you're that worried.

[jongibbs]

Interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing :)

[serasempre]

You're welcome. I was thinking of you when I wrote it.

[jongibbs]

Thanks... hey! :(

[serasempre]

Hmmm. I don't think that came out quite the way I intended it.