Submission Etiquette

I usually reserve blogging/net stuff for Sundays, but I feel compelled to post this.
Don't get me wrong...the majority of people who have sent in submissions were grateful, wonderful, and very patient when I fell behind in response times, or getting agreements out to them. I appreciate that so much!

Then there are others out there...
Well few and far between, but yeah. :-/


Here goes...

SUBMISSION ETIQUETTE

DO NOT:
~ Demand confirmation of receipt of your manuscript. (In fact do not demand anything...ask nicely.)


~ Spam us with repeated submissions. Send one. Wait for a response. Then submit another...

~ Delegate your terms to us in your query/cover letter.

~Flame us with angry responses to rejections and/or delayed response times. (yes, sad but true this has happened already.)

~Spam us repeatedly while awaiting our response. We are very busy, and it may take a while...but we'll get to it eventually.

~Expect us to accept your work just because XYZ Publishing Co. has already published you. We take each story on its own merit...and some great stories may just not be well-suited for our magazine.

~Submit blindly. I can spot a blind submission a mile away.

DO:

~Use the body of the email as your cover letter, including all necessary information.

~Wait at least 2 months to email us regarding your submission.

~Read guidelines thoroughly before submitting to us. Not just regarding genre, but submission formats, etc. Pay attention to word length, and when it is better to query first.

I'm sure I'll be adding more to this in the future....