If you want to publish your work in literary magazines, you need to avoid the top ten pet peeves of editors, from illegible and unwieldy submissions to a failure to follow guidelines.
Are you having trouble publishing your poetry or short stories in magazines? Perhaps you have subjected an editor to one of his or her top pet peeves. Read on to find the ten things that most irk editors so that you can be certain to avoid a future faux pas.
1. Illegible Submissions
Works should be typed for legibility. If you do not own a typewriter or computer, visit your local library. Be sure to use a normal font (times, courier, and Arial are good choices) and a standard font size (generally 11-12 points). Fancy fonts, particularly cursive fonts, are difficult to read and appear amateurish. Print on plain white paper. Colored papers are distracting and may be regarded as unprofessional.
2. Unwieldy Submissions
Editors prefer not to work with origami. They don’t like extracting bulky pages from tiny envelopes, being forced to unfold them multiple times, and having to smooth out the pages before reading. Use a no. 10 envelope if you are sending two to three pages. Use a larger envelope (a 6 X 9 or 9 X 12) for longer works. Staple or paper clip pages together (editors may state a particular preference in their guidelines). Never enclose a submission in a report cover or other binder, unless specifically requested to do so. Report covers are cumbersome and consume already scarce space in an editor’s filing cabinet. Most editors will simply remove and discard them, and they will be annoyed by the extra work and trash such bindings generate.
3. Lack of Professionalism
Lack of professionalism is most commonly found in e-mails. Remember to treat e-mail communication with an editor just as you would written communication. Use proper spelling, grammar, and capitalization, and don’t use internet shorthand. Maintain a structure and format to your submissions, just as you would if you were printing them. If submitting via regular mail, be sure to include a professional cover letter, not just a sticky note. (Some editors do not require cover letters, in which case you can simply submit your neatly formatted writing.) If you receive a rejection with criticism, and you disagree with the editor’s comments, simply thank him or her for his time. Do not belittle the editor’s judgment or react in angry self-defense. It is rare for an editor to make the effort to offer criticism. Either learn from it or politely discard it, but don’t fight it. The publishing world can be a tight-knit community, and if you are rude to an editor, your reputation for a lack of professionalism may travel.