Sunday, July 15, 2012

Don't Do That!

Don't do that!
Don't do what?
Don't send your manuscript, book, request, entry anywhere before you have read the guidelines, rules or requests at the recipients' websites.


If picture book contest rules ask for texts of under 500 words without illustrations, then don't send a text that is 520, 780 or 1900 words. And don't send illustrations.


If a manuscript assessor asks for manuscripts in 12 pt TNR, double spacing and without extra blank lines between paragraphs, don't send your ms in 11 pt Calibri Body, 1.15 spacing with blank lines between paragraphs.


If a market asks for mss in MS Word .doc or .docx, don't send a PDF.


If a contest is for a fantasy story, don't send sf.


If a review site is listed on a third-party website, check the site before you send your review request. Some review sites accept only one specific genre. Some don't accept unsolicited review copies at all. 

If a market asks for mss in plain text, without fancy formatting, don't send it with text boxes, drop caps and large fonts.


OK. Rant over.