Fiction Forum

A submission for an online publisher should be no less prepared than one for a print publisher. Some writing sites receive huge numbers of visitors. Site visitors and e-zine subscribers are comparable to circulation numbers that print magazines prize. However, the information on a web site may remain posted and visible for longer than an issue of a print magazine is available on the newsstands. In addition, web sites are available to anyone with an Internet connection ANYWHERE in the WORLD. Don’t give them less respect than a print magazine. While some of the guidelines for electronic manuscript format are similar to print formats there are subtle differences that if not addressed can send you to the rejection pile.

Your cover letter is the first impression any editor will have of your writing abilities. Therefore, the cover letter should be straight forward and concise. Treat your cover letter as a business letter–after all that is what it is. Below you will find some basic guidelines.

Most authors are conflicted (for good reason) about whether or not they should shell out the $10.00 a year for a domain name of their very own. To shed some light on this puzzling question, let’s take a look at some the most common misconceptions about owning your own domain name.

Web design is an art all in it’s own and it takes someone with talent and experience to really create an effective and appealing design. So unless you’ve got both the talent and the experience you’re better off letting a professional designer handle the enormous task of creating on online image for you. You might be thinking, well I’ve got a computer, I have AOL, I have Front Page or (Lord help us) Word… I can design my own web site. Sure, you can do that… but then you need to consider if cutting a few cost corners is worth sacrificing the image you’re portraying online.

A new submission arrives on the editor’s desk Monday morning, adding to the already teetering mountain of work to be considered for publication. Each submission holds the promise of an informative article or edge-of-your-seat story. But before the editor even considers the manuscript in question, she will first reach for the cover letter. As she begins to pour over the first few lines, she shakes her head and tosses the entire submission package in the rejection pile. Another submission bites the dust. Why? Because the cover letter in question did not meet her standards. So how do you keep your cover letter from being solely responsible for your submission’s demise? By learning the basic manuscript format for the publisher and by knowing what the editor expects.

For “young writers” who may be hesitant in submitting your material to magazines, to critique/partners, sending excerpts to web sites, or not even allowing friends to read your stories: there comes a time when you must be open to possible criticism; for if not, you may be cutting yourself off from positive feedback as well…the fertilizer, so to speak, of an aspiring writers growth. All of us start out jotting down poems and stories, sticking them in drawers - storing them away like a squirrel stashing nuts - for future purposes. But some of us hide them away from prying eyes, never having the confidence to let our characters and fictional worlds breathe the light of day.

A common remark to this question, is, develop a tough skin. Well, better said than done! You do have to TRY not to take it personally, which sounds contradictory because this story is your “baby”. But, remember many magazines & book publishers receive hundreds…thousands of submissions. You will find some editors who may like something about your work & others who clearly don’t like it. Numbers, in a way, is the name of the game. You have to keep sending that story out until you run across an editor who just can’t live without your eloquent words! We’re all different and like different things, so where one editor may hate it, the next may love it.

Type your “real name” & address on the upper left; then the rights you’re selling on upper right margin (check Writers Market for specifics), followed by approximate word count. Last, put your copyright; the symbol can be done by hand or on the computer. To insert the symbol using a word processing program such as word go to Instert then click on symbol, you will see the copyright symbol listed here. To use the keyboard shortcut to insert a symbol hold down the Alt key and type 0169 on the number keypad. Use SS# only if mentioned in the requirements, the publisher can ask for it later if they purchase your story

I have discovered how you can be successful in your writing career. It works regardless of the type of writing you’ve chosen as your career path. If you want to be published, this will help you. If you need to get over writer’s block, this will speed you past the hurdles. If you need to handle rejections with less tears, this will dry your eyes.

I’ve been writing since I can remember, from barely-one-act plays in our garage featuring a cast of heavily bribed neighborhood kids, to awkward but heartfelt Mother’s Day poems lovingly penned in turquoise crayon. I’ve been cooking practically as long; I can remember baking cakes in tiny tins, using leftover batter from my mother’s real ones and even, when I was about twelve, trekking alone to free cooking classes sponsored by our local library.