1. Always follow the submission guidelines
For example, at Nostrovia! Poetry, there is a variety of publishing mediums available. There’s the Guest Blog, the monthly contest, and occasional stand-alone publication calls. In the submission guidelines, it is asked that in the subject line of the submission email, that the writer includes what they are submitting to.
Nothing annoys an editor more than when a writer submitting does not follow the submission guidelines at all.
On this note, also make sure to spell check. Not only is it unprofessional to have grammatical/spelling errors (you’re a writer, right?), it is overall an annoyance. A couple of misspelled words isn’t the end of the world, but if your manuscript looks like a text message sent by a 14 year old girl to her bff, then you haz a problem.
2. Keep your cover letters / bios short
Editors don’t want to read your life history, or why your writing is so amazing, or see an extensive list of every place you’ve ever been published.
Keep it simple. Include a few names of places your work has appeared before. Be short and sweet. What sets you aside from other writers? Where do you live? Where do you want to take your writing? Do you have any books out, a website?
Keep it brief, simple, and easy to read.
3. Don’t Take Rejection Personally
Rejection usually has nothing to do with a personal bias against the writer submitting. The rejection letter itself is almost always written out in advance, and used for the vast majority of rejected writers. Receiving one is not the end of the world, and doesn’t mean the publisher hated your writing. Don’t take offense. There are plenty of places to submit your writing, and not all of them will want to publish your words.
If an editor adds a personal note to the rejection letter, usually that means you were damn close to obtaining publication, or at least deserved the honorable mention.
Also, if they add a couple ideas or tips for a revision, this does not mean they want to see a revision sent in, unless they specifically ask for it, which does happen from time to time.
If there is detailed criticism, that’s okay to. A writer needs to learn with dealing with criticism. Take the critic into account, listen to what he has to say, and go from there.
Writing is an art that grows with you. As you grow, as a human, your writing grows. As your writing grows, you grow.
Cheers! & Keep writing!
-Jeremiah Walton
