The editors at any press are human, and subject to human weakness and biases. Among other weaknesses, I must confess to poor eyesight and a tendency to hold grudges. I can’t speak for all humans, or all editors, or even all editors at the Pink Narcissus Press; however, I can tell you that I am more inclined to think well of a submission when I am in a good mood, and more likely to think ill of it when I am not.
I read submissions in PDF format on a Kindle. Some formatting choices make it very difficult to read a file this way. For example, if you select a smaller-than-standard font, it becomes microscopic on my Kindle. When I have to squint to read your document, that interferes with my good mood. Because I am only human, it also decreases the chances I will feel kindly toward your story.
The solution to this problem is not “Dr. Bill should use some other device to read submissions,” because the problem does not originate with the Kindle. I love my Kindle. The problem originates with unprofessional formatting choices.
I try not to let these sorts of concerns influence my editorial decisions very much, but don’t you want to maximize the chances that your submissions will be accepted? How sad would you be if you found out that I chose someone else’s story instead of yours because I liked them both equally, but the other person took the time to proofread and apply proper formatting?
You can eliminate problems like this just by formatting your submissions according to standard typescript conventions. Among other things, that means:
These particular items are just the ones that jump out at me. Every editor has a list of most-despised formatting mistakes. If you aren’t sure how to format your document for submission, there are tons of resources on the web where you can learn how. If the one you look at contradicts one of my bullets, then you should follow my bullet when you submit to Pink Narcissus. Use your own judgment about what to do when you submit someplace else. It’s always a good idea to see if a publisher has a document like this one.
You should email your document to us, with a cover letter in the main body of the email.
The subject header of your email should contain:
The cover letter should include the following information:
For example, your cover letter might look like this:
Dear Mr. Takeda,
Attached, please find my story “Pomegranate Satanists Versus the Banana People,” which I believe would fit very well in your upcoming anthology “Fruit Cults.” My 3500 word story depicts the social conflict between rival greengrocers, satirizing American political discourse.
In the past, I have published stories in Icarus Magazine and Asimov’s Magazine, and I have a novel under consideration at a prominent Chicago literary agency.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read “Pomegranate Satanists.” I do hope you’ll enjoy it enough to include it in your anthology.
Sincerely,
Rufus McBugnuts
[email protected]
(976) 867-5309
Attach your actual story to the email. If you are submitting more than one story, include only one story per attached file. The filename should specify:
*This message brought to you by Dr. Bill, who has probably forgotten all about that grudge by now, but still loves his Kindle.*
I read submissions in PDF format on a Kindle. Some formatting choices make it very difficult to read a file this way. For example, if you select a smaller-than-standard font, it becomes microscopic on my Kindle. When I have to squint to read your document, that interferes with my good mood. Because I am only human, it also decreases the chances I will feel kindly toward your story.
The solution to this problem is not “Dr. Bill should use some other device to read submissions,” because the problem does not originate with the Kindle. I love my Kindle. The problem originates with unprofessional formatting choices.
I try not to let these sorts of concerns influence my editorial decisions very much, but don’t you want to maximize the chances that your submissions will be accepted? How sad would you be if you found out that I chose someone else’s story instead of yours because I liked them both equally, but the other person took the time to proofread and apply proper formatting?
You can eliminate problems like this just by formatting your submissions according to standard typescript conventions. Among other things, that means:
- Double space your submission.
- Indent every paragraph.
- Proofread your story. Nothing makes you look less professional than spelling and grammar errors.
- Choose a standard font with serifs, such as Times New Roman, and choose a font size no smaller than 12 point.
- Know the difference between a hyphen and a dash. A hyphen links two words (it is a word-linking device). A dash is a separator -- to make a dash, type a space, then two hyphens in a row, and then another space.
- If your word processor automatically changes your two hyphens into a single em-dash, that’s fine. Make sure ALL of your dashes are formatted the same way.
- If you feel you must use a graphical indicator instead of a meaningful transition to indicate a scene change, use a centered row of asterisks or something similar. Do NOT use a pound sign (#), as this indicates to many editors that the story is over.
- Back in the 1980s, when most publishers were using standard postal mail and paper typescripts, and lots of authors were using a typewriter, the convention was to underline any words you wanted italicized. The 1980s are over – please just italicize such words. When you underline them, we have to go in and reformat your file, and unnecessary extra work is unwelcome work.
These particular items are just the ones that jump out at me. Every editor has a list of most-despised formatting mistakes. If you aren’t sure how to format your document for submission, there are tons of resources on the web where you can learn how. If the one you look at contradicts one of my bullets, then you should follow my bullet when you submit to Pink Narcissus. Use your own judgment about what to do when you submit someplace else. It’s always a good idea to see if a publisher has a document like this one.
You should email your document to us, with a cover letter in the main body of the email.
The subject header of your email should contain:
- The title of the anthology you are submitting to (or NOVEL SUBMISSION if it is a novel).
- The title of your story or novel.
The cover letter should include the following information:
- Your contact information (this is ALSO in the file with your story or novel).
- The title of your submission.
- The approximate word count of your submission.
- The anthology or project in which you hope your submission will be included.
- RELEVANT details about you as an author – We are interested to hear, for example, if you have won awards for your writing, or if your work has been published elsewhere. We are not interested to learn about your recent mole-removal surgery or how you prefer to groom your poodle, etc.
- It doesn’t hurt if you learn the names and titles of the editors and address your cover letter appropriately.
For example, your cover letter might look like this:
Dear Mr. Takeda,
Attached, please find my story “Pomegranate Satanists Versus the Banana People,” which I believe would fit very well in your upcoming anthology “Fruit Cults.” My 3500 word story depicts the social conflict between rival greengrocers, satirizing American political discourse.
In the past, I have published stories in Icarus Magazine and Asimov’s Magazine, and I have a novel under consideration at a prominent Chicago literary agency.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read “Pomegranate Satanists.” I do hope you’ll enjoy it enough to include it in your anthology.
Sincerely,
Rufus McBugnuts
[email protected]
(976) 867-5309
Attach your actual story to the email. If you are submitting more than one story, include only one story per attached file. The filename should specify:
- The title of the anthology you are submitting to (or NOVEL SUBMISSION if it is a novel).
- The title of your story or novel.
*This message brought to you by Dr. Bill, who has probably forgotten all about that grudge by now, but still loves his Kindle.*
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