A Note to Writers

I've been inundated with submissions for the Apodis anthology over the past couple of days. There doesn't seem to be any particular reason for the sudden increase - just a fluke, I suppose. Anyhow, I thought this would be a good time to point out some things that really bug me as an editor.

• If you happen to be submitting to a market via email with your story file as an attachment, put your email address directly into the document. Searching back through stacks of emails to find which address goes with which story is irritating.
• Don't send an unedited story. Just don't. Ever.
• Typos and spelling mistakes shouldn't be shrugged off. I've stopped reading a few relatively well-written stories because they've been littered with typos. I mean, if you're submitting to a paying market, make the effort to present your story in a professional manner.
• I don't have strict format guidelines because, as a writer, I find it a chore to convert my manuscript into whatever format a market wants (and, of course, they all manage to be different). However, that doesn't mean you can submit an entire story in one paragraph. That'll earn you instant rejection.