Bi-weekly "Site of the Week" -- Which Rules Aren't Made to be Broken.

So, some of you may have noticed that I've begun using a theme for the Site of the Week, since I haven't always had time to post each week. This week's theme, when not to break the rules.

When you're creating fiction, by all means break the rules of gravity, reality and even common sense if you want to. But when you begin submitting that fantastic work of fiction, that is when the rules aren't made to be broken.

Follow them.

Rule number one. In my opinion this is the most important rule -- do your research.  Nothing sends your submission to the e-slush pile/trash can/file 13 faster than submitting it to the wrong market. There are so many sub-genres and blended genres out there these days you can't simply see "science fiction" or "fantasy" under the listing of  acceptable submissions and assume your work is a perfect fit.

E-zines often contain free web content so you can get a glimpse of the type of stories they accept, give it a read. If you are submitting to another type of publication which doesn't have free online content, see if you can track a copy down at your local library, Amazon, or borrow one from your next door neighbor's cousin's best friend. You may even be lucky enough to find something on your local Freecycle network. If those options fail, and you really want to get published in that particular venue - buy a copy. I know that finding the extra cash can be tough in this economy, but you have to decide how serious you are. Do you really need that extra vente, double-caff, extra foam, caramel mochachino? ;-) 

Rule number two. Read the submission guidelines thoroughly. Every agent, publisher, e-zine, etc. has its own rules of submission. These are published for a reason. Read them. Many of them will also include a link to what the proper formatting they expect looks like, so there is no excuse for submitting anything less than what they are asking you for.

An upcoming speculative fiction e-zine aimed at the YA market, Scape, uses this example which is the most widely used standard manuscript format. However, USE CAUTION, some agents, etc. specifically state what they expect a manuscript to look like and it is not this format.

Rule number three - Proofread before you click send. Spell check is handy. Automatic typo correction is my personal savior. But neither of them are a substitute for reading your submission and making 110% certain that you haven't made a mistake they won't catch - like a misused homonym. (This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Here is a link to a site of homonyms you can use to double check. And yes, I have posted this before, it never hurts to repost a resource like this.)

Rule number four - Proofread twice before you hit send.