When you submit a story to a market, a publisher, an editor or an agent, there will be guidelines to follow. They won’t be the same across the board. FlipFlop Books will want documents in rich text format while Mr Fancy Agent won’t look at anything but doc.x. Stacy McEditor only wants romantasy, but Magical Magazine refuses to see anything the least bit lovey-dovey. And SuperBig Publisher wants paranormal novels with a strong weird element, not just a quick mention. How does a writer know what to do? By reading and following the guidelines.
Some of you are probably scowling and saying to yourselves, “What’s the big deal? As long as you can read my story, what does the font matter? Or the letter size? Isn’t romantasy the same as fantasy? If my main character sees a yeti on a hike, doesn’t that make the story automatically paranormal?” The thing is, those guidelines exist for reasons you can’t possibly guess at. Letter size and font could be related to the editor’s eyesight. If they can’t see your amazing words, they can’t pay you for them. Genre and story elements are what the publishers know their readers will buy. Your story could be absolutely brilliant, but if it’s not what their readers hunger for, it’s no good to the publisher.
I’ve been accepting submissions lately for Mocha Memoirs Press, thanks to meeting several writers at SAGA Writing Conference last week. All of them were told to send three chapters and a one-page synopsis that included the ending. But what did I find today? A three-page synopsis. Now it’s entirely possible the writer became confused about the number of chapters versus the number of synopsis pages. And I’m generally forgiving of such things. But it’s also possible this is a person who doesn’t follow directions well. It’s very hard for publishers to work with writers like that. First it’s a couple extra pages in the synopsis, and the next thing you know, the writer is refusing to accept edits and insisting they deserve more money for their story. We want to work with you, but not if it means we’re being bullied into doing anything the writer demands. This industry is all about partnership and finding balance. Skipping the guidelines from the beginning indicates that the writer could be a problem child.
So read the guidelines, follow the rules, and remember that your editor/agent/publisher/market will notice, and love you all the more for it.