A
List of Things That Ought to be Avoided .
. .
This
editorial is a random list of things that writers
ought to avoided -- and these are just some of the
items we’ve seen personally…
• Handwritten poetry with each line scrawled in spirals, intended as poetry,
completely impossible to read. The individual letters were ornate in the extreme.
Beautiful, I suppose, but completely inaccessible. Didn’t even have an SASE.
Couldn’t read the return address. Not sure how the post office managed.
• One writer took issue with a rejection -- threatening to visit personally,
and have his way with me. Or something like that. After many months of nonsense,
this writer eventually apologized made us a gift of his latest chapbook. We chose
not to review it…
• A magazine publisher once asked us to make a correction to our market
listings. One of our sources had supplied an incorrect address. The publisher
was irate and didn’t understand the difference between advertising and providing
a list. We tried to explain basic publishing to no avail. Eventually, we tired
of her attitude and set our email program to automatically delete her mail… And
we did publish a correction.
• US stamps are useless when mailing from Canada. Stamps must be purchased
from the country the mail is sent from, or include International Reply Coupons
(IRCs) with your SASE. IRCs are available from any post office.
• Some writers don’t read our guidelines, or ignore our language restrictions.
There are a number of words we won’t use in TBT. We consider ourselves a
family publication…
• A couple times, we’ve received registered mail and had to pick it
up at the post office. Turned out to be a simple submission or contest entry.
Please -- save your money! Regular mail is just fine!
• Occasionally, we receive submissions of 100 poems or so, with no explanation.
No need to send any more than what fits into a standard envelope…
A COUPLE THINGS WE LIKE TO RECEIVE
• Well crafted, typed, submissions that clearly indicate why they’ve
been sent to us, and NOT someone else. Writing that reeks of originality!
• Self Addressed and Stamped Envelopes (SASEs), where the writer has gone
to the trouble of researching the correct amount and kind of postage…”
By
Larry Lindner
Editor of Tickled by Thunder fiction magazine
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