The Writer's Loft: Carriage Return; Indent
by R. L. Burkhead, M.F.A.

Several weeks ago, our own Lance Ikard slipped into my office after looking over this session’s contest entries and asked me to write something up for this issue of the Trunk regarding manuscript preparation. Seeing the strain in his eyes, I smiled and agreed. Including the Summer 2006 issue, I have received, edited, and published 79 manuscripts in five issues of the Trunk, and despite the fact that we have had manuscript guidelines posted on the Loft’s Web site, many of those 79 manuscripts have had…issues. I have spent a lot of time thinking about Lance’s request, and I have decided to expand it to include other aspects of the writer/editor relationship. I encourage everyone who wishes to have something put in print in any venue in America (especially in the Trunk) to consider the following when preparing a manuscript and interacting with a publication’s staff:

1. Everything you do, say, write, and certainly mail needs to say the following about you and your work: I am a professional. Or it should at a minimum say, I am aspiring to become a professional. Throughout the process of submitting work and communicating with a publication’s staff, run your work and behavior through your own internal professional buffer AND adjust as needed!
2. A publication’s submission guidelines are not helpful hints or suggestions. They are the rules you follow, allowing your work to be considered for publication. Period. Follow them and compete. Do not follow them, and your work will probably be shredded, verses published. Most venues have guidelines posted on their Web sites. Please, seek them out!
3. Reading and knowing a publication before submitting your work is an essential ingredient to success. For example, the Winter 2006 issue of Tin House was a special theme issue entitled, ‘All Apologies.’ So, your science fiction thriller may not have had a great chance of appearing in that particular issue. Also, some publications are regional while the content of others may reflect the taste and sensibilities of a parent institution.
4. There is only one editor, and it is not you. He or she has the power to publish or not publish the work you spent hours trying to perfect. Do not hurt your chances of being published because you treated an editor as if he or she was your copy-editing assistant. Since the Trunk publishes the creative work of our students (i.e.: writers in progress), I have taken a collaborative approach to editing, often communicating in detail with a student and allowing that person to rework material. This is not always the case. When communicating with editors who are considering your work, I urge you to return to Rule Number 1 on this list.
5. Buy The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition (Paperback) by William Strunk Jr., E.B. White, and Roger Angell. Read it. Read it again. Refer to it often. Follow these three rules, and your manuscript will improve, I guarantee it.
6. Technology. I have thought about this point a lot over the years, and while I may burn for it, I have decided to say to you the following: Ultimately, technology will do more harm than good to both you as a writer and to your manuscript, as well as to your chances of placing your work. As a technical writer and editor for over a decade, technology has helped me a great deal, and I have used it often. I will continue to do so. But as a creative writer, technology has let me down, and I know that it has failed some of the students sending in their manuscripts to our contest and journal. In keeping with the technical theme of this point, I offer the following sub-points:

   6.1: Do not use technology in any form to deliver your manuscript to a publication. Do not e-mail an attached file. Most companies have virus programs in place that will strip the file off the e-mail, anyway. And few editors will accept digital copies of unsolicited manuscripts. Do not-ever-paste the text of your manuscript inside of an e-mail message and submit it, not even to your mother.

   6.2: Again, I have pondered this point for many moons, and I must say the following, while twitching: Never use the spell- or grammar-check feature on your computer. If possible, uninstall this feature (right now) to remove any temptation. It will become a crutch that will fail you repeatedly as a writer on a continual journey of improvement. As writers, we all need to know how to spell. We need to know how to use a thesaurus, and we need to know how to apply the rules of the English language to our manuscripts. That is how we all improve, and I am including myself here! And worse, using this feature can (and has) decrease the quality of a good manuscript…by presenting the writer with bad and inappropriate choices, by ripping out much-needed punctuation, and on and on and on.

   6.3: Make backups of your work and store them far away from your computer on CDs, DVDs, floppy disks, stone tablets, or whatever else you prefer. Printing hard copies and storing them in your desk is not a bad idea. Losing hundred of pages because of a computer crash will make you cry like a little girl. Trust me. I know from experience.

   6.4: Your e-mail address, the message on your home answering machine, and the message on your cell phone MUST be created with Rule Number 1 fully and completely in the front of your mind. If your e-mail is musclecar@whatever.com, I urge you to change it right now, unless all you intend to write about are muscle cars for muscle car magazines. If that is the case, then you are okay. Otherwise, please see Rule Number 1.

   Okay, enough on technology…

7. Do not include a resume, a glossy photo of your best side, or any other extra information to the editor of a journal or magazine. The manuscript and the query letter will do.
8. The query letter should be short. Key phrases to include in it will be: I have read your journal…, I have bought your magazine, My publications include…. And if you have a personal contact at the publication SAY IT! Say it loud. Say it proud.
9. Include a SASE, short for self-addressed stamped envelope. And be sure your e-mail address is on your cover letter and/or manuscript.
10. Use standard U.S. postage stamps when mailing your manuscript and on your SASE. Unless you are actually in love with the editor, do not use Love stamps. The same is true for cartoon characters, automobiles, historical figures, and yes-even stamps of your favorite writers. Again, I refer you to Rule Number 1 on this list.
11. Paying Money to Enter a Contest: In addition to submitting your prose and poetry as unsolicited manuscripts, you may want to consider contests. And more and more contests require a fee ($15 to $30). In return, nearly all of the fees include a yearly subscription to the publication in question. To Pay or Not to Pay (& participate!) is the question that you must answer. This year, I identified 15 contests, charging about $20 each in fees. I chose the most appropriate seven for my short story, reducing the cost. While I did not win those contests, literary journals have started arriving at my somewhat-rural Tennessee doorstep. The experience was okay for me, but you will need to approach this topic with caution, unless you are wealthy or happen to be married to someone working within the health profession.
12. Never send your unsolicited manuscript via certified mail. Certified mail is held for signature at the post office, requiring someone from the editor’s office to go on a time-consuming round trip journey.
13. Word Count: Never send more that the maximum word count. If a journal’s maximum word count for a short story is 6,000 words and your story has 6,005 words, take out five words BEFORE printing and mailing it to the editor.
14. I believe deep in my heart that you will obey Rule Number 2, so, we do not need to talk about other aspects of the manuscript, like margins, spacing, and so on. Right? Well, not really. I have seen some well-known journals that do not include these things on their guidelines. As a result, there are some universal rules that you should use if none are specifically identified. And these hold true for submitting anything to the Writer’s Loft contest and journal. When in doubt, use the following:
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    • 8 ½ x 11 paper. (White paper, of course.)
    • As high a cotton content in the paper that you are willing to purchase.
    • Typed. Typed. Typed.
    • Double-spaced for prose. Single-spaced for poetry.
    • 12-point type, i.e.: the size of the letters.
    • Times New Roman font style/type. Courier or New Courier is okay, as well.
    • A one-inch margin at the top, bottom, left, and right.
    • Your name and contact info at the top left of the first page of the manuscript.
    • At the top right of the first page, put the word count and the rights you are offering. Normally, they will be First North American Serial Rights.
    • Starting with page two, either in the header or footer, number the pages consecutively along with the work’s title. Instead of the title, many writers include their last name. Your choice.
    • Use paper clips, not staples.
    • Do not include an electronic copy of your piece on a floppy disk or CD.

So the curtain has been pulled back, and you now possess the not-so-secret rules to improving your publishing odds. A bad submission will kill a great piece of writing, and you had better believe it. One of the largest value adds to being in the Loft is the ability to test-drive your writing career in an environment that will hold your hand through the process and teach you how to appropriately submit your work to contests and journals. These rules are presented in this spirit. Use them as you go forth into the world’s literary community. And certainly, please use them with the Loft, as well.

R. L. Burkhead is a writer and editor in Nashville, Tenn. After earning a Master of Fine Arts in Writing degree from Spalding University in Louisville, Ky., he went on at Middle Tennessee State University to create The Writer’s Loft. R. L. spends his days writing for the corporate world while trying to stay awake long enough at night to write fiction.