- What’s goin’ on over here?
When I’m reading submissions for a magazine, there are a couple easy ways to lose my respect as a reader:
#1: If you’re writing poetry and the first letter of each line is capitalized, I’m already judging you more harshly.
#2: If you use the wrong form of “there,” “their,” or “they’re,” or other such careless typos, my nose is wrinkling.
I’m not saying, if you do either of the above things, that I won’t read your submission, I’ll just make that face that says, “I don’t know about this guy,” while I’m reading it, which, come on, isn’t gonna help you get your piece accepted.
Submitting to Oranges and Sardines recently, I learned Didi Menendez can’t take poems seriously that are centered on the page.
As readers of slush piles, as I know many of you are, what makes you immediately suspicious of the quality of a piece of work you’re reading?
Maybe if we get them all out in the open, we can all love each other.