E-Subs?

I'm surprised the sites don't get very, very specific on how they want their electronic submissions formatted. Some want an attachment, some will delete attachments unread, some want the entire story in the body of an e-mail, some want ASCHII (or whatever it's called) formatting... it all depends.

If they really are being that vague, an editor should respond to an email query asking for specifics. I wouldn't send out something electronically the way *you* think they'd want it; too risky.

Off the top of my head, I believe every story I've had published has been the result of an e-submission, which includes several print magazines. Good luck, and double-check those websites for submission specifics.

Edit: Which reminds me, are you positive the magazines will even accept e-subs? Don't email an MS or query unless they say it's okay.

When I finish editing a story and it's ready to go out for submissions, I format it right then and there. That is to say, it's double-spaced, information on the top of the first page, all of that jazz.

When I send out an e-sub, I send out that file, so it goes out submitted anyway.

I would include it as an attachment unless they say they don't want those. If they're against attachments (and some are, for security reason) then they'll usually be against it enough that they'll tell you so.

Put everything in standard manuscript format and save it as a .doc file or an .rtf one, then send one of those as an attachment to your e-mail unless:

1. the guidelines specify otherwise

in which case you

2. send what the guidelines ask for.

Some publications are quite specific about what they want, and how they want it. Others aren’t. Most of the e-sub guidelines I’ve seen want .rtf files sent as attachments, but still others ask for stories in the body of e-mails. Others say that if you put the stories in the body of e-mails, they will be deleted, unread. Still others say that e-mails with attachments will be deleted, unread.

So, it really is a matter of doing #2, above. Really.

Best of luck.

Sheesh.



Unless they want more, I usually say something like My name is Pete Tzinski. Attached to this e-mail is my 5,600 word science fiction story "Shun the Non-Believer." I have recently had pieces published in SoandSo and Whatserface, with an upcoming piece in TheUglyOne. Thank you for your time

Just keep it basic.

What Pete said - I submit electronically all the time, and I keep it very short & sweet. I usually mention that it is an original unpublished story to differentiate it from a reprint. I always mention reprints' original publication & date, if it's a reprint sub. I also mention word count if the guidelines have mentioned it as a limit.

Aha, sez he, squinting one eye to the size of a pea...

My e-sub cover letters have largely been super-duper short. Something like this:

Of course an example might help, so here’s one:

Ah.

Me too, what they said.

I generally don't say what the story is about. Should I? I usually just put my name, title of work, word count, pleasent signoff.

E-subs

Attached subs use standard print format. In the body subs, however, should not be indented, and there should be an extra space between paragraphs, exactly as posts are made in this forum.