You've written, revised, and edited your story. Now, it's time to send it to an editor with great hope that he/she will want to publish it. You study markets and find several that might work and send your submission. Within a short time, the rejection letter comes. Why? What went wrong? You thought it was a good story.
One reason might be that you didn't follow the Guidelines the publication specified. You might say "So what? It was a good story; that's all that counts." Writing a good story is important but not all that counts.
Those guidelines are there to do just what the word implies. They 'guide' you through the submission process. Guidelines tell you what the publication wants and what it does not want. It's up to you to make sure your submission fits within the lines.
We have large numbers of publications that writers can submit to, and they all offer different parameters. The range goes from absolutely none to lengthy, detailed guidelines. Some writers much prefer those publications that give no guidelines. "Don't have to deal with all that!" The problem with having nothing to help you is that your submission can come flying back with a big NO. It's possible you'll get a note from the editor explaining why, but I wouldn't count on it. If the editorial staff cannot be bothered to present writers with a set of guidelines, they are not likely to bother with telling you why your piece was rejected.
Publications that do offer a set of guidelines vary in length and detail. Some offer a mere few lines telling you what they expect, while others give a very long, numbered list of what they want and sometimes what they do not want.
Recently, I received an email from a friend who forwarded the Call for Submissions from Hope Clark's Funds for Writers website. Long? yes! Detailed? yes! Ms. Clark tells writers what she wants, what she does not want, then provides a list of Hints that will help them receive an acceptance. Payment is highlighted followed by a final checklist. I assume she sends out a lot of rejections because some writers were not willing to check and double-check the guidelines.
I've often suggested Chicken Soup for the Soul as a market for writers. This anthology series offers probably the longest and most detailed guidelines of any I have seen. They tell you what kind of story they want, the type they do not want, and much more. You'll need to spend time going through the list, just as you would with the Funds for Writers noted above.
Not only reading but studying those lengthy guidelines is to your benefit. You can benefit by checking to see if your story fits. Once you are ready to submit, go back one more time and do a checklist to see if you've covered all the bases. Doing so gives your story a much better chance. Don't follow two, three, or more of the guidelines, and your story will be tossed in a hurry which is a shame after all the hard work you put into writing it.
I much prefer the publications that give me explicit guidelines to follow. Yes, it's more work for me to check and recheck them, but it also gives me a better chance of being accepted. When I find a market that gives me no guidelines, not even a word count requirement, I find that I am not totally sure that my story fits their publication. It helps to read back issues but not always.
Are all editors curmudgeons who will toss your story for not following just one teeny-tiny requirement? I think that, if they like your story a lot, they will bend a little. It's the writers who submit without following the majority of the guidelines that they won't give a second nod to.
Pesky as it might be, take time to read and study guidelines before you submit your work.
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