Deadline Dates for Submissions

 

'Nothing makes me more productive than the last minute.' So says our poster for today. Haven't we all been there rushing like crazy to make a deadline or get ready for company in our home or to have a report prepared for a meeting? Any number of things catch us in a busy world, so we put it off until there is no more time for doing so.

Many contests or publications give a deadline date for when submissions will be accepted. We have good intentions, but sometimes we wait until the last minute to get a piece ready to submit, get it in just under the line, and sigh with relief.

You did it, but it may not be the best way. When an editor gives a deadline date, he/she has read hundreds, maybe more, submissions before those final ones slip in. Maybe the editor has already found the right number he/she needs, or perhaps the judge for a contest has read several entries before yours arrives. The latecomers will need to be outstanding to be given full attention. 

Chicken Soup for the Soul editors urge writers to submit early. They have often selected the stories they like best long before the deadline. If yours arrives the day before the last date, it will need to be an excellent story to make the cut. 

We know what the deadline date is, but we keep putting off getting our submission ready. There are other things calling to us. 'I'll do it later.' runs through our head. Our intentions are good, but later gets 'later and later.' That nasty little word, procrastination, comes into play here.

Do I always get my submissions in early? Not 100%. I'm as human as you are. It seems to be human nature to put things off, at least for a good many people. Perhaps we take in how important it is to us. I've been to a few conferences where writers have given presentations that were obviously not well prepared ahead of time. They probably put it altogether the night before. That's not fair to the audience members, or really, to themselves. When a writer presents, they are giving the world an impression of who they are. 

That old Girl Scout motto, 'Be prepared,' might be adopted by writers, too. 

If a deadline date is close, but you have something to submit, should you back away and not send it? I don't think so. It's better to submit late than not at all. But next time...