Yes!! This is no time for social graces. For the love of all that is literary, open them!
SUBMISSION READY STORY TEMPLATE
This is a Word template formatted to conform to general submission guidelines and be gentle on editors’ eyes. Once downloaded, it will save to your “templates” folder. Each time you click the document, it will open a fresh .docx with identical formatting. You can either start writing directly in the document, or copy and paste writing from elsewhere (remember to select “Keep Text Only” from the Paste menu). Feel free to customize it using the specific parameters of your favourite publications.
COVER LETTER BOILERPLATE
Cover letters aren’t always necessary with the advent of electronic submissions. But when they are, it sucks to be scrambling to describe your work and yourself at the eleventh hour. This Microsoft Word boilerplate will help you evade blank page syndrome and even do as your final copy in a pinch.
SUBMISSION TRACKING DASHBOARD
I’ve created a simple Excel submission tracking spreadsheet for you to download below. Oooor, you can use the Chill Subs Tracker and help them collect more accurate data for their directory of submission-worthy publications by signing up and tracking your submissions with them (it’s free and honestly much cooler than mine).
On the topic of social graces, relaxation of, I have a request. Unlike with presents from real people in real life, I want your critical feedback. If one of these templates doesn’t work for you for some reason, I want to know! Just shoot me an email, and I’ll get back to you ASAP with a plan for improvements.
Lisa
Your short story editor.