Format question

[madelinemasoch]

Is that an exhortation or an invitation?

Just an expression of frustration.

I've submitted it now. I never had issues with pasting into the form, but I wanted to keep the italics, so I used file submission. When I paste into the form the site does the line work itself.

 

[BobbyLaker]

Probably adding little to the responses provided thus far but for what it's worth:

I draft in Google Docs (for portability) then copy to Word (as plain text) for editing, spell check etc. including with Grammarly. I don't do any fancy formatting using Word's own tools but do add the subset of HTML tags permitted by Lit e.g. for center, bold etc.

Once happy (enough) with the editing; I copy/paste the whole shebang (as plain text} into Lit's submission pane then save/preview and check for formatting before, finally, hitting [Submit]. I prefer this to uploading a doc/docx as they, inevitably, contain lots of crap/metadata which adds nothing to the text itself and may result in a rejection for misformatting.

TTFN

 

[ElectricBlue]

Just an expression of frustration.

I've submitted it now. I never had issues with pasting into the form, but I wanted to keep the italics, so I used file submission. When I paste into the form the site does the line work itself.

But you were so polite .

If you copy paste with the html in it <i>text</i> the preview shows if you got it right. Same with bold and underline. If you cock it up, you can edit in the Form.

It's idiot proof. That's why I use it.

 

[PennameWombat]

Probably adding little to the responses provided thus far but for what it's worth:

I draft in Google Docs (for portability) then copy to Word (as plain text) for editing, spell check etc. including with Grammerly. I don't do any fancy formatting using Word's own tools but do add the subset of HTML tags permitted by Lit e.g. for center, bold etc.

Once happy (enough) with the editing; I copy/paste the whole shebang (as plain text} into Lit's submission pane then save/preview for formatting before, finally, hitting [Submit]. I prefer this to uploading a doc/docx as they, inevitably, contain lots of crap/metadata which adds nothing to the text itself and may result in a rejection for misformatting.

TTFN

I almost follow the same path. I do my writing on Google Docs, then download the completed version to my laptop in Word ".docx" format. I use Libre Office to do a final proofreading pass, then save it in Word ".doc" (Word 2003) format. And then I submit the ".doc" file.

To your point about "crap/metadata". No. Word files go through just fine. Every one of my submissions, except one, has been done that way (the one that wasn't, I was travelling and only had my iPad, so used the text window). I use "H3" for headers, and they appear bolded, but correctly. I've used Word's ordered and unordered lists, they've resolved correctly, same with the rare italics I use. I've never needed to use a text file with HTML markup to get the features.

I've had a story kicked back for underage reference, but never formatting issues. And while I've had the odd delay, my recent Lit 25th Anniversary stories took under 24 hours to be approved, all were .doc files. and all appear online as I expected them to.

The one caveat, is that I'm aware of the limited formatting that the published stories use, so I don't try to do anything in Google Docs/Word beyond the above. I don't use multiple levels of Word headers, I don't use multiple columns, I don't bother with widow/orphan control or look for runts or anything. I also avoid paragraph indentation and just double-space paragraphs.

Note that I did see a recent thread here where their .doc file was kicked back, but apparently because they'd been using Word's Comments (I think) and hadn't stripped or cleaned those. So, sure, if you're going to use Docs or Word edit or markup, you need to resolve to a final view.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Grammerly

Heh.

 

[BobbyLaker]

Heh.

Just checking you were awake

 

[madelinemasoch]

Does deleting and resubmitting as a textbox instead of a file help at all or hinder the process?

 

[Bamagan]

Does deleting and resubmitting as a textbox instead of a file help at all or hinder the process?

It'll probably hinder, at least in the sense that either as an edit or a new story it will get kicked to the back of the submission queue and make it less likely that you'll meet the deadline you were hoping for.

 

[madelinemasoch]

It'll probably hinder, at least in the sense that either as an edit or a new story it will get kicked to the back of the submission queue and make it less likely that you'll meet the deadline you were hoping for.

I mean because usually textbox submissions for me only take a day to process and then another to publish. This one is at almost 24 hrs in pending while using the file submission instead. Maybe I should've sent both

 

[ElectricBlue]

Does deleting and resubmitting as a textbox instead of a file help at all or hinder the process?

Each "new" submission starts again, I think. You go to the back of the queue. Once you get to the front, it might be quicker with the textbox, because there's no further processing to be done.

I've gone through the gamut of submitting .doc .txt .rtf files over the years, but eventually had hassles with every type. Since I started using the textbox maybe four years ago, I've never had format issues (unless caused by me), and my stories have gone through in 1 - 3 days. Except once, when there was a contest running, but I wasn't in it.

 

[alohadave]

I mean because usually textbox submissions for me only take a day to process and then another to publish. This one is at almost 24 hrs in pending while using the file submission instead. Maybe I should've sent both

Don't forget that we are in the middle of the Holidays competition (not just an event), so she's prioritizing those submissions. It may take extra time for her to clear the normal queue.

 

[Paul_Chance]

In terms of smooth submissions - I write in Microsoft Word, then cut and paste into the textbox, then preview. I don't use any text mark up (italics, bold, underline, etc.). Submissions have never taken more than two days to publish.

 

[madelinemasoch]

The story is coming out on Thursday. Thank you all!