So, my story was rejected...

[LustiRusti]

(This thread is in case some of you don't go back to my "Yeay!" thread...)

The "reason" was that the format was not acceptable. Well, on the submission page Lit says .RTF ("rich text") files are acceptable.

I know I can copy/paste my story into the box provided on the submissions page, but I wanted my formatting the way it was. Even if "most readers of Lit don't care about formatting", I do. I used " * * * " (centered) to show scene changes, similar to published novel and story writers. Also, once in a while one word was italicized to put a special emphasis on it.

I really don't want to reformat my story as it is my "work of art". Is there anything else I can do? I don't have MS Word on my computer, so I cannot submit a .DOC file. I do, however, have Word Pad (which is a .RTF file). Now what?



P.S.

According to Lit's submission guide...

There are two ways to submit your story. You may paste the text into the box below or you may upload a .txt, .rtf, or Word .doc file by scrolling down the page to the next form field. Please use only one method - do not put text in the box and submit a file as both may be lost.

It even says that .RTF and .DOC files will take longer for Lit to add than a plain text file because of the special formattings (such as italic text).

So, if Lit claims they will and do accept .RTF files, but mine was rejected, why?

 

[MathGirl]

So, if Lit claims they will and do accept .RTF files, but mine was rejected, why?

Dear RL,
I've found that Lit is not a good place to post stories with any kind of fancy formatting. It seems like a blank line between paragraphs is on the cutting edge of format technology around here.

I write in .rtf, but I don't use any formatting. When I use "save as" to convert it to .txt, Lit seems pleased with it.
MG
Ps. Occasionally I throw caution completely to the wind and use imbedded HTML commands for italics, but that's about as exotic as I ever get. Woo woo woo

 

[gauchecritic]

Our life is forfeit our art is sacrifice. If you want the story posted you just have to follow the rules. As far as I know even rich text will have its formatting stripped in order to appear on a Lit. page.


Now if I can just remember what I meant about art and sacrifice I could make this into a really intelligible post. Ah me.

Gauche

 

[Jenny _S]

The "reason" was that the format was not acceptable. Well, on the submission page Lit says .RTF ("rich text") files are acceptable.

Kinda sucks, don't it. That's why I write with no special formatting at all and just paste mine.

Don't be disheartened, Kenze

 

[MlledeLaPlumeBleu]

If you're really determined to keep the formatting, you can send it as an attachment via email.

That means that Laurel will need to manually process and format it. I do this each time I submit, because my browser hates the Lit upload system. Laurel knows this and I get a normal response time- but normally- here's the kicker- this kind of submission takes WEEKS to post

If you want to do that, simply enter all the story information, title and description on the upload page, just like before, and then, in the "special instructions" box, write "story submitted via email." Then send it immediately, with an agreeing subjest line and your Lit name.

It will take a long time, but that's Hobson's choice. Forgo some formatting and see a quick post, or wait several weeks.

Mlle

 

[LustiRusti]

Thank you all for the advice and comments. I had a PM from Laurel saying to try it again, so I will. If it doesn't work this time, I may try the e-mail way before stripping my story and rewriting it.


~Kenzie

 

[gauchecritic]

~Kenzie

Love that name.

Gauche

 

[LustiRusti]

Kenzie or LustiRusti?

 

[gauchecritic]

Kenzie. It was a blokes name when I read it in a sci-fi book first. Nice Girlie name though, now I think about it.

Gauche

 

[LustiRusti]

It's short for MacKenzie, my name.

 

[gauchecritic]

It's short for MacKenzie, my name.

Which confuses me more (surname? given? middle?) Doesn't matter though.

A teacher at my son's school had what I thought was a charming name: Sellwood. I asked her what her surname was. She replied "Sellwood". Hmm. Sellwood Sellwood. She didn't like her 'given' name and had been referred to as Sellwood since a child. And it was much nicer than her given name.

Gauche

 

[LustiRusti]

Mackenzie is my first name. I come from an Irish family, and I guess my mom wanted to "prove" that in our names. I have a sister named Meagan.


~Kenzie

 

[curious2c]

Ummm...to get back on subject...

I usually post in .txt format since two other places I post at will accept txt files readily. I would like to go with my own format at times...but my stories usually look pretty good as they show up. I decided to let the publisher have the worries of format while I worry about writing. Seems to work for me.

 

[LustiRusti]

Well, I already went through my submission and changed it all to plain text.


~Kenzie

 

[Jenny _S]

Awww...

Well, I already went through my submission and changed it all to plain text.


~Kenzie

I've been following this, Kenzie. It's sad that text formatting is such a derisive problem on Lit. I've run into a number of places where I really needed but as you discovered, it's a bigger headache than it's worth.

Looking forward to reading your story though even without the text format.

 

[LustiRusti]

Thanks Jenny!


~Kenzie

 

[SlickTony]

I had no problems with stories being accepted with italics in them, but when they put the html coding in, they forgot to close one tag and a bunch of stuff came out in Italics I hadn't intended. After that I wrote the story in plain text and put in my own html coding and haven't had any more trouble.

 

[SlickTony]

I had no problems with stories being accepted with italics in them, but on one story, when they put the html coding in, they forgot to close one tag and a bunch of stuff came out in Italics I hadn't intended. After that I wrote the story in plain text and put in my own html coding and haven't had any more trouble.

 

[SlickTony]

I had no problems with stories being accepted with italics in them, but on one story, when they put the html coding in, they forgot to close one tag and a bunch of stuff came out in Italics I hadn't intended. After that I wrote the story in plain text and put in my own html coding and haven't had any more trouble.

 

[gauchecritic]

Allright we heard you the first time.

Gauche

 

[MathGirl]

Quite an echo in here.
MG

 

[LorriLove]

mm

in here

 

[Guest]

Lorri, love:

I appreciate a woman who can find the lascivious in anything.

Good to see you, Perdita

 

[SlickTony]

I don't know what happened there.

 

[Dirty Slut]

Ouch!

Did I really say that? LOL

DS