I know many of you have done this, some of you several times, but this is my first, and I have a couple of questions on addressing the envelopes:
1) Does it make any difference if the address is hand written in ink or done with a printer on the mailing envelope?
And 2) Should the return address on the SASE be the same as the mailing address on the mailing envelope? Or should I even put one on?
Geez, I hope that made sense!
I'm planning on mailing my entry tomorrow and just want to make sure I'm doing everything right.
Posted by genevive42 (Member # 8714) on :
I've only done it once but I can't imagine the address being hand-written as a problem. The manuscript is logged and sorted and the people making the judgments never see the envelopes. And for the SASE, I only ever put my address and no return address.
Just make sure your story is good and the manuscript neat and you should be fine.
If you're near the contest's word limit of 17,000 words check out discussion that took place last quarter in 'WotF Q02' Groups. You cannot use your word processor's word count if you're too close to the limit, you might be over by their standards. E-mail me if you're concerned about this.
Other than that, Congrats and Good Luck.
Posted by axeminister (Member # 8991) on :
1) I doubt that matters. I just wrote it on the front. Then again... I still haven't gotten my confirmation and I mailed over a month ago.
2) I addressed it from me to me. I believe that's standard.
Axe
Posted by skadder (Member # 6757) on :
Yay! Good luck. A few people have won first entry...
Posted by TrishaH24 (Member # 8673) on :
Good luck! Fingers crossed for you!
Posted by Crystal Stevens (Member # 8006) on :
You folks are the greatest. Thank you so much for the advice and the well wishes. I found one small error on my manuscript. I used "know" instead of "no", of all things. Once that's corrected, my story will be in the mail tomorrow. Yaaaayyyyy!!!
Posted by dee_boncci (Member # 2733) on :
Congrats and good luck!
Posted by Violent Harvest (Member # 9038) on :
If you being considered in the contest depends on whether you hand-wrote the address on your SASE or not, then you did something wrong with the writing, know what I mean? Just my 2 cents.
Posted by Brad R Torgersen (Member # 8211) on :
Editors won't care if the address on the envelope or the SASE is hand-written, as long as it's neatly done. I use a black sharpie marker for all my envelopes and SASE. And yes, the only address on the SASE that matters, is yours; the return address. Some markets will stamp their own address in the top left corner.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Unless you've got a special label printer hooked up to your computer, I wouldn't recommend trying to print up just one or two labels on a regular printer...small sheets jam and big sheets are no good for just a couple...I use one of my old typewriters to write up the labels for where I'm sending it to, and, for the return address labels, I ran off a nine-by-twelve (approx.) sheet and I use them till I run out...
Posted by Merlion-Emrys (Member # 7912) on :
I know bugger all about the WOTF proccess but I just wanted to say its great to see you getting stuff out there Crystal. Keep it up. Submit, submit, submit. Then pause for breath. Then submit some more.
Posted by Crystal Stevens (Member # 8006) on :
Thanks again everyone. I sent it out on May 15th.
I feel I've learned my lesson when it comes to crits, too. You can't please everyone, and someone will always find something wrong somewhere in your story. So from now on I'll ask for a few crits, correct what I feel needs to be corrected and send my story in. I'm already working on another story that I feel has a lot of promise. Once I smooth out the last half of it, I'll be asking for crits.
Posted by TamesonYip (Member # 9072) on :
I think that one of the hardest things about writing is the crit process. Some people are wrong about what is best for your story, sometimes they are right in that there is a problem but the have slightly misidentified the problem and other people are right on. Figuring out which is which is hard.
Critting other people's stories, I also realize how much is just personal. For example, some people like lots of description, some people hate it. Do you read Robert Jordan or Hemingway normally? Figuring out what is personal and what is not is hard and having confidence in your choices is hard too. It is hard to say this is my story and I want it to be this way and to heck with critiques because what if the critiques were right?