Submitting #2 - Create a check-list

While you may or may not be the sort who creates an Outline for their stories as mentioned in Helpful Tip #4 (above), you should always create a check-list. It doesn't need to be elaborate but it should cover a few important details of your story that you need to check off while you are writing and then during the read-through prior to submission.

It should include things like the below. Note, these are just suggestions and, depending on your story, you may need to do different ones or adjust them to suit the genre you are writing in and the book you've created.

• Character names - Are they spelled the same from front to back of your book?
• Character descriptions - Did you provide any and are they consistent throughout the book?
• Location descriptions - Did you, at any point, provide a specific location or locations and give details appropriate of the setting? Are these consistent - especially in any place repeatedly visited like an office or home?
• Story building - Do you have a plot twist or conflict to resolve?
• Resolutions - Were your twists and conflicts resolved? Did the resolution make sense for the book world you just created?
• The end - Did your story have a good solid ending? Are you going to leave your readers satisfied or frustrated and annoyed?

There you go, the most basic of check-lists for your story. You will likely have others that will make it on the list, and well you should, this shows that you are growing as an author and finding your stride.

But there are a couple other things you should do before submitting and these - oh boy are they ever - are a must.

• Spell check
• Grammar check
• Read through front to back to ensure the story flows and there are no odd leaps in time or changes in location. For example - you started a scene in bed but they suddenly end up in the bathtub halfway through the scene.
• No use of Trademarked (TM) or Registered Trademarked (R) product or item names - things like the Internet don't count, things like Pepsi and Coke do count and are no-no's to most publishers. Again, if you're unsure of your particular publishers restrictions on such things - ask. Some will put in disclaimers at the beginning/end of a book about the use of such Trademarked and Registered items for the purposes of the story. If this is a case you will need to make them a list of all of these items so they can properly cover their legal basis.
• No use of song lyrics, but the mentioning of a song name with the singer/group given mention in the same line is usually permissible - again, ask your publisher their stance on this to be safe.

That should, for the most part, cover a lot of things you need to attend to prior to your submission. It will also reassure your publisher that you are serious about your work and generally make them a little happier to deal with you. After this all you have to do is wait for the dreaded edits. The point in every author's life where they discover that they know next to nothing about the English language.

But that is a different subject for a different post.

The Moderator