HOT OFF THE PRESS! We love to share our information with writers, and we’re happy to pass some of our INSIDER’S SECRETS along to you. Feel free to print these posts to use as a reference. Pass the links along to your writer friends. It’s packed with great information. DEADLINE-DATED lists of anthologies, theme issues, and contests are included at no charge!

In This Issue:

* * If the manuscript you're ready to submit isn't error-free, you MUST read our information on PERFECTING YOUR PERSONAL PROOFREADING, which will benefit all writers who want to submit their best work.

* * Use GENDER-NEUTRAL LANGUAGE in your writing. We'll show you how.

* * Do you want to get your submissions in the mail by next week? Our A LA CARTE SERVICE is quick, easy, and affordable. Read more here: http://www.WritersReliefBlog.com/post/Our-A-La-Carte-Service.aspx.  

* * Can't figure out how to paginate your manuscript or add headers according to industry-standard format requirements? We make it simple for you in HEADER HELP.

* *  If you've ever had CONTRACTION CONFUSION (most writers DO; in fact, "its versus it's" is THE most common error we come across), we'll help you clear it up.

* * Are you a good writer but a terrible record keeper? Do you know where your submissions are on any given day? Read SUCCESSFUL RECORD KEEPING—BABY STEPS.

* * DO YOU HAVE AN ARTICLE FOR OUR NEWSFLASH? For guidelines, visit http://WritersReliefBlog.com/post/Do-You-Have-An-Article-For-Our-Newsflash.aspx.

* * LOTS OF HELP for CHILDREN’S BOOK AUTHORS—100 CONTACTS and Everything You Need To Know To Submit Your Children’s Book. Click this link to get our insider's tips and tricks: http://www.WritersReliefBlog.com/post/For-Childrens-Book-Authors.aspx.

* * You won’t find a better list anywhere (AND IT’S FREE!) of upcoming ANTHOLOGIES, SPECIAL-THEMED JOURNALS, and CONTESTS. Visit: http://WritersReliefBlog.com/post/Anthologies-Contests.aspx.

↓Scroll Down to Read These Exciting and Useful Articles!!↓

At Writer’s Relief, we offer proofreading services to writers of books, novels, stories, poems, and essays. If you would like to learn how to be a better professional proofreader or how to do a better job of proofreading your own writing, keep reading our helpful tips!

1. Proof your work both electronically AND by hard copy. Electronically, you can spot formatting errors and use the spell-check function. And it's easier to read a print-out than to read from the computer screen, thereby catching those errors that the eye is most likely to skip over.

2. Choose a time of day when you're most alert and fresh. Take a hard copy of your work, a red pen or pencil, and read through one time, word for word. Run a pen or your finger along as you go to avoid skipping two-letter words and to avoid skipping from one obvious error to the next and ignoring the words between. Make corrections or notations as you go.

3. Bear in mind your own most common mistakes and then proofread for those specific errors. For example, if you have difficulty with comma placement, proof for punctuation only. Then proof again, concentrating on another troublesome area such as run-on sentences or dialogue. If you're not sure of your own "trouble areas," have someone else read your work and flag the most common errors.

4. Check boilerplate text, headers, footers, and text in tiny font—all areas that tend to get skipped over.

5. Be prepared to look it up. Use a standard dictionary (Merriam-Webster, for example) and double-check hyphenated words (non-existent or nonexistent?) and the correct spelling of foreign places or historical figures; the Internet is a great tool for looking up brand names (Jell-O), pop culture references, or song lyrics.

6. Proofread electronically by running your spell-check program. Although the spelling function is fallible (it won't flag "form" as incorrect if you meant to use "from"), it does catch misspellings that the eye often can't.

7. Check for formatting errors. Turn on the "view ¶" function to check for spacing, indents, etc. Check the margins. Turn on View, "Reveal Codes" to check for problems in codes. You can use the find and replace function to find mistakes that are likely made repeatedly. (Search for "it" if you want to check for "its" versus "it's" throughout.)

8. Be sure to take breaks between steps, giving your eyes a fresh perspective each pass through.

9. Read your work aloud. This forces you to slow down and hear the difference between what you wrote and what you meant to write.

We are pleased to offer more information about proofing your own work and making a living in the proofreading industry. Writer’s Relief can proofread, format, and market your writing to literary journals, magazines, and book agents.

Every language has its own rules for handling gendered terms and male or female pronouns (for example, Spanish nouns and articles are either masculine or feminine). In the English language, we must choose gender-neutral and nonsexist language whenever possible. But how can we substitute non-gendered terms for gendered ones? How do we know if a phrase is sexist? How can we avoid issues of sexism and gender in our writing? And of course, how can we rewrite a sentence without using he or she?

How To Use Gender-free Terms When Writing Or Speaking:

1. To avoid saying he or she (or his or her), use the plural form for both nouns and pronouns.
Avoid: An effective teacher uses various strategies in his classroom.
Use: Effective teachers use various strategies in their classrooms.

2. Omit the pronoun.
Avoid: Each teacher will send one of his students to the assembly.
Use: Each teacher will send a student to the assembly.

3. Use his or her, he or she, or s/he when it is necessary to stress the action of an individual. This will be awkward if used too often. (Vary pronoun choice when possible.)
Avoid: If the student is unhappy with his grade, he will discuss it with the instructor.
Use: If the student is unhappy with the grade, he or she will discuss it with the instructor.

4. Change the third-person (she) to the second-person (you) or (you understood) when this change is appropriate for what you are writing.
Avoid: Each teacher should send in his grades by June 15.
Use: All grades must be sent in by June 15.

5. Use alternatives to language that trivializes or reinforces stereotypes.
Avoid: My girl will take the message.
Use: I will ask my assistant to take that message.

6. Treat men and women the same way when addressing them or alluding to them.
Avoid: Senator Chuck Schumer and Mrs. Bill Clinton attended the hearing.
Use: Senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton attended the hearing.

List Of Terms In Sexist Language And Alternative Word Choices
It is important to avoid exclusionary forms. The following words can be easily substituted with other words or expressions:

mankind: humanity or people
man the deck: staff the deck
chairman: chair
congressman: congresswoman
mailman: mail carrier
actress: actor
ladies: women
girls: women
stewardess: flight attendant
Miss or Mrs.: Ms.

To read more about sexist and gendered language, please feel free to visit these Writer’s Relief links: Using Sensitive Language, Savvy Salutations: How To Write “Dear Someone” In A Query Letter, How To Properly Use The Terms "Ladies" And "Gentlemen" In Your Writing.

Formatting your creative writing for submission can be frustrating. Have you ever wondered  how to create a header in Microsoft Word without said header being on the first page? Have you ever wondered how to create a header without having to type in every single page number? If you’re submitting novels, poems, stories, or essays to literary agents or editors of literary journals, you’ll need to know how to properly format headers. Here are step-by-step instructions to create headers in Word:

1. In the View menu, click Header and Footer.

2. In the Header and Footer toolbar, click Page Setup (looks like an open book).

3. Click on the Layout tab.

4. Check the "Different first page" box, then click OK.

5. Go back into the first-page header and delete the text.

If you still find yourself frustrated by formatting issues and manuscript preparation, our expert proofreading staff can help. We will carefully proofread your submissions, format your novel, short story, or poetry to industry standards, and fix formatting issues (like creating headers and footers, correcting pagination, and adjusting margins). Your work will have the professional touch that editors and literary agents are looking for!

What are contractions, and how do you use contractions correctly? Contractions are words that use apostrophes to indicate that letters and/or numbers have been omitted. Below is a list to help you lean which is correct: it’s or its, your or you’re, and whose or who’s; and you’ll also learn whether to use an apostrophe 1) when you’re writing a year, 2) when you’re writing plural words like women’s or children’s, 3) when to use an apostrophe for abbreviations like CDs, 4) and more! 

Its vs. it’s 

Its is possessive; i.e., "Its nose was large." It's is the contraction for it is. “It's the biggest I've ever seen.”

Your vs. you’re

Again, your is possessive; i.e., "Pick up your bike or you're going to be in trouble." You're is the contraction for you are.

Whose vs. who’s

Whose is possessive; i.e., "Whose books are on the floor?" Who's is the contraction for who is; i.e., "Guess who's coming for dinner?"

Dates

'60 is the contraction for 1960. Always remember to reverse the apostrophe when the beginning of a word or number is omitted. (To reverse the apostrophe, enter it twice; then delete the first apostrophe so it will curve the correct way.)

Apostrophes are also used when forming plurals of lowercase letters, i.e., i's and t's. The reason for this is more appearance than grammatical. Below are some examples.

Still confused? For more articles and tips on grammar and punctuation, sign up for our FREE newsletter or give us a call to see how Writer’s Relief can help proofread and format your creative writing.

Keeping track of submissions to literary agents and editors can be confusing, especially if you’re submitting your creative writing on a regular basis. At Writer’s Relief, we know how difficult it can be to stay on top of the submission process. An integral part of our service includes keeping careful track of our clients’ submissions.

If you want to learn how to organize and track your own submissions, follow these simple steps to error-free record keeping, and you'll never need to guess again.

The Cover Letter

Believe it or not, one of the keys to successful record keeping is a properly prepared cover letter. In the body of the cover letter, it is most important to include the title(s) of the work you are sending for consideration. Be sure the letter also includes your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address. This is the first step to organizing your work. And the key to successfully keeping track of your own work? Make a copy of each and every cover letter.

Invest in a portable file box and a small set of hanging files. Label each one as follows: Open Cover Letters, Closed Cover Letters, and Accepted Work. Keep your cover letters in alphabetical order by journal name. (You can also set up an additional file for journal research information you may have printed from the Internet or have received in the mail.)

When you receive responses from the journals, staple each response to the matching cover letter and move it from Open Cover Letters to either the Closed Cover Letters file or the Accepted Work file. Be sure to keep the letters in alphabetical order by journal name. You'll never be confused again as to what magazine saw which work.

The Spreadsheet

Another key to successful record keeping is making a spreadsheet that contains this information: the journal name, date sent, work sent, date returned, and editor comments. You can do this in your computer using an Excel spreadsheet program. For those who are more computer-challenged, you can enter the information in a table format. Enter the journal names alphabetically. (Use your help menu for instructions on setting up either of these documents.)

Once you have entered this information, be sure to save and back up your computer files, and print a hard copy of your submission list for quick reference. (For more help, see our article on Computer File Management.)

Now you can easily refer to your list and know at a glance which journals have seen your work when making submissions. Remember that the vast majority of responses you receive are preprinted. The most important responses to note are those which contain handwritten comments from the editors. Include these important comments in your spreadsheet.

You should contact those editors IMMEDIATELY with more work if they've asked to see more, and if they are suggesting revisions that you feel comfortable making, it is imperative you contact the editor right away. This is a wonderful way to develop a relationship with an editor, and very often moves your work toward publication.

Using your spreadsheet information also lets you know at a glance if it's okay to send a journal more work. Literary magazines only want to review one submission at a time. Don't send more work until they've responded to your earlier submission (or after one year if you don't hear anything before that time).

Use these basic steps to successfully keep accurate records of your submissions. You'll avoid embarrassing errors and, best of all, you’ll have more time to write. And if you find yourself struggling with the details of submitting your writing, give Writer’s Relief a call. We have been helping writers manage the submission process since 1994, and we’d love to help you too! 

REMEMBER TO CHECK OUT OUR LIST OF WRITING CONTESTS and ANTHOLOGIES! You won’t find a better list anywhere (AND IT’S FREE!) of upcoming anthologies, special-themed journals, and contests. Find it by visiting:
http://www.writersreliefblog.com/post/Anthologies-Contests.aspx