Writer's Advice: Deadlines and Due Dates are not "suggestions"

Don't let this be you. You don't want to receive this email from me.

Dear XXXX,

I am sorry but I cannot accept this submission. If you had contacted me before the due date and asked for an extension, I might have been able to allow it. As it is, almost 2 weeks after the deadline, that is not possible.

If you wish, you may submit it as part of the Apex Halloween Contest - http://www.apexbookcompany.com/news/2009/06/announcing-the-fourth-annual-apex-halloween-short-story-contest/

In the future, if you are writing for me and cannot make your deadline, it is best to contact me before the due date to work something out.

Thank you,
Jennifer

I expect professionals to be professional. If you are writing for me and you are not going to make your deadline, you'd better contact me before the deadline and ask for an extension.

I plan out my writing projects. I know weeks in advance if I will not make my due date and talk to my editor about it 2 weeks in advance of the due date. If I need an extension, I will ask for it. If you need an extension, I will look at what I have and decide if I can allow it. Sometimes the answer will be "Yes." Sometimes the answer will be "I'm sorry, no."

As a note, the person I sent this email to was gracious about my inability to accept their submission and said they would submit it to the contest. I am pleased at the professional response to the bad news.

The Edge of Propinquity - Volume 45

Volume 45: September 2009

Hello,

Welcome to the Edge of Propinquity. Volume 45 is now published. As the end of Summer leaves on winds that chill the skin and leaves that crunch underfoot, so too, does this month's offerings arrive. We have a knowing stranger, the rescue of someone dear, an attack from the dark, a line that has been crossed and a secret too big to hide.


Luminations - Isolation, Part Two by Rick Silva AKA shaharazad
Santa Maria - Chases by James M. Sullivan AKA sylvan
Solstice - Summer, Part Three by Ivan Ewert AKA ivan23
Danyael - The Power to Change the World by Nick Bergeron
Guest Author - My Rough Cut by Christopher Green


Have you ever looked over the edge and seen something looking back at you?

Thanks!
Jennifer Brozek
Editor, The Edge of Propinquity
starkytten@yahoo.com