#1: READ THIS FIRST. How to make submissions.

THANK YOU for using our online submission system which allows us two editors to read all the submissions ourselves,
which we love! (Note: Feel free to print out this two page document so you have guidance readily available
if you’re new to this process.)

Our eyes are not as young as they used to be, so if you can easily double-space the text and use a 12 point font, it will be
helpful, but that is not essential. Simple formatting is best for our submission system: there is no need for headers or
footers or fancy formatting. We do like to have at least your email address on the top of the first page of your story. Full
contact info is fine, but not essential. (It’s the story that counts.)

The online submission procedure is downright easy if:

You know how to upload, which is really just a matter of knowing where to find the file on your own computer
(see way below for help with that);
You use either Internet Explorer (1998 or up) or Firefox or Safari to connect to the internet; and
Your story is in a Word document. (Your file name will be something like StoryofMine.doc)
You have your cover letter (if you want to include one--entirely optional) ready to copy and paste in place since
the system allows about 15 minutes to complete a submission.

But in almost all cases, you will be able to submit with little trouble.
If you want to just jump in and experiment now, go for it, but if you would like a good overview, this is it:

First time you come to the site, click on "Getting Started" (on login page, third paragraph), and simply fill in the
requested info to establish your identity with us. (Jot down your username and password. Although there is a password
reminder on the submissions page, many email servers—earthlink, verizon, and aol, for example—will block those
reminder emails.) You only have to do the “getting started” thing the very first time. If you get a message saying your
email address is already taken, you've probably set up an ID for yourself previously and have forgotten. (We all have so
much to remember these days!) Use the Need Password Reminder? button to get your login info.
Once you're logged in, just scroll down to see the submission categories listed, and click on the one you're interested
in. (You can click on the writing guidelines for any category, but then you need to go back and click on the category name
itself to begin the submission process.) You won’t be allowed into a category if it isn’t open, but you can still click on the
guidelines to read about it.
Follow the instructions from there, remembering that at ANY point in the whole process—prior to pressing "continue"
when it says, "When you press continue, your credit card will be charged"—you can back out with no problem at all. So
feel free to fool around in there until you're comfortable. (The worst that can happen is that you'll fool around too long and
the system will time out, requiring you to sign in again and start over.)
If you have a Macintosh, see below.
Please be sure to use one of these file types for best results: Microsoft Word (.DOC) Plain Text (.TXT) Rich Text (.RTF)
HTML Text (.HTM or .HTML)
Note: Kindly offered by Paul Gates--If someone is using the new 2007 version of Microsoft Office, Word documents
are now saved as .docx files. These upload as a lot of gobbledygook. However, Word 2007 has an option of saving a
document in the earlier formats ( i.e., a doc file), for the sake of compatibility. These should upload fine.
After you've uploaded and before you've provided your visa/mc info (if there is a reading fee), look at your
story in the "pop-up view" to make sure you've really sent the right revision of the right manuscript.
If you've followed the procedure all the way through to completion, you’ll see this message: "Your Submission Is
Complete. Thank You!" If you've put glimmertrainpress.com on your safe-senders list, you will also get an email
confirmation, but it's always smart, after you've completed your submission, to go to "My Submissions" to confirm
that your work listed there. If it’s listed there, we have it; if it is not listed there, try again. (Sometimes people just don’t
scroll down the full page and miss a step that is required for completion.)

Macintosh folks:

Everything coming up Asian? You're probably on a Mac and need to use Safari.

You will not be able to paste text over 32K, so if your story is more than a few pages long, you will definitely have to
use the upload option.

Regarding Appleworks: When you save an AppleWorks file in the .rtf format, apostrophes and quote marks will often turn to odd characters (take the opportunity to look at the story in the pop-up view that is offered prior to completing the submission), but if you can convert that file to Text Edit (just copy and paste your AppleWorks text into your Text Edit program) before submitting it, you should be able to avoid that. But don't worry too much because we have become accustomed to those characters and know what you intended.

We cannot work with ClarisWorks files, I'm sorry. Please use Word, WordPerfect, or Simple Text format.
AppleWorks 6.0 will allow you to save your work as Rich Text (.rtf) files, which work great.

We work much better with Internet Explorer browser than with Netscape, but Safari works great, too.

You might not be accustomed to file extensions at all, but your file name must end with an extension or the upload
will not work. If your story name is My Story, change the file name to MyStory.doc, for instance. Uploading:
- Click the "Browse" button that you'll see after you've chosen a category and typed in your title.
- Navigate through your computer's file system to locate your file, and highlight it. (This is a good time to stop and
  take note of the actual file name. If your file has some extension other than .rtf, .txt, .doc, .htm, or .html, you can still try
  uploading it, but if it doesn’t show properly in the pop-up view after uploading, correct things before completing the submission.)
- Click "Open." You will now see the path to the file in the text box left of the button. (Occasionally a person will
  have ".com" somewhere in the path--that will confuse our program and likely prevent a successful upload. Moving the file to a
  folder without ".com" in the name will solve that problem.)
- Click the "Submit" button on the web page to initiate the upload.
- Take a moment to look at the preview window to make sure you've uploaded the file you intended to. Only the first
  chunk of the submission will come up in this box; to see a nicer and complete view of it, look at the pop-up view that
  says, "To see a complete view of your submission in a new window, click here.” (If you have a slow modem, it might take
  too long for you to scroll all through your story. Our connection is fast; we'll be able to see it.) We are not fussy about formatting
  --you can see I have my own issues with figuring out formatting--but if the material isn't readable, see formatting issues.)
  
  Once the submission procedure is complete and any reading fees are paid, the story is irrevocably in the editorial
  process. It cannot be edited or "recalled,” so please do look at the submission you’ve uploaded before completing the
  procedure. (You could make a new submission, but would have to pay any fees again, which is no fun.)
- If the material you’ve uploaded is the material you meant to upload and it’s readable, simply continue following
  the instructions, always scrolling down to the bottom of the page so you don’t miss any steps. When you have
  successfully submitted a piece, you will see this: Your Submission Is Complete. Thank You! At that point,
  go to "My Submissions" to confirm.
  If your work is specifically listed there in "My Submissions," we have it; if it is not listed there,
  try again. (It’s easy to miss an essential step if you forget to scroll down each page.)
Do I have to make my submission online? Can I just mail you my story? Making paper submissions.
We look forward to reading your work! Note: If you have any trouble—and you’ve followed all the instructions
here—please feel free to email me: linda@glimmertrain.org.