STOP–before you hit “send”

Sometimes it’s such a relief to finally finish an  article, especially if it’s been hanging like an albatross around your neck for weeks on end.
But no matter how relieved you are that you’ve actually got to the end  – don’t hit ‘send’ just yet.

• Wait overnight and re read the piece the  next day.Print it out. Don’t try and edit/proof read on the computer it’s very difficult to catch all the mistakes and spelling and punctuation errors.Don’t rely on your spell-check; it doesn’t know if you want ‘there’, ‘their’ or ‘they’re’.
• Try and think of an eye catching title. Even if the editor changes it he’ll appreciate your attempt.
• Check the word count – make sure you are no more than  10% over your limit or 2% under it.
• Did you go that extra mile that will  make the editor look forward to working with you again e.g. send some suitable images or an additional side-bar of information.
• When you send the article, write a short covering introductory email and then include the article  in the body of the email and also send it as an attachment. This gives your editor the two options of reading and downloading to edit.
• Check that you are sending it to the correct editor and that you have spelled  his/her name correctly.

Now you can hit ‘send’ and make a note in your diary  when to follow up with the editor.
Good Luck