сам дурак

One of the classics is the typical «three chapters or fifty pages» demand from agents and editors. «But but, what if my chapters are all really short and three chapters is only seven pages!» Well then, send fifty. «What if my page fifty ends mid-sentence!» Well then, send fifty-one.  Same with others thing. «Oh God, is wordcount via MS Word or printers' rule?!» The old answer was «Who cares?» «Should I use nice paper to look professional or cheap paper to look poor and sympathetic?» The old answer was, «Please take a nap, child, and come back when you're feeling better.» And my favorite: «Is it true that you shouldn't use American flag stamps on your submission or SASE because most editors are liberals?» That one is best answered by a flash-bang grenade down the pants, I think. Given the potential variety of stories and writings, it was sort of understood that there was some little wiggle room in submissions basics—whether or not a story is 5000 words or 5100 depends largely on what you consider a word, doesn't it? Whether one's margins were 1 inch or 1 and 1/4 inches hardly mattered at all. Nobody worried about fonts because nobody had seventy-five typewriters in their closets, each with a different «fun» font.

Ник Маматас о глупости писателей и редакторов