1) match what they outlined in the submission guidelines
2) grab them right off the bat and keep them reading
3) be as grammatically clean as possible so all they need to do is a light copyedit

1) FOLLOW TOPICAL GUIDELINES. If the submission guidelines say "no erotica," don't submit a story that deals with a sexual hook-up and includes sex scenes. If the guidelines say "short stories," don't submit poetry. And don't waste an editor's time by contacting him or her and asking if they'll consider something like poetry when the guidelines clearly say "short stories." If an anthology editor wanted poetry, she'd say so in the guidelines. If you're a poet, submit your work to poetry anthologies. Don't waste your time or an editor's time asking if she'll consider a different type of literature than what she specified in the guidelines.

2) MAKE SURE YOU FORMAT YOUR MANUSCRIPT ACCORDING TO THE GUIDELINES. I can't tell you the number of times I've had to deal with authors who, even though they have instructions on-hand, send me a manuscript that isn't formatted correctly. This irritates editors. Why? You didn't follow instructions, which means you're not paying attention and that you're expecting others to do your work for you. Most editors will send that manuscript back and tell you to format it according to the instructions but you've already got points against you as a writer because an editor had to deal with that.

3) MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE ALL THE INFORMATION THE EDITORS REQUEST IN THE GUIDELINES AND MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE IT WHERE THEY STIPULATE. R. G. and I request that authors provide contact info on the first page of their manuscripts. We specify what that should include. So if the editors want name, mailing address, and email address on the first page of the manuscript, that means what it says. Don't put that information in the body of your email, for example, and leave it off the first page of your manuscript. Don't include your cell phone number, fax number, work number, Twitter account, Facebook page, MySpace page, and your résumé. If an editor wants that, she'll specify it in the guidelines. If you don't put that info where the editors request it and you include all kinds of other stuff they didn't ask for, that demonstrates to editors that you don't follow instructions and that you probably don't pay attention. It's also lazy, because by not following instructions, you're expecting someone else to pick up the ball for you. That's not professional.

4) USE EDITORS' NAMES WHEN YOU SEND IN YOUR SUBMISSION. We've already received a submission from someone who addressed us as "Editors". Like that. In quotation marks, as if this person wasn't sure we were actual editors. And another that addressed us as SIR/MADAM. As if the person submitting the story is assuming that we are representatives of a strict binary gender expression or as if the person didn't bother to read through the guidelines. Why is using names important? Because it demonstrates that you're paying attention and that you did actually read the guidelines thoroughly. And it also frees you from making the dreaded "what gender are you" mistake. This author tried: SIR/MADAM. If this author had just used our names, then the author could have circumvented any awkward assumptions: "Dear Andi Marquette and R. G. Emanuelle." Easy peasy, to do that. My name and R. G.'s name are clearly visible in our guidelines. This rule can apply to a lot of things. Try to address your professional correspondence to a specific person. It demonstrates that you're paying attention and that you've done your homework. Otherwise, your correspondence comes across as a form letter; an afterthought. It's not that hard to find someone's name and when the names are clearly spelled out in a call for submissions, there's no reason not to use them.

4) ADHERE TO THE WORD COUNT. That is, if the guidelines say each story must have a minimum of 4000 words and a maximum of 7000, don't submit something that's 3900 or 7100. Or 3999. Or 7001. The editors stipulate those counts for a reason. Don't hedge your bets because again, if you do, it makes you look like you're not a professional and that you don't/can't follow instructions. You may think that one word isn't that big a deal, but if an editor is trying to choose one more story for the anthology and has narrowed the choice down to two very good candidates, she has to cut one. Chances are, she'll cut the one that didn't make the word count and choose the one with 4011 words because THAT person followed the guidelines. So give yourself a good chance of making that cut. Add a word to get to the minimum word count.

Example of what not to do: Someone submitted a story to us that came in about 200 words less than the minimum. This author put the word count in the submission as "approximately 4000 words." We run word counts at each submission and this submission wasn't 4000 words. We informed the author of this and asked the author to correct the issue and re-submit. Said author then allowed an inner temperamental artiste to override publishing professionalism and stated, "well, I figured at editing you'd tell me what direction you wanted the story to go." I had to explain to this author that anthology editors did not do substantive editing; they don't have the time. Which leads me to

5) DON'T ARGUE WITH THE EDITORS OF AN ANTHOLOGY. They know what they're looking for. They wrote the submission guidelines, after all. They know what topic they're looking for and they know what word counts they want and they know why they want those counts. They're looking to fill an anthology with a certain number of words and a certain number of authors. Not only did the author in question not follow instructions, but then the author tried to put responsibility for the bet-hedging on the volume editors. The author most likely did a word count prior to submission, discovered that the story wasn't the minimum count, and rather than try to get it to that count, the author hedged: "approximately 4000 words." The author also assumed that the story submitted was going to be accepted: "I'll fix the problems in editing"-that assumes that the story is going to go into editing after acceptance. To compound this rather unprofessional approach, the author not only assumed that the story was going to be accepted, but the author also assumed that the editors would do the author's work and "fix the problems."

What the author should have done after we sent the story back is thank us for providing enough notice for said author to address the issues and re-submit. That's it. Instead, the author racked up a lot of points in the "uh-oh-unprofessional" category and no matter how talented this author might be or how good the story is, editors are going to worry about working with someone like this-someone who hedges, doesn't take responsibility, and assumes the work is going to be accepted. Editors remember authors, too. So if you want a temperamental artiste/difficult to work with rep, do what the author above did. If you don't, follow the guidelines and use common sense. Good manners, friends, may sound quaint. But I'll tell you what, they make a huge difference in every industry.

TIP: Don't risk irritating an editor by behaving unprofessionally. If an editor is gracious enough to alert you to the fact that your story isn't long enough or isn't formatted correctly or whatever and offers you a chance to correct it and re-submit, consider yourself lucky. After all, she could have just set your story in the "not for us" pile then sent it back after final selections and informed you that your story was too short and didn't adhere to the guidelines.

Remember: Publishing is a business. Behave accordingly. If someone points out that you didn't adhere to instructions, own it. Then correct it. Would you apply for a job at a Chicago law firm dressed like you'd just spent a wild weekend in Margaritaville? And would you tell the potential employer: "oh, well, I figured that once I was hired, I'd dress the part"? Just sayin'. Who do you think an editor is going to want to work with? Someone who submitted a story that met all the guidelines and the deadline, was also grammatically clean and relatively typo-free, and who was reasonably pleasant to deal with or someone like Mr./Ms. Margaritaville up there? Again, just sayin'.

6) MAKE THE DEADLINE. If the guidelines say September 1, 2009, get your story in before that or on that date. Don't send it at 12.01 AM September 2nd and expect you're going to get equal consideration. You're not. If you didn't find the call for the anthology until August 31st, well, tough luck and keep trolling for anthologies. Maybe that editor will put together another one in a similar vein in the future. Put it on your "dang, missed it" list and keep on keepin' on. There's a deadline for a reason. In order to get this anthology published by the date the publisher wants, we as editors have to develop a reasonable schedule that we can meet, too, and that gives authors time to create a short story or clean up one they've had sitting around on their hard drives and for accepted authors, that gives them time to go through the copyedits. If 150 other authors can make an anthology deadline, adhere to instructions, and behave professionally, there's no reason you can't. And if you can't, well, bless your heart. Maybe you should re-think this whole reason-for-writing thing.