Things to watch for when editing your ms

I've been noticing a lot of the same thing popping up in submissions lately and I thought I'd take a moment here to share them with everyone.

1. Tense. I cannot stress this one enough. If you are telling a story in the past tense, everything must be in the past tense. Words like "here", are", "is", "tonight" in the narrative can through a reader off. And keep in mind, that is only a small list.

2. Lack of a hook. I cannot stress how important it is to suck your reader in right from the beginning. A solid hook is a MUST.

3. Dialogue tags. We editors don't like to see a ton of "he said/she saids" in a story. And neither do readers.

4. Proofread!! Oh, for the love of God, proofread your work. Or have someone else proofread it. When we read it, we take note of every mistake because that's something we have to fix if we offer you a contract. The more mistakes we find, the more likely you are NOT to get offered a contract.