Manuscripts, essays, columns, poetry dealing with fiction, non-fiction, science-fiction, commentary....political or social, will be considered. Manuscripts should be sent as part of the body of Email They should be send in plain, unformatted email text....no fancy font or font changes, no colors, only in ASCII, DOS or .txt format within the body of the email. If attachments are to be used, please be certain to contact the editor for specific details of how they should be sent. We will not, under any circumstances open email atachments due to the proliferation of viruses from attachments unless these previous arrangements are made.

E-Mail Courtesy

• E-mail is not as private as you might thing - or wish. If you wouldn't broadcast your plans to take over your boss's job through an office fax, think twice about committing it to e-mail.

• Remember to be polite. Distance doesn't excuse ill manners. And don't resort to the cyber-equivalent of shouting - that is WRITING EVERYTHING IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

• Not everyone on your e-mail list will be enthralled to get copies of the latest jokes you've found on the Net. Spare your friends and colleagues your own version of spam - that is flooding their mail-boxes with cyber-junk mail.

• Less is more when it comes to e-mail. Loquacious writers should remember it's harder to read a computer screen than a piece of paper, so don't run on. Don't overwhelm the recipient with too much information in one message, unless of course, it's your mother, in which case she's likely your only reader who will appreciate every word.

• Break up your message with points and paragraphs so it's easier to read.

• Don't use fancy fonts, colors, dingbats or other meaningless additions to email. State your message clearly and succinctly. Fancy additions to E-mail often slow it, and in some cases, where older equipment is being used, the recipient will not be able to download it at all.

• Fill the subject field on the header of your e-mail. And remember cutesy or obscure subject lines make it tougher for the recipient who may be trying to sort and file e-mail. It really helps as well if the recipient is trying to locate a message from a mass of files.

• Don't assume simply because someone has e-mail that they actually read it. We know people who don't check e-mail for days and weeks; others who log on every five minutes to get their fix. Cyber technology is not always the perfect answer; you may have to resort to a phone call.

• If you want someone other than the recipient to get the information in-your e-mail without having to respond, put them in the cc line, instead of among recipients, so they know no reply is expected.

• Answering e-mail, particularly for the really overburdened types who may get hundreds of messages a day is a tricky proposition. Deal with the time and volume dilemma by avoiding unnecessary responses and for messages that demand an answer, let the sender know you received the message and will answer more fully later if you can't give a complete answer now.

• Remember that attachments can take a long time to download, particularly if the recipient is on the road and only has a low-speed source of access to the Internet. If your boss is trying to download e-mail quickly, he or she won't thank you for sending a humongous and unnecessary file that holds everything else up.

• Make sure you have a virus checker that's up-to-date, make sure you use it.

• Don't rush your writing. Use an automatic spell checker to take care of the worst mistakes and always take time to reread what you have written. If you are unsure of what you're sending, either because you've fired it off in anger (or ignorance), leave it in your out basket but don't hit the send button until you've had time for sober second thought.