Word.docs

So I went online and found out what these docx files are, and why my attachment files are labeled as such. As I suspected, it’s a result of the installation of the Office Word 2010 I recently chronicled.

What I learned is that these newer Microsoft Word.docXs are more advanced and efficient in that they take up less space, contain more features and/or tools, and are less prone to corruption. The drawback is that if anyone has versions of Microsoft Word that are dated before 2007, then they won’t be able to open those files.

And so far, at least one publisher has that problem, and wouldn’t you know it’s one of the publishers who might have been more likely to publish my book, KILLER OF KILLERS, because they are looking to publish novels with a Japanese bent.

And as I have written a few times on this blog, the main character in KILLER OF KILLERS lived and trained in Japan for over twenty years. In most martial arts stories, especially movies, the art and the characters are Chinese. In KILLER OF KILLERS, the art is Japanese. Trent Smith’s expertise is a combination of Budo and Ju Jitsu, and I combine them in my story as a type of hybrid art called Budo Ju Jitsu or just Bu Jitsu.

So in my eagerness to submit to this publisher, and being unfamiliar with the new docx format, and failing to heed their request not to submit in that format, it’s exactly what I did.

And that in itself might have ruined any chance for consideration with that publisher. Even though I discovered the mistake and resubmitted with an acceptable format, (and an apology) you never really know, since these publishers, like agents, claim they are swamped with submissions so much so that any deviation from their guidelines means instant rejection.

Man, oh man.