Maryann--
If I were submitting to myself at MM (chapbooks, remember--http://www.modern-metrics.com), I would do the following--
1. Check to see if submissions were being considered.
2. Look at the samples on the web site.
3. Query if I were still unsure about my fit.
4. Submit.
Please note--we're not doing open submissions right now--though the more chappies get bought, the sooner we at least potentially can. If you're an Erato regular and send MM a chapbook ms. full of villanelles, you haven't done your job of researching well enough.
As for submitting to magazines, particularly blindly, it's a crap shoot. The main thing is to just do it and keep doing it. I've gotten stuff into places where I was shooting blind, and not gotten stuff into places where I really thought about what I sent, in what order (strongest to weakest, folded so the type faces outward), etc. got completely blown off. At this point, I look at samples on web sites, read submission guidelines, and just fire the things off. It's the Hegelian principle of quantity into quality where submissions are concerned, I guess.
Quincy
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