The warning we often see embedded in submission guidelines is to read past issues before submitting. Make sure that our work is in line with the kinds of writing that they publish. Make sure that the subject matter I prefer to write about is their idea of "literary."
But what if I read previous submissions and simply do not like the writing that you publish? What if I find themes of that particular poem to be uninteresting? What if I don't find anything included in that journal to be up to my personal standards? What if the call for submissions, or the submissions information page has typos?
I suppose then that I can feel superior, un-bookmark the cite, delete the email from my inbox, or simply not return for further reading.
It's nice to have some feeling of control over where I WANT to send my work.
