So, I made a boo-boo.

[HalaxyGigh]

I completed an online submission to F&SF magazine, attached file, entered other details, cut n' pasted my prepared cover letter into the appropriate box, and clicked to commit.
Second I did so, I realized my cover letter thanked them for their attention and hoped the piece was suitable for Interzone magazine.
This is why we proofread stuff twice, and why my desk so many dents in it from my head.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Yeah I subbed to Juliet Mushens as Julie - which she's on record as hating.....

 

[Paul_C]

I'm not a writer, so I don't have a very similar tale to tell, however. . .

I used to repair hydraulic equipment, including large jacks used to lift lorries, buses etc.

One task was to replace the ball bearing which is lifted by the incoming fluid as you pump and which then drops back onto the hole and seals it so the jack stays up, ready to rise further with the next pump. On the jacks we worked on there were two types of pump cylinder, one made of steel and one of aluminium, which is a lot softer.

Having cleaned and tidied the area around the hole a new ball bearing was placed in the hole and then tapped with a hammer and punch to make a slight chamfer to the edge of the hole and to make the ball bearing a nice snug fit.

One afternoon, probably a Friday, I swung my hammer toward the punch, thinking that I was hitting with enough strength to settle the bearing nicely, only to discover that I'd hit an aluminium cylinder with the force needed for a steel one.

This was enough to push the ball bearing into the hole and almost out of the bottom of the cylinder, writing it off and consequently upsetting my boss (my workmates thought it far funnier then he did).

 

[ratsy]

Hey HalaxyGigh, don't be too hard on yourself. I'm sure I've done something like that before, and probably just didn't notice. Actually, I'm going to say that is why neither of those magazines have published me

All of these mags know we are sending these stories to more than just them, so hopefully if they actually read a cover letter, that they will not hold that against you

Welcome to Chrons! And good luck!

 

[Droflet]

Welcome aboard. Yeah, like Ratsy said, don't sweat it.

 

[Joshua Jones]

Not quite the same, but I did send a text message intended for my now wife, then fiancée, to the pastor who was marrying us. Thankfully, it wasn't too bad...

 

[Guillermo Stitch]

I completed an online submission to F&SF magazine, attached file, entered other details, cut n' pasted my prepared cover letter into the appropriate box, and clicked to commit.
Second I did so, I realized my cover letter thanked them for their attention and hoped the piece was suitable for Interzone magazine.
This is why we proofread stuff twice, and why my desk so many dents in it from my head.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Yup, been there more than once. When submitting and also when submitting for review. Never heard back from the incorrectly addressed potential reviewer, funnily enough...

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Everyone makes mistakes when they start out. The thing to do is get over the embarrassment, and learn!
Before I was taken on by Orbit I'd been submitting various things to various publishers. I once made the mistake of sending in three chapters and a synopsis of a work, but actually I hadn't finished it. Of course, I was asked for the whole thing...
Never made that mistake again.

 

[Guillermo Stitch]

I think I might be learn resistant (my wife's phrase) in relation to this, specifically in relation to emails. I always spot the typo or mistake, and I always do so after I've clicked send...

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I called Juliet Mushens Julie despite knowing it’s a pet hate of hers...

 

[Biskit]

Some years back, I managed to hit 'reply to all' when emailing my final staff appraisal back to my boss along with my resignation letter. I didn't find out until colleagues started asking "when are you leaving?".

 

[Joshua Jones]

Truth be told, I used to have this sort of thing happen with business emails and the like. What I started doing is putting fields that needed to be customized on my templates in all caps (NAME, for example), so it would stand out and I could just double click it to change it. It works really well for me, so it may be worth considering.