Always Follow the Directions

I used to tell that to my students all the time.  They would rush ahead to do their work, and inevitably get it wrong because they didn't take the time to read the directions carefully.  I now give this advice to you, my fellow writers, because this time it's me that made the mistakes.  I am entering two of my children's picture books into a contest.  On the submission form it clearly states to check the website for further submission details.  Did I do that?  No.  Now, as it turns out, I have sent off the stories with a cover letter that has been formatted incorrectly.  It has all the information they asked for, but it's not in the format they want.  And I've been told it will be automatically eliminated because of it.  So, I am rushing to re-submit the stories, with the properly formatted title page.  All because I failed to follow my own advice.  As my father used to say, do as I say, not as I do.

Oh well.