I know, I keep writing you the same letter, over and over again. I do it because I want to love you, and you're making it really hard for me to do that.
See, your submission guidelines? They are your cover letter to me, the author. When you put up guidelines that are poorly written, contain misspellings or grammatical errors, or make certain statements (which I will cover in the next section), I do not feel that you would take my writing seriously.
When your guidelines contain statements like, oh, this:
We do not send rejections. If you don't hear from us, then we didn't accept your story.
or
Due to the volume of submissions … it is difficult for us to reply to everyone. … We can only do as much as time allows.
I decide that you are probably rude and inconsiderate, and I count myself lucky that I discovered this before I sent you anything.
Unfair? Oh, yes, quite. Inaccurate? Possibly. And that is precisely my point, dearest publishers. I form my opinions and decide to send you my work, based solely on your cover letter–your guidelines–just as you would judge me.
There is absolutely no reason in the world that you cannot respond to each submission. There is no law stating that you must give a thoughtful, thorough, reasoned critique of each piece that comes into your possession — it's a nice thing to do, should you take that time and effort, but any writer worth their salt doesn't expect one. (I certainly don't, and when I get one, I'm always surprised and grateful.)
Please, take a good hard look at your guidelines and your response policies. Get someone else to look at them, too. Clarify them. Create templates and spreadsheets. Your potential authors do; you can, too.
Sincerely,
I remain,
wanting desperately to love you.