File corrupted?

[postit]

So I finally had the guts to submit my first piece and I got a very unexpected response saying that the file was corrupt and I cannot resubmit the article. Can anyone explain what went wrong? Is it true I can't resubmit the article? I don't think it even got read--it was just immediately rejected. I don't see anything in the guidelines about how to avoid this issue. Here's what the rejection said:
"We have reviewed your content, "Halloween Cakes: Birthday or Holiday." Unfortunately, we can no longer consider this article for approval. Please do not resubmit.

==== Editorial Information for Your Article: ====

The file submitted is corrupt and cannot be opened.

==== End Editorial Information for Your Article ====

Please take this information into consideration for future submissions. In addition, Submission Guidelines should be followed to avoid repeated rejections:......etc

Any help appreciated! Thanks.

[jellygator]

It sounds as if you may have a virus on your computer. I'd recommend doing a thorough virus scan and fixing it if there is one. (You can get free scanning at www.trendmicro.com. Look for their "Free tools" and select the "Housecall" option. It will download a scan engine program that you have to approve, then you start the scan. It brings up an odd window that asks you to buy their product, but on the left side, it has a text link to let you do the scan for free.)

Anyway, after checking for and repairing any viruses, re-open your document. Save it as an .rtf file. I'd re-scan for viruses just in case a virus was somehow resident in the file and triggered upon opening it. I don't even know if that's possible but I'd err on the side of caution myself. E-mail the .rtf file to someone else and ask if they can open it. If they can open it without problems, you can try to resubmit it then.

[postit]

Thanks you for such a thoughtful reply!

[jellygator]

You're welcome. Hope it works out for you.