David Homerick wrote:

MegaZone wrote:

1. Bad formatting.  Simple as that, lines like this one I'm doing deliberately that are longer than 80 columns
or that have
seemingly random line wrapping.  It makes it a bitch to read, and what it
does for me is make me think "If the author couldn't take the time to do
something as simple as format the text, I bet they didn't take the time to
write a good story."

This is rather poor reasoning.  Bad formatting is usually a software
problem and has nothing to do with the ability to write a good story.
If you get an unreadable story, send a polite note to the author telling
him the problem.  Chances are he has no idea that anything's wrong.

The author may not know (or care) about the formatting issue - BUT THAT
ITSELF IS A PROBLEM, the same as if the author does not know that the
story is horribly misspelled (or thinks it is R3LY k00l to write in a
way that most of the audience can not read).  Unless one's e-mail
program removes newlines from one's messages (which is rarely the case),
basic formatting of text documents is under the control of the author;
failure to take advantage of it is therefore an avoidable mistake.
(There are many ways you can see how your posts look, for instance,
posting to Usenet .test groups.  Knowing your tools is a good idea both
online and off.)

Still, you are correct: a simple note to the author will alert them to
the problem (and to the fact that it is a problem).