In December's article, I mentioned the characteristics of a good writers group. One of the things I pointed out was that not only should the group respect each other, but they should respect their work. I'd like to expand on that this month. For our group, respecting your work means being a professional.
Professionals submit their work to professional markets.
Unfortunately for short story writers, markets which meet those criteria are becoming fewer all the time. I once violated our group's rule. I worked up a 1000 word story, sent it to her, and she convinced the editor to accept it. Not professional rates by any means. I made this exception because of my penpal.