Well, brava to you for running the site in the first place and accepting submissions; many sites are invitation only.

Stick to your guns chickadee: you are doing the Net & Netizens a favor, and no one has the right to make you feel like crap for going out of your way to be nice. Heck, the world should be deeply grateful, if for no other reason than you are *much* nicer than I would be in your shoes.