This is really a very simple, innocent mistake, but it is prevalent. People often try to use HTML to make italics and such.

ZL fics don't support HTML. Instead we use bbcode. So, to help you out, I will make a list of basic bbcode for you to reference. Note that i had to add spaces to keep the code from actually being used.

[ b ] and [ /b ] are bold and unbold.
[ i ] and [ /i ] are italics and unitalics.
[ u ] and [ /u ] are underline and ununderline.
[ color= ] and [ /color ] are color and uncolor. You can put in common color names or hexadecimal colors right aft the = sign.
[ email ]noone@nowhere.com[ /email ] is the email tag, replace noone@nowhere.com as proper.
[ left ] and [ /left ] aligns your text to the left.
[ center ] and [ /center ] centers your text.
[ right ] and [ /right ] aligns your text to the right.

If this is a bit hard for you to get used to, you may want to try out the 100% free Forum Assistant, which will allow you to write BBcode the same as you would in a forum, and then preview the results. Once you have a chapter you're satisfied with, you can just copy it straight into out submission box. To download it, save the following link: http://www.pawsoft.com/beta/fass09b1.exe

Other questions can be answered at http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/faq.php?mode=bbcode