When Writing Letters Requesting Publication

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It happened again. Another query letter from a writer who would like to have her project published into a book. Unfortunately, several letters of this type arrive in our inbox every week. We reject most before we even open the writing sample.

Why?

Because the author wrote the query letter so poorly, replete with grammatical mistakes, it was not worth our time to read the writing samples. When an author uses words improperly in the letter sent for a publishing request, what sort of an impression does it leave on the editor?

If you are going to request consideration for publication, you have to send your very best writing sample along with your writing project. In other words, the query letter you write to the publisher has to be perfect.

Every editor and publisher I know all agree, if the query letter is a mess, it is a fairly good bet the piece also will be a mess. Each of us in the role of editor or publisher has very little time. The query letter is a quick look into the capabilities of the author as a writer. The writing sample contained in the letter is a big clue as to whether or not we should invest more time in reading the author’s work.

If the author does not know how to use “to,” “too,” “two,” or “2,” this is a problem that needs to be fixed. It is, by the way, a problem the author can repair. As is the problem of learning where to put all those funny little marks, such as periods, commas, semi-colons, quotation marks, and colons.

If you are really serious about becoming the next John Grisham, Stephen King, or Mark Twain, you have to be serious about your craft. You must learn the rules of the road and discipline yourself in using those rules.

Oh yes, and if you are writing fiction, you have to be able to tell a really good story.
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