Educating the Writer

Rules of Writer Etiquette

  1. One of the keys to getting published is to not come across as an amateur. Even if you have yet to publish your first word, to be accepted you must appear professional. A few basic rules are in order here.

  2. Never call an editor or agent by his or her first name. You don't know them that well.

  3. Never mail a 1,300-page manuscript until you are asked to. Read the editor's or the agent's submission guidelines and follow them to the letter. If they ask for the first 50 pages, don't send the first 75.

  4. Never Fed-Ex a manuscript or proposal and never send materials in such a way as to force the recipient to have to sign for the package. That will imprint your name in their minds in a way you really don't want.

  5. DO send packaging material and sufficient postage for any materials you want returned. If the manuscript is recyclable, then send a #10 self-addressed, stamped envelope for the editor or agent's response.

  6. Do NOT use fancy fonts. Follow standard manuscript formatting rules in every regard.

  7. Should the editor/agent request to see your manuscript, or a partial manuscript, do NOT put fancy bindings around it. This is acceptable for a screenplay, but not for a novel or short story manuscript.

  8. Do NOT send a query to "whom it may concern." If you haven't taking the time to properly research your target markets, your target markets aren't going to take you seriously.

  9. If you are fortunate enough to have your manuscript requested by an editor or agent, do NOT hound them with daily phone calls or emails asking for progress reports or how they like it so far.

  10. If an agent or editor asks for an exclusive reading for a manuscript that is already circulating around to several other prospects, do NOT hide this fact. Openly tell this person that the manuscript is already in other hands, but offer to refrain from sending out other proposals. Let THEM decide whether to proceed or not.

  11. If an agent accepts you for representation, it is not acceptable to hound them for progress reports on a daily basis, but it IS acceptable to gloat about your new agent to all your writer friends who still don't have one.