ABC's of Writing - (E)dit Before Sending: When you care enough to send the very best.

Yes, this is going to seem like a "no duh" statement, but please, please, please - EDIT those queries, synopses and manuscripts before you send in the project.

We have to remember that you never get a second chance to make a first impression (thank you Head and Shoulders for this comment). When you send in that project to a potential editor or agent, manuscripts with those grammar, spelling and typo errors send the wrong message to that person. This is telling us that you are too rushed with this project, so much so that you couldn't take those few minutes to really scrutinize the manuscript.

Now, don't get me wrong, editors and agents will not immediately reject you because of the grammar, but you are giving them too easy of a reason to pass on your project.

I should also add that authors who are sending out projects to editors and agents right now need to be ready to proceed immediately. Getting a request AND THEN deciding to edit the project shows a lack of professionalism. You weren't ready to proceed with this project in the first place.

This is a simple project. Be ready. Take those few minutes and run a quick edit of your project. Do this both manually and with those spell checkers and grammar checkers.