Signs In Your Submission That Say You Are Not Ready

When we are looking for new authors, editors and agents look at a lot of different variables. It is not as simple as a lot of authors think after hearing editors and agents all say, over and over again, "it all comes down to the story." While the story is indeed the foundation of our decision, there are a lot of other things.

Before I dive into this, I want to stress that when you are sending in those submissions, this is no different than when you are applying for a job. Your query letter is just the same as a cover letter. When employers look at potential candidates, they look to see if that person will fit with the rest of their team. They look to see if the candidate is going to require additional training that may be more than the company wants to spend. They look at their professionalism... the list goes on and on. You can pretty much find this and similar lists on any number of hiring boards.

When I teach resume writing, and certainly when I teach query letter writing, I frequently come back to the same question over and over again. Read your own query letter (or story or synopsis), and you don't know who you are... "Would you sign this author?" Based on that first impression of what you sent, what are your thoughts?

For agents, this is really a consideration since we do not get paid until we sell your book.

Let me first say, it is fine if you are not ready to move to being a professional writer yet. There is no rush. The industry is there. But, as I have said, if you do not know the business, if you are not an educated writer, that is fine. Keep learning!

I know some of you might think this is "hoop jumping" but it is far from it. These are just potential red flags to consider when you are sending in those letters. 

• Asking an agent to consider publishing his or her book.
• Telling that editor or agent that you really don't know much about writing
• Writing "To whom it may concern"
• Telling the editor or agent that you are hoping you are sending it to the right person
• Calling the editor or agent by the wrong name (for example calling me, Mr. Greyhaus)
• Sending in a query letter and then asking, in the same letter, when they can expect to see a contract.
• Telling us you just started writing and are now thinking about this as a career
• Telling us after the first novel, you are going to quit your day job
• Making a statement of how much you are expecting to see in that first contract for your debut novel
• You do not follow the submission guidelines
• You submit material that we do not ask for but try to justify it 
• You submit material we do not acquire stating you know we don't take that genre but know we will change our business model just for you.

You might look at this list and think that no one would ever say these things. Oh, you would be surprised. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The thing is, in your query letter and submission package, if you give us the impression this is a bad deal, we really don't care how good the story is. It was you, as the author that closed that door.

Deb Werksman at Sourcebooks said it best while I was on a panel with her. Editors and agents do not just buy "a book. We buy a package that will be a career.

So consider that before you hit send today on those submissions.