Friday, March 29, 2013

Things that make me wonder how serious you are about this whole writing thing

1. Your email address is someone else's name.  
If you plan to pursue a career in publishing, you need your own email address.  Here are some recent examples of people who look like they're doing this just for a lark:

Jim Smothers
SusanSmothers@nitwit.com


Jim Smothers
Susan@JimSmothers.com
(this one just cracked me up)

Jim Smothers
HerbertHoover@nitwit.com


2. You name someone as my client...who isn't.
 I write about a lot of good authors who aren't my clients.  My clients are listed on the right side of the blog, AND if you click "clients" in the post category on the left side, you'll see the posts about clients.  Yes, it takes some research to get it right. That's EXACTLY the kind of thing I look for in a client.

3. You mistake my non-fiction interests, with what I want to read about in novels.  My website lists specific categories or areas of interest for non-fiction. The death penalty, justice issues, contemporary music, contemporary art.  Sending me a query for a novel about music because "that's one of my areas of interest" makes me wonder if you're paying attention.

4. You reference meeting me in a place I've never been.
When you tell me you met me in a place I've never been, and I expressed interest in seeing your novel it really does make me wonder about you.  Honestly, I do know where I've been these past too-many years.

12 comments:

Lanette said...

What about writers who use their pen name for their email address? Example: masteroftheuniverse (at) domain (dot) com and it's signed:

Susan Smith
AKA Master of the Universe

Elissa M said...

Wait, that wasn't you I met at Sea World?

Gru'ud said...

I have a similar situation as Lanette, except that my address is basically my MC's name.

I've had the address for quite a long time, and it’s relatively spam free, so I plan to continue using it, but I do wonder if I should make a pen name related one for any submissions? (If it’s even available)

With two of these posts in the last few days, I feel as if you’re pointing at me. o.0

Ellipsis Flood said...

People really try 4? Really?

Keisha Martin Romance Writer said...

This is so strange someone would do that, wasting precious time its almost like sending a query to an agent that does not represent genre.

DeadlyAccurate said...

But when I was kayaking in Belize, I'm absolutely positive I saw you swimming underneath me.

middle grade ninja said...

I have an agent and I no longer write queries, but I still love coming here for the snark:)

Janet Reid said...

Lanette, As long as you don't mind getting emails addressed to Dear Master, you're probably ok. I strongly (STRONGLY) recc having the name you want me to call you in our working relationship be close to your email address.

Janet Reid said...

Gru'ud, yes that odd feeling between your shoulder blades is me measuring you for a chomp. (tasty!)

I STRONGLY urge you not to have your character's name as your email.

Get a fresh gmail account that's YOUR name, and don't use it for anything but querying (thus keeping it spam free).

You're not your character. Really.

Janet Reid said...

Carla, I was kinda upset you failed to invite me for drinks after the kayaking. The ocean is salty with my tears.

Janet Reid said...

Elissa, that's my mother in law. She's a bit slower now than in her youth and got nabbed by the SeaWorld folks. Of course, it helped that I duct taped a GPS unit to her fin, and gave them her frequency.

Michael Sirois said...

If you can snag your own domain name, your web hosting will often include e-mail addresses assigned to that name (i.e., my website is http://michael.sirois.com and my e-mail is michael@sirois.com), and as a writer, the domain and hosting, which aren't terribly expensive, are tax deductible expenses.