Are you the exception to the rule?
Editors and agents are used to writers who want to break the rules. We don’t like it, but we’re used to it.
“No phone inquires,” one agency said in its entry in the Christian Writer’s Market Guide. “No exceptions. Don’t ask to be the exception.”
An editor friend produces compilation books, often dealing with 100 potential contributors for a single project. So she has good reason to get frustrated when authors neglect to include their full contact information.
Once, two writers with the same name sent her short chapters, but neither included their email address on the document. “With auto address-book functions on my email,” she says, “when I typed in the name, it turns out I sent a contract for a manuscript to the wrong person.”
There’s a good reason editors ask for full contact information — and every other provision they require.
There’s a good reason editors ask for full contact information — and every other provision they require.
Still, many writers think they can be the exception. Consider the four-page news section of the national magazine I produce. The organization invites chapters around the country to send brief updates. For each issue, I get 100-plus entries.
They’re supposed to be no more than 75 words. Most are longer, so I have to condense them.
They’re supposed to identify the state where they’re located. Most don’t, so I have to look it up.
If they send a photo, it’s supposed to be labeled. Most aren’t, so I have to rename those files.
After dealing with more than 100 such entries, which contributors stand out as exceptional? Those who made my job easier by doing what’s asked.
Do you want to stand out with an editor as an exceptional writer? That’s easy. Simply do what they ask. They’ll remember — and be grateful.
