What’s Your Email Name?

Does your address send the wrong message?IMG_7468 adj 2to3

by Andy Scheer

Marie recently sent me a query for a novel. Her name was displayed in my email folder. And it appeared next to the email address at the top of the query.

As I read the query, I envisioned how she would handle the male POV character she described, considering he was a soldier during wartime.

Then I read the closing paragraphs — and discovered the person who’d written me was a retired police officer named Richard who lived with his wife, Marie.

I had to recast my impression of everything I’d read. Especially my view of the author’s professionalism.

How hard is it to get your own free email account
through Yahoo! or G-mail?

How hard is it to get your own free email account through Yahoo! or G-mail? Yes, my wife and I share several email accounts — but not the ones I use professionally.

Meanwhile I’ve added to my list of writing pet peeves. One is a dramatic scene that, without warning, turns out to be only a dream. My new pet peeve is wannabe writers who identify themselves one way with their email account—then pull a switcheroo.

Please, remember what you learned in kindergarten: Put your name — your own name — on the top of your paper.

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About Andy Scheer

With more than 30 years in publishing, Andy Scheer has provided freelance editorial services since 2010. He has edited fiction and nonfiction for publishers including Moody, WinePress, and BelieversPress, as well as for clients including Dirk Cussler, McNair Wilson, DiAnn Mills, Heather Day Gilbert, and Sammy Tippit.

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