Hatrack River Writers Workshop: E-mail queries, importance of formatting...

This is topic E-mail queries, importance of formatting... in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by HSO (Member # 2056) on :

Hi everyone, I just received the following letter from an editor regarding a query I made to submit electronically. I wanted to share it with you, because I think it's valuable advice. Names have been changed to protect the innocent. (Plus, I'm fairly psyched about the response, she even gave me smiley face.) I'll bold the relevant section.

quote:
Hi Jason,

E-mail your story in about two months. Please put it in the body of an e-mail and include a short bio with it. Thanks.

Thank you for writing your e-mail in proper letter form. Most writers forget about form when they send an e-mail submission, so I really appreciate your effort. :)

Take care,
"Editor's Name Here"
Publisher/Editor
"Magazine's Name Here"

Below here is the email I sent:

quote:
"Magazine Name Here"
"Magazine Address Line 1"
"Magazine Address Line 2"
"Editor's email address Here"
Attn: "Editor's Name Here", Editor / Publisher
Re: Query for e-submission
Dear "Editor's Name Here":
I am querying about the possibility of electronically submitting a
short story to your attention.
At 2200 words, "A Sticky Situation" follows the humorous misadventures
of a garden spider, Arakna Spinner, who lets his jealously of a nearby
neighbor get in the way of his better judgment. "A Sticky Situation"
is a loose retelling of the classic "Three Billy Goats Gruff" and it
is suitable for both adults and young adults.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Jason Radley
Email: "My Email addy here"
"My address and contact info"

Posted by silkenlightning (Member # 2379) on :

That's amazing... and something I wouldn't have really thought of, keeping letter format in email correspondence. Thank you so much for sharing that.

Salem

Posted by Kolona (Member # 1438) on :

I'm so glad you cleared that up, HSO. At the outset of my e-mailing history I stuck to strict letter format, but the replies didn't come back that way. In fact, they were downright casual. I was afraid my e-mails were looking too uptight and not e-mail savvy, so I relaxed my format a bit. I believe I'm going to rethink that.

And congrats on the potential sale!

Posted by goatboy (Member # 2062) on :

Good for you HSO. Thanks for the tip. I hadn't thought about letter format for emails. It makes you look very professional.

Posted by Minister (Member # 2213) on :

Very interesting.... Thanks for posting that.

Posted by djvdakota (Member # 2002) on :

And I feel like a proud grandma with all my little Goat babies going out into the wide world!