Embarrassing Mistakes 101

Ahhh. I suppose there are plenty of areas to cover in the realm of embarrassing mistakes in this world.


For a writer, few are less embarrassing than making mistakes in your quest (and sometimes, haste) to have your writing published…

It's even more frustrating when you find out it could have been completely avoided had you dug a little deeper and familiarized yourself with the proper way something should have been done.

I wrote in my previous blog about the importance of research while writing your story. I forgot to mention another, perhaps even more important, area of research:

The submission process.

Please, please, please research the proper way to format your manuscript, the length and content of a synopsis, and perhaps, most importantly, the correct procedure in writing your query letter.

I speak from experience.

In the first few query letters I sent out, I was completely off base.

I misunderstood the part where you’re supposed to tell a bit about yourself. In my mind, I took it to mean that they wanted a casual, summary of who you are. You know, like the way they do it on Wheel of Fortune;  “Hi! I’m Sally from Callamazoo. I’m married with five great kids, and I raise homing pigeons!”… That’s not exactly what they want.

There is a very specific and professional format you need to follow if you want to be taken seriously.

If you don’t do your research and submit it properly, there’s a possibility you may have to endure the mortification of reading segments of your query letter on the “What Not to Do” segment of an agents blog.

I’ve learned my lesson the hard way.  Hopefully, I can spare you the red face and feeling of a massive rock sinking in your gut once you’ve realized your faux pas-- and it’s too late to do anything about it.

With the plethora of excellent websites and blogs written by experienced authors and pros expressing exactly how to prepare your submission information, there’s no reason you can’t create the perfect submission.

I’d like to finish this entry by taking a moment gush over my fourth-grade daughter, Eden.

She hopped off her school bus the other day, and came barreling at me with a big, toothy smile, waving a certificate she had won for “Writer of the Month.”

We stood there hugging, and I was overwhelmed with pride as I realized that the fruit had indeed, fallen from the tree-- and I was holding it in my arms…