Five Mistakes Writers Make When Querying Publisher

- Guest Post by Elle Campbell

Writing is a skill that requires a lot of inspiration and patience for it to be able to yield a good result. It is a job that brings fictions to life most especially when you are a fiction writer or a novelist as the case may be. Writers need publishers to be able to get their work finished and made available to their clients who are the readers of the book. Publishers on the other hand are the people that help writers to get their works finished and sent to the public at large who will then read the book and make the author and of course the publisher a success in their respective fields of work or endeavour in life.

These two jobs are jobs that go with each other as one of them cannot do without the other and this has made them look more or less like identical twins that are born of the same parents, look alike but behave differently. Despite the advent of the internet technology, writers still need the services of publishers for their work to be able to be finished and get to the consumers as there are also the online publishers that also help writers with their writing works and this includes the e-books (electronic books). Writers always have to query (this is the process of submitting their written jobs to their publisher or a publisher for an aspiring writer) their publishers and this is what this article will be dwelling on.

These twin jobs always go hand in hand and like siblings there are times when there are disagreements (when the job of a writer is rejected by a publisher) between them. There are many mistakes that writers make when they have a reason to query their publishers. This article will however concern itself with five mistakes writers make when querying publisher. The following are some of the major mistakes made by writers in this respect:

1) One of such mistakes is the fact that writers fail to write creatively when they query their publishers. There are many people that are into writing these days like we all know and there is a need for you to be creative in your writing as this is what will make you stand out and be unique among the other writers. The population of the world is growing therefore each field of work is becoming populated hence; only the innovative or the creative will become successful. When you are writing add some little spices that will distinguish your writing abilities from the writing jobs of other writers. This will help make your query to your publisher to be a successful one.

2) The second of the mistakes that will be discussed is the issue of not pointing out all your experiences (professionalism or expertise as you may choose to call it) to the publisher. It is advisable that you do not write a letter that is stating that you are not experienced in the field of writing to the publisher as this will create a negative impression of your writing skills to the publisher right before he or she even starts reading your work. The best thing that you are to state is the experience you have garnered in a particular area of life which you have put into writing a book. An example is when you write a book about how to be a great mom to a girl in her teens; you should create a positive impression to the publisher that you know what you are writing about because you have successfully seen two or three girls through their teen age.

3) The next point that we are to talk about is the mistake of not editing your work before sending it to the publisher. It is advisable that you edit your work right before you send it away to the publisher as this will help you become familiar with the tone of your work and will also make your work to appear professional, presentable and unique. Do not leave this job to the publisher as the publisher has a lot of things waiting for him to perform on his plate or table.

4) Another mistake that is made by writers is the mistake of not building up the points or ideas that you listed out in your work. As a writer, it is important that you write out the full details of your ideas in your work before you send it along with your query letter to the publisher. This will help the publisher understand your points or ideas better as he or she will not be left guessing as to what you mean about what you have written.

5) The last but not the least of the mistake that will be mentioned here is that of the inability to follow the etiquette of writing professional query letters. You can be able to make your query a success simply by the way you address the publisher or through the way you follow professional etiquette of query writing. This can be done by you through the simple act of studying what other successful writers did when they submitted their own query to their publishers.

Query writing can either make or mar your professional writing career so it is pertinent and advisable that you avoid the five mistakes that have been mentioned above and you will be on your way to becoming a successful writer or author.