New Pathways Press Pet Peeves

Pet Peeves for Queries and Book Proposals

Not following submission guidelines
Addressing your letter to a title or department - Editor, Acquisitions
Misspelling the name of the person you are addressing
Typos
Fancy fonts
Sloppy presentation
Submitting a first draft
Not editing your work
Omission of details: theme, word count, all contact info, etc.
A synopsis that doesn't explain the ending (for books that weave a storyline into the structure)
Submitting a query for a format we don't publish
Not knowing your market(s)
Not having an authentic voice (trying to write like a big name author)
Including clips in the body of a query letter
Sending clips without being asked to do so
Sending any attachment with your email
Including page after page of detail in a query letter
Sending a manuscript without being asked to do so
Thinking your job is over once you've written the book
Being unaware that it is the author's job to promote and market your book
Calling or emailing to check on the progress of your Query Letter or Book Proposal
Expecting our attention to focus exclusively on you