How Not to Query a Publisher

OK, stand by for a rant.

Today, we received part of a manuscript in the regular mail. I suppose it is intended as a query but it completely fails on several counts.

1. The author clearly did not bother to read our submission guidelines posted on our website. If he had, he would have seen that we only want to see email queries with a 200-word synopsis and an approximate word count. We clearly state that we don’t want to see attachments or any portion of the manuscript itself in the initial query.
2. The author failed to include a cover letter but, instead, sent only 13 pages of the manuscript with his contact info and word count on the cover page. Period. Nothing else.
3. The author did not even bother to provide a hint of the book’s possible category. I’m not even sure if it’s fiction or nonfiction. The title, “The Baby Killers,” does cause me to doubt that he ever looked over the books we have published to date (despite our note on the submission page asking prospective authors to “familiarize yourself with our books.”
4. The envelope was not addressed to anyone in particular. It would have taken very little time for the author to review the About Us section on our website and decide to whom it should be addressed.

The author did do one thing right…he included an SASE.

Am I going to take time to read this and try to determine what it is and whether we’re at all interested?

Sorry, but no. I don’t have time.

If an author can’t (or won’t) take the time to do a few minutes of research and follow the simple, straightforward directions we provide, why would I expect that author to follow any subsequent instructions or to handle himself in a businesslike manner?

If the above sounds petty, so be it. I consider my time valuable. Those who decide to send us a query should do likewise. Trust me, this particular query is more the rule than the exception. Unfortunately.

Bottom Line: Take the time to do it right or don’t bother to do it at all.