Be Nice!

This always amazes me, but I hear about it so often, I thought it would be worth a mention so you don't become one of those that I hear about.

In publishing, as in many other fields, relationships are important. An editor at one house today may be an agent you query next month. And the associate editor you sent that snippy email when they rejected your story may be the senior editor at the next house you try.

There's a simple rule that, if followed, will keep you from having to eat humble pie over and over again: Be Nice!

If it shocks you that there are still people who have to be told this, you're not alone. But agents and editors rant about this all the time: the angry author who tore up a contract after the publisher changed his cover copy, the arrogant writer who sent a full page of curse words to an agent who turned down his query.

What in the world is wrong with these people? Do they honestly think they are helping their cause? Just like the disappointed contestant on American Idol who swears at Simon and insists on "just one more chance," they must think that the sheer power of cursing will change the judge's mind. Poor deluded people.

But don't YOU become one of them. When you receive a rejection or lack of response to a query or proposal you've sent, it is NOT okay to shoot an email back asking why. It is NOT okay to argue the decision, point out the shining gems in your work that they obviously missed, or ever-ever-ever respond with anger.

Nathan Bransford, agent with Curtis Brown, has an interesting take on this subject on his blog.