Professionalism: It's important
Feb. 28th, 2011 04:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
algThe other day, a friend of mine complained to Twitter that an adult with a business relationship to her organization had sent her an ostensibly professional email using "txt speak" -- not just the shortening of words we've all been known to do at one time or another to make our long thoughts fit into the 160 characters of a text message or the 140 characters for Twitter, but full on "c u l8r"-style.
I get emails like that a lot -- unfortunately. Sometimes people even send query letters to agents and editors written in less than professional language. Now, I'm not talking about a casual letter instead of formal; some editors and agents actually respond better to a more casual tone in a query letter. No, I am talking about full on spelling errors, grammatical errors, and punctuation errors; long, run-on sentences; a page that is entirely one paragraph; unsigned emails and letters with no contact information…
Several people have even sent me religious and political forwards! While that may be appropriate for some business relationships (if you work for a religious or political organization reaching out to others, perhaps?), it is certainly not appropriate for an author to send to editors or agents, especially ones who are almost strangers.
This is important: be professional. I have said it before, so many times, but I will say it as many times as I have to. The secret handshake is professionalism. Professionalism is what makes people take you seriously. Professionalism is what will sway someone to your favor. Professionalism is what's going to tip the scales for you if, for some reason, it comes down to a choice between you and another author, especially when most other things are equal. Professionalism will encourage other people to view you as a force to be reckoned with, even if you're unpublished or working on your first book.
Writing to an editor, agent, or other (professional) author is not like writing to your best friend. I'm not saying to ditch your signature voice and write a dry, formal email. Professionalism is proofreading your emails, keeping your temper, signing emails to strangers with the appropriate name (and contact information, if you don't want to be emailed back).
Personally, I have an appreciation for casual business emails -- but there is a huge difference between a casual "I read your blog and find it really helpful, and I, too, love Fringe fanfic about Astrid," and "YO, CAN YOU EDIT MY BOOK CUZ ITS GOOD BUT NOONE BLIEVS ME BCUZ MY SPLLING AINT SO GOOD PLZ HELP OK???!!"
(Depressingly, I get quite a few emails like that every month; when I was an acquiring editor, I got a lot of query letters like that, or written with crayon on construction paper, or printed in silver ink on teal paper and therefore unreadable, etc.)
Your email address also has to do with this. A professional email is your name or pseudonym @whateverdomain. It is not "limpbizkitfan27" or "iluvtomhardy" or "7babies1dad" -- okay, these are not exactly emails I've seen, because I don't want to embarrass anyone, but they are very close. Your email address, subject line, and identifying name are the first things new business contacts will see when you email them; start off on the right foot.
I'm not writing off (har har) emails like "annawrites" or "katwitharedpen" or something related to your industry, but first impressions really do stick around, and if you give the impression that you're twee or ridiculous, it will be hard to overcome that to get someone to take you seriously later.
I know this may seem unfair, but in the absence of meeting someone personally, email stands in! An unprofessional email address is the equivalent of wearing sweatpants to a convention where everyone else is wearing business suits; an unprofessional subject line is equivalent to sliding your manuscript to an editor under the stall door of a bathroom.
Some of my personal tricks for staying professional:
1. I take my time when I write emails. Almost no email needs to be written in a half-thought flurry. I write slowly and always proofread before sending.
2. If I'm concerned at all that I might send the email before I'm ready by accidentally hitting the button (or Cat Ex Machina), I take the email address out of the TO box and put it into either the subject line or the body of the email. That way, even if "send" gets hit accidentally, the email doesn't go anywhere.
3. I never write email in the first bite of new anger. If someone's emailed me something that upsets or angers me, I step away for at least fifteen minutes and do something that does not make me upset -- pet a cat, play a video game, whatever. Since I work from home, I can knead bread dough or fold laundry; when I worked in an office, I would do a completely different task, like read slush or talk to my interns or file or go across the street to get a latte. Just like with #1, I maintain that almost no email needs to be written in a half-thought flurry (or fury). Even if the anger doesn't go away, taking your time to calm down and think about how to approach answering that infuriating email is always better than writing a rageful email and sending it in a fit of pique.
4. I keep all my personal stuff in Firefox, and all my business stuff in Chrome. Email, Dreamwidth, LiveJournal, Twitter, Delicious, Google Reader, Tumblr, Wordpress… Everything. This serves two equally important purposes.
One: I never accidentally post a personal journal entry to my professional accounts or a personal Twitter post to my professional Twitter account. I never accidentally bookmark something on my professional Delicious account that should go into my fanfic Delicious; I never accidentally send a client or business contact an email from my private account. (This also means that when I want to write a Twitter post, I have to go and open up the account in the right browser, giving me extra time to make sure I really want to post those 140 characters.)
Two: At the end of the day, when I am done working, whether that's at 7 p.m. or midnight, I just close the whole browser and I don't have to worry about my work stuff until I open that browser again when I start working the next day. It's tempting to work all the time, and keep my work email and Twitter open all the time -- but I've learned that it's very important to keep a separation between a personal life and a professional one. Even if it's just a few hours, those are important hours, giving me a chance to recharge. Anyone who has worked a 120-hour week will tell you that it's damn exhausting to think about work and keep that professionalism going all the time. Closing the browser lets me relax a little, and put work -- writing, editing, blog posts, whatever -- out of sight and out of mind for a while.
These tricks may not all work for you. What do you do to stay professional?
I get emails like that a lot -- unfortunately. Sometimes people even send query letters to agents and editors written in less than professional language. Now, I'm not talking about a casual letter instead of formal; some editors and agents actually respond better to a more casual tone in a query letter. No, I am talking about full on spelling errors, grammatical errors, and punctuation errors; long, run-on sentences; a page that is entirely one paragraph; unsigned emails and letters with no contact information…
Several people have even sent me religious and political forwards! While that may be appropriate for some business relationships (if you work for a religious or political organization reaching out to others, perhaps?), it is certainly not appropriate for an author to send to editors or agents, especially ones who are almost strangers.
This is important: be professional. I have said it before, so many times, but I will say it as many times as I have to. The secret handshake is professionalism. Professionalism is what makes people take you seriously. Professionalism is what will sway someone to your favor. Professionalism is what's going to tip the scales for you if, for some reason, it comes down to a choice between you and another author, especially when most other things are equal. Professionalism will encourage other people to view you as a force to be reckoned with, even if you're unpublished or working on your first book.
Writing to an editor, agent, or other (professional) author is not like writing to your best friend. I'm not saying to ditch your signature voice and write a dry, formal email. Professionalism is proofreading your emails, keeping your temper, signing emails to strangers with the appropriate name (and contact information, if you don't want to be emailed back).
Personally, I have an appreciation for casual business emails -- but there is a huge difference between a casual "I read your blog and find it really helpful, and I, too, love Fringe fanfic about Astrid," and "YO, CAN YOU EDIT MY BOOK CUZ ITS GOOD BUT NOONE BLIEVS ME BCUZ MY SPLLING AINT SO GOOD PLZ HELP OK???!!"
(Depressingly, I get quite a few emails like that every month; when I was an acquiring editor, I got a lot of query letters like that, or written with crayon on construction paper, or printed in silver ink on teal paper and therefore unreadable, etc.)
Your email address also has to do with this. A professional email is your name or pseudonym @whateverdomain. It is not "limpbizkitfan27" or "iluvtomhardy" or "7babies1dad" -- okay, these are not exactly emails I've seen, because I don't want to embarrass anyone, but they are very close. Your email address, subject line, and identifying name are the first things new business contacts will see when you email them; start off on the right foot.
I'm not writing off (har har) emails like "annawrites" or "katwitharedpen" or something related to your industry, but first impressions really do stick around, and if you give the impression that you're twee or ridiculous, it will be hard to overcome that to get someone to take you seriously later.
I know this may seem unfair, but in the absence of meeting someone personally, email stands in! An unprofessional email address is the equivalent of wearing sweatpants to a convention where everyone else is wearing business suits; an unprofessional subject line is equivalent to sliding your manuscript to an editor under the stall door of a bathroom.
Some of my personal tricks for staying professional:
1. I take my time when I write emails. Almost no email needs to be written in a half-thought flurry. I write slowly and always proofread before sending.
2. If I'm concerned at all that I might send the email before I'm ready by accidentally hitting the button (or Cat Ex Machina), I take the email address out of the TO box and put it into either the subject line or the body of the email. That way, even if "send" gets hit accidentally, the email doesn't go anywhere.
3. I never write email in the first bite of new anger. If someone's emailed me something that upsets or angers me, I step away for at least fifteen minutes and do something that does not make me upset -- pet a cat, play a video game, whatever. Since I work from home, I can knead bread dough or fold laundry; when I worked in an office, I would do a completely different task, like read slush or talk to my interns or file or go across the street to get a latte. Just like with #1, I maintain that almost no email needs to be written in a half-thought flurry (or fury). Even if the anger doesn't go away, taking your time to calm down and think about how to approach answering that infuriating email is always better than writing a rageful email and sending it in a fit of pique.
4. I keep all my personal stuff in Firefox, and all my business stuff in Chrome. Email, Dreamwidth, LiveJournal, Twitter, Delicious, Google Reader, Tumblr, Wordpress… Everything. This serves two equally important purposes.
One: I never accidentally post a personal journal entry to my professional accounts or a personal Twitter post to my professional Twitter account. I never accidentally bookmark something on my professional Delicious account that should go into my fanfic Delicious; I never accidentally send a client or business contact an email from my private account. (This also means that when I want to write a Twitter post, I have to go and open up the account in the right browser, giving me extra time to make sure I really want to post those 140 characters.)
Two: At the end of the day, when I am done working, whether that's at 7 p.m. or midnight, I just close the whole browser and I don't have to worry about my work stuff until I open that browser again when I start working the next day. It's tempting to work all the time, and keep my work email and Twitter open all the time -- but I've learned that it's very important to keep a separation between a personal life and a professional one. Even if it's just a few hours, those are important hours, giving me a chance to recharge. Anyone who has worked a 120-hour week will tell you that it's damn exhausting to think about work and keep that professionalism going all the time. Closing the browser lets me relax a little, and put work -- writing, editing, blog posts, whatever -- out of sight and out of mind for a while.
These tricks may not all work for you. What do you do to stay professional?