A reader queried me this week, asking how to send their word to a traditional press. Big ask, because they write entire courses and books on the subject, but I tried to give them an abridged version.

First, you don’t send the entire manuscript. He asked if he needed a dedication page, the front matter, etc. and I had to explain to him that they have to like your writing first. This isn’t about formatting and the extra material of a book nor your bio. It’s about sending one to three chapters (sometimes only a first page) to a publisher to see if they like what they see. Not the full manuscript.

Second, you prepare a query letter where every word counts. EVERY.WORD.HAS.TO.COUNT. That query has to make an editor (or agent) want to read more. Even if it’s talking about who you are or the brief 100-word synopsis of your book. They might never read that one to three chapters if the pitch letter doesn’t sing.

Third, you only get one chance with each publisher and agent. If they reject you on this book, the book is pretty much forever rejected. Unless they reply with suggestions and leave the door open for you, you are done with them.

Bottom line . . . every word counts. The query, the synopsis, the first page, the first three chapters. Every word.

But how will they know the book is any good is they don’t read it?

They won’t. Not unless the material leading up to it is pristine and eye catching.

“That doesn’t seem fair,” has been said many times before about the process. However, these editors and agents do not have the time to read everyone’s manuscript. The writers who take the painstaking time to prepare the query, et al to the level such they are intriguing to read, will likely have a book worth reading. Maybe, maybe not, but the truth is, if the introduction doesn’t sing, the rest doesn’t stand a chance.

Every word has to count.