Make it easy for the recipient 
When emailing an editor or agent, remember the relationship is asymmetrical: the message matters far more to you than to them. Therefore, make everything you can easier for the other person. Make it difficult for them to discard your query because you’ve been so spot on with your inquiry. Pretty much every other tip here circles back to this one.

Keep it short and simple
Write a clear subject line so the recipient knows instantly what they’re getting, and can easily retrieve it from their inbox later should they want to. Make your message about one thing. Write short, clear sentences, no more than one or two per paragraph, no more than three or four paragraphs in total. Include an explicit call to action spelling out what you want them to do. E.g.. ‘Let me know if you’d like to see the full manuscript.’

Don’t be too salesy 
My company recommends writing short, downbeat subject lines (SL) that don’t go big on claims or superlatives. Write the sort of SL you’d write if forwarding something to a coworker. E.g., ‘FFW newsletter ideas – Dan Brotzel.’ If you enter all breathless and hypey, the recipient starts to remember they are being sold to, and immediately puts their defences up.

Try dictating your words 
A good email has conversational quality. So instead of typing your email, try using a voice recognition function (like in Word) or tool (like Otter.ai) to speak out your message, then tidy it up in print. Chances are, you’ll come across as warmer, more human, and more authentic.

Blow up your words to a giant point size
Email marketers say that every sentence you write buys you permission for the recipient to read the next one. So the more you write, the more reasons the reader has to switch off (and the harder work your email will look like to read). Writing in a big font will help you to write less words because the screen will fill up much quicker.

Inject a little splash of personality or humour 
One email marketing guru got his big break when he sent an email while drunk. It got the attention of a big company and led to a huge contract for his client, and he’s been writing (and teaching) his approach to writing recklessly comical emails ever since. Humour is very subjective, of course, but taking a risk and making an effort to say something out of the ordinary could well help your message to stand out in a busy inbox.

Don’t start by apologising for interrupting their day
All that does is remind them how busy they are! You may feel uncomfortable about making a cold approach, but you’re not spamming an individual so much as selling to a business. Remember that publishers, editors and agents always need new writers and material, so they need to hear from people like you. No need to be self-effacing.

Always be chasing  
This is another thing many of us feel uncomfortable about, but the fact is, the more emails you send, the more chance you have of a response. Schedule polite follow-up nudges every week or so for three to four weeks. Even if the eventual reply is a No, you’ll at least know where you stand, and you may get some useful feedback.

Read more of Dan Brotzel’s articles on writing fiction and content at https://danielbrotzel.medium.com/