I like to scan emails on my phone, sorting and culling what I have to take action on. Then I go back to my desktop where my massive screen and lots of space makes my writing life easier to handle. What I wind up doing is deleting a lot of email on the fly, with the majority of it deleted based upon the subject and first line of the message.

Seems to me that people are losing touch with the knowledge that a strong subject makes the recipient open the email. And a strong opening line makes them continue to read your proposal. I’ve rejected articles on the subject alone.

I’ve also rejected a submission based upon the title of the piece. Sure, a title can be changed, but if the pitch is weak, and the title is weak, doesn’t it hold water that the piece itself will be lacking as well? Not fair, you might say, but when faced with two hundred emails a day (at least), and a long line of pitches, one just cannot afford to hope that the writing in the manuscript is way better than the the pitch or title.

Same goes for book titles. There’s something incredibly magnetic about a savvy book title. Put it on a professional cover, and your book is likely to be sold off the shelf without the first page being read.

Our problem is we work so hard on the guts of the writing that we tire of needing to parse words for a title for a manuscript we’ve already poured our sweat, blood, and soul into. We want to move on with it. After all, the writing will prove itself out, right?

Sorry, but you might get someone like me, with a lot on her plate and a ton on her mind, who has to get through a lot of submissions before going outside and cleaning up hurricane damage or making a doctor appointment. Or someone who only has the money for one book and doesn’t have the time to read deeply into the story to make a decision what to purchase.

Attempt to be brilliant with both your titles and your subject lines. Those emails in which you are fighting to sell your work need to be inviting. And that manuscript you spent two years writing won’t make it to first base if the title doesn’t grab.

Those small snippets of writing have to be as good as anything you’ve written if you want anyone to read further.