How Not to Tick Off Editors, Agents, and Others

Sally Wiener Grotta is a writer and photographer friend of mine who has a great blog entry on what not to say to editors and agents.

It's on the book end of things, but I think the comments are applicable to anything a writer does, whether book, magazine, corporate, or non-profit. Outside of the usual culprits - like "Don't screw up my name when sending something to me" - are some particularly relevant ones. For exmaple, the impulse to talk about yourself can be off-putting and can set off a red flag that you are going to be high maintenence. This is a perfect example of starting to understand your prospects and doing things to make them comfortable and happy. And when the prospects are happy, they're more inclined to give you assignments.