World’s Worst Query Letters and Book Proposals For September, 2016!

World’s Worst Query Letters and Book Proposals For September, 2016!

Oh, yes! We know you’re excited!! Today, we’re going to share another installment of our popular column, World’s Worst Book Proposals and Query Letters. Featured below are real quotes from query letters and book proposals submitted to us over the past few weeks.

Yes, we can learn from others’ mistakes!

In case you’re a new reader, please know that we are a publication about writing and publishing FOR WRITERS. See if you can recognize a theme in the errors below.

WRITERS SHOULD REALLY KNOW HOW TO SPELL THE WORD “WRITE” RIGHT. AM I RIGHT?

i would be happy to right successful stories for publication

THESE SUBJECTS DO NOT EVEN REMOTELY MATCH THE TOPICS WE COVER

I am interested in writing an article about how churches and religions are our buffer for politics and our government.

WRITERS SHOULD REALLY KNOW HOW TO SPELL THE WORD ARTICLE! (AND WHY IS HE YELLING AT ME?)

I THINK I AM A GOOD WRITER.I HAVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT INTERNET,FOREST,UNIVERSE,EARTH.I CAN WRITE BEST ARTICAL

WRITERS (AND LAWYERS) SHOULD KNOW CORRECT CAPITALIZATION AND PUNCTUATION.

This is (name removed) a law student and i enjoy writing and im willing to write for you and make money out of it. What interests me is life, postive behaviour, colors and more fun things.

WHAT’S UP WITH THE CAPITALIZATION? IS THIS THE TITLE OF HIS ARTICLE?

Please I Want To Make Money Writing Articles How Can I Forward My Article To You.Thank You

JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE A NEWBIE DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD ALSO BE UNPROFESSIONAL

The subject line of the email:
I am a newbie blogger but k write good stuff

The entire body of the email:
Sent from my iPhone

CHECK OUT THIS RUN-ON SENTENCE! TRY TO READ IT OUT LOUD WITHOUT TAKING A BREATH.

I have visit your site and found reliable information so i am interested to place a permanent guest post at your site and the article will be provided by us which will be written by one of our specialist writer having 1-2 do follow link inside article or either in author bio as you feel easy to go ahead.

OFFERING TO WRITE FOR FREE SCREAMS UNPROFESSIONAL. WE PAY ALL WRITERS WHO WRITE FOR US. OFFERING TO WRITE FOR FREE IS A SURE SIGN OF AN AMATEUR. DON’T WRITE FOR FREE!

Hello! I would just be interesting in the experience I could gain from writing for you.

HIS SPACE BAR HAS A SHORT IN IT. AND, HE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW IF WE’RE A MAGAZINE OR A WEBSITE? THIS SCREAMS “MASS EMAIL” AND IS VERY OFFENSIVE TO EDITORS. IF YOU CAN’T BE BOTHERED TO RESEARCH OUR PUBLICATION, WE CAN’T BE BOTHERED TO RESPOND TO YOUR IMPERSONAL MASS EMAIL

hello.how are you?my name is (removed).i want to write paid online articles,blogs,stories on different topics for your website,magazine or whatever it is.so tell me where i can submitt my written stuff and how?

UM, WHAT?

Hey, i am a free lancer and i’m looking for topics to write articles. i can’t figure out the topics .

WOW! YOU STARTED WRITING WHEN YOU WERE 5 MONTHS OLD?!

I am a content writer from India I have been into writing since 5 months…I have created articles on hairstyles, exercise machines, popcorn, car speakers, bird feeders etc..

I NEED PROFESSIONAL WRITERS WHO USE CORRECT CAPITALIZATION AND PUNCTUATION.

i need to sign up and write in the blog and earn enough money

THIS ONE CRACKED US UP!

five fool proof ways to make money with just a pen and paper.

SPEECHLESS…

hie i have been a freelance for 3 years and well conversant with the field.can i submit my articles on various topics.give me a go ahead of how you go around here

See more entertaining installments of World’s Worst Book Proposals and Query Letters HERE.

RELATED:

QUERY LETTERS THAT WORKED! Real Queries That Landed $2K+ Writing Assignments

If This Article Offends You, You’re Not a Professional Writer

When Freelance Writers are Toxic, Unstable, and Abusive to Editors

BOOK PROPOSALS THAT WORKED! Real Book Proposals That Landed $10K – $100K Publishing Contracts

Trying To “Trick” Editors Can (And Will) Backfire

Can’t Afford An Editor? Try These Four Fun Steps For A Much Cleaner Manuscript!



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About The Author

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Angela Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the author of 19 books, and the co-owner of BookLocker.com (one of the original POD publishers that still gets books to market in less than a month), PubPreppers.com (print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish), and Abuzz Press (the publishing co-op that charges no setup fees).

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2 Responses to "World’s Worst Query Letters and Book Proposals For September, 2016!"

  1. Wendy L. Jones  September 9, 2016 at 9:50 pm

    And my award, this time, goes to the massive run-on sentence!

    If you can read that entire sentence, in one breath, you are ready for the underwater freestyle competition at the Olympics.
    Seriously – you truly have to make one breath last in this competition. Practicing with these marathon sentences is excellent training. ;))

  2. Terri DelCampo  September 9, 2016 at 12:38 pm

    Wow. I thought I’d come across some ridiculously horrific disasters while editing….some of these are laughable – or perhaps cry-able.