Don’t Be a Creeper

This post is brought to you by
the one and only, Lisha Cauthen.

We’re told to personalize queries. We’re told to research agents and editors–heck, I told you to personalize queries and research agents and editors. But there is a caveat.

Don’t be a creeper.

Don’t mention in your query letter how pretty an agent’s children are.

Don’t reference the vacation that an editor posted pictures about on Facebook. Don’t call them on their personal cell and don’t send presents to their home address. And for crying out loud, don’t SHOW UP at their home address.

This is not friendliness, this is creeper behavior. I know we jokingly talk about “stalking” agents and editors online, but it’s just a joke. Don’t cross the line into their personal life because you think it shows initiative. It doesn’t. It shows mental illness.

Be friendly, be yourself, but be professional.