HOT OFF THE PRESS! We at Writer’s Relief love to share our information with writers, and we’re happy to pass some of our INSIDER’S SECRETS along to you. Feel free to print these posts to use as a reference. Pass the links along to your writer friends. It’s packed with great information. DEADLINE-DATED lists of anthologies, theme issues, and contests are included at no charge!

In This Issue:

* * Sort out those pesky verbs in our LIE AND LAY LESSON.

* * Learn about submission fundamentals in COVER AND QUERY LETTER BASICS.

* * Check out our CHECKLIST FOR CREATING COVER/QUERY LETTERS.

* * We’re giving away a FREE REPORT that outlines industry-standard Manuscript FORMAT Guidelines when you order our E-book entitled REJOICE IN REJECTION. Go to: http://www.WritersReliefBlog.com/post/Rejoice-in-Rejection-e-book.aspx.

* * SERIAL COMMAS, ELLIPSES, AND EM DASHES can be confusing; learn how to use them properly for professional poise.

* * SAVVY SALUTATIONS: Mr., Mrs., or Ms.? Update your rulebook with the latest etiquette for your cover letters.

* * We have a level of service for every budget. CHOOSE ONE OF OUR THREE LEVELS OF SERVICE. Get your submissions mailed out quickly and easily. http://WritersReliefBlog.com/post/Three-Levels-Of-Service.aspx

* * You won’t find a better list anywhere (AND IT’S FREE!) of upcoming ANTHOLOGIES, SPECIAL-THEMED JOURNALS, and CONTESTS. Visit: http://WritersReliefBlog.com/post/Anthologies-Contests.aspx.

↓Scroll Down to Read These Exciting and Useful Articles!!↓

Figuring out when to use lie or lay can give you a headache. Lie and lie are difficult verbs! Do you need to lie down? Lay down? Forget that! Wake up, read this simple lie vs. lay article, and your headache will ease away.

Here's a little exercise:

One of these is correct. Can you tell which one?
A) We lie the silverware on the table.
B) We lay the silverware on the table.

Do you know which is correct in this example?
A) I have lied to you before.
B) I have laid to you before.

And, what about this one?
A) She is lying on the floor.
B) She is laying on the floor.

Not sure? Let us help you solve the mystery behind the lie and lay rules! Let's start with the definitions of lie and lay.

Definitions:
lie1: to say something untrue in order to benefit
lie2: to recline, or to be in a horizontal position
lay: to place, which is always followed by an object
        **Tip: If you can replace the word in question with put, then use lay.

lie1 (to fib), which is a regular verb:
The present tense is conjugated with lie/lies/lying, depending on the subject.
The past tense is simply conjugated with lied.

lie2 (to rest oneself), which is an irregular verb. Note: if you (or some other person) is resting, then you use this form, lie2.
The present tense is conjugated the same as lie1.
The past tense is conjugated lay or have/had lain, depending on the subject.

lay (to place or put something), which is an irregular verb. Note: if you put something down, the object is what completes the meaning of this form, lay.
The present tense is conjugated with lay/lays, depending on the subject.
The past tense is conjugated with laid or have laid, depending on the subject.

Think you have it figured out?

Let's go back to the beginning. The answers are: B, A, and A. Revisit these rules a few times, and soon enough, you will realize there is no mystery at all.

Want more articles like this one about grammar rules and confusing words like lie or lay? Our Writer’s Relief Newsflash is a FREE monthly newsletter delivered right to your e-mail. In it you’ll find useful articles about using proper grammar and other writing-related issues, including this article on the Top 20 Misused (and Mistreated) Words. Enjoy!

The prospect of writing cover letters and query letters often sends writers into a state of anxiety, but we’ve been helping writers compose cover and query letters since 1994, and we’re happy to share our tips with you. What follows is a basic and fundamental guide to what to put in a cover or query letter.

What is the difference between a cover letter and a query letter?
What is a cover letter? The term cover letter is generally used to refer to the letter of introduction that accompanies your poetry and prose submissions to literary journals and magazines.

What is a query letter? A query letter is a type of cover letter that is geared specifically toward literary agents. There are many articles on this blog that discuss strategies for strong cover letters. Please use the search box on this Web page to find more information, or see the articles below.

In the freelance writing industry, the term query letter can be used to refer to a letter that is pitching a nonfiction article to an editor. But in the book publishing industry, query letter describes letters that are sent to pitch books to literary agents.

What do cover and query letters have in common?
Both literary agents and editors at literary magazines want concise, clear, and to-the-point information. They don’t want to be distracted by gimmicks or bogged down by long-winded explanations.

What’s the bottom line with cover and query letters?
Literary agents receive hundreds of query letter per day, so your letter must stand out and be easy to read or skim. We offer many articles about query letter writing.

Editors at literary magazines may or may not read your cover letter, but you’ll still need to follow their guidelines carefully in order to be taken seriously.

For a detailed description of how to write a cover or query letter, please read Checklist for Creating Cover/Query Letters.

Here are some other important posts about cover and query letters:

Writer's Relief Can Compose AND Prepare ALL Your Cover/Query Letters:
http://writersreliefblog.com/post/Want-Us-To-Create-Your-CoverQuery-Letters.aspx

More Cover And Query Letter Basics:
http://WritersReliefBlog.com/post/The-Query-Letter.aspx

The Cover Or Query Letter From A Marketing Standpoint:
http://WritersReliefBlog.com/post/The-Query-Lettere28094From-a-Marketing-Standpoint.aspx

How To Handle Salutations:
http://WritersReliefBlog.com/post/Salutation.aspx

Self-Publishing: When (Not) To Include Your Self-Published Book In Your Query Letter:
http://writersreliefblog.com/post/Self-publishing-When-(Not)-To-Include-Your-Self-Published-Book-In-Your-Cover-Or-Query-Letter-Bio.aspx

How To Write And Send E-Queries:
http://writersreliefblog.com/post/E-queries.aspx

Our expert creative writing proofreaders at Writer’s Relief offer some hints on how to properly use serial commas, ellipses, and em dashes in your writing.

How To Use Serial Commas
There is much confusion over how to use serial commas in a sentence. What is a serial comma? What are serial comma rules? How do you know how to punctuate commas in a series?

The serial comma rule refers to the stylistic choice of inserting a comma before “and” in a list.

For instance:

"My favorite colors are purple, yellow, and pink."

This comma rule is cited in The Chicago Manual of Style and The Gregg Reference Manual. The purpose of including this final comma before and is for clarity and to give each word or phrase equal weight in the sentence. These days, the comma before and is the most widely used style of punctuating items in a series.

There is a story which illustrates the importance of the serial comma rule. A man wrote a will leaving his estate to his three children, "Richard, John and William.” The judge divided the man's estate, leaving half to Richard and half (or one-quarter each) to John and William. Their father intended to divide his estate into thirds; however, the absence of the final serial comma gave John and William together the same weight as Richard alone.

How To Use Ellipses
What is an ellipsis? What is the plural of ellipsis?
An ellipsis indicates a pause, an omission, or an open-ended thought. An ellipsis is notated as either … or . . . The plural of ellipsis is ellipses.

How do you correctly use an ellipsis?
The first (most widely preferred) method is to use the automatic symbol insert key from a computer word-processing program. Why? An automatic ellipsis has a slightly different shape than a manually inserted ellipsis. The ellipsis symbol is found under the "Insert" or "Symbol" fields in your tool bar. Use the “help” bar if you can’t find it. 

The second way to insert ellipses is by using the space bar and periods from the keyboard in this way: space, dot, space, dot, space, dot, space. If you are not comfortable using the automatic word-processing function, feel free to use the alternative hand-inserted method. The important thing is that you are consistent throughout your manuscript.

Should you put a space after an ellipsis?
Many experts advocate including a space before and after the inserted ellipses; others do not.

What do you do if your sentence ends with an ellipsis?
If the ellipsis ends a sentence, do not add a final period; however, you can include an exclamation point or question mark after the ellipsis.

How To Use An Em Dash

What is an em dash?
An em dash is a long dash in a sentence (as opposed to a short dash).

What’s the difference between an em dash, an en dash, and a hyphen?
An em dash is long and used to indicate a break in syntax—like this. It gets its name from being the same width as a capital “M.” An en dash is a short dash that is used to indicate “through" when talking about dates and times, as in 1978-1979. A hyphen is used to link words, like soul-sucking punctuation.

Is it acceptable to use double hyphens as an em dash instead of a single, long dash?
In the past, an em dash was indicated using two dashes, like this: -- However, as word processing programs became more sophisticated, the two hyphens were replaced with a smoother and more professional dash symbol: —. When possible, skip the double hyphens. Choose to insert the em dash symbol using the standard symbols in your word processor.

Should I put a space before or after a dash?
There are no spaces inserted either before or after an em dash. For example:

The snow is really starting to come down—just like I said it would—and now we’re all going to be snowed in.

Want to learn more about how to become a professional proofreader? Want to learn more about the proofreaders at Writer’s Relief? Our proofreaders are just one part of our author’s literary submission services that creative writers use to submit their writing to the best-suited literary agents and editors. If you don’t like chasing around your ellipses, em dashes, en dashes, and serial commas, our proofreaders will be glad to do it for you!

When submitting your writing in the hopes of getting published, it’s important to know how to address a literary agent or editor in a cover or query letter. Should you write Dear Agent? Dear Editor? Dear Pat Doe? Dear Mrs. Doe? Dear Ms. Doe? Dear Mr. Doe? How do you address a letter if you don’t know the gender of the person you are writing to? 

Many writers over the years have insisted on using salutations such as Dear Mr. So-and-So or Attention Ms. Whoever. Addressing editors and agents using Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. used to be the norm. This is no longer true.

You should not assume the gender of the reader of your cover or query letter, no matter how certain you may be that Sue and Pat are females. And it's not acceptable to call up a literary agent or editor and ask, "Are you a female or male?"

In order to avoid embarrassment and alienating an editor, follow what have now become industry standard rules for addressing these decision makers.

Simply use the first and last name of the editor or literary agent to whom you are sending your submission, without a Mr. or Mrs. salutation (example: Dear Pat Doe). This technique is sometimes used for mass mailings, but because it is useful and gender-neutral, it has now become standard business protocol for professional correspondence.

Using both names for your submissions won't be held against you. But if you address an editor or literary agent by the wrong gender, that will make you look out of touch.

In the US, gender-neutral names are becoming trendier each year. Before 1960, these names were almost nonexistent. Since then, more and more parents have turned to names such as Dakota, Drew, and Zane.

Also, when dealing with names from cultures other than your own—don't assume. Be cautious and tread lightly because you don't want an editor turned off by your lack of knowledge.

If you feel uncomfortable about names in general, you can always begin your letter with "Dear Editor." Using a personal name is still considered the best option, so choose "Dear Editor" rarely (the exception to this is when submission guidelines specifically ask that submissions be sent in this way or when no name is given).

Here is a partial list of some of the names that we've run across over the years. Can you tell whether you should choose Mr. or Ms. when addressing your submission? Remember that the wrong assumption may cost you that good first impression.

Sam, Dale, Shemayahu, Fran, Aziz, Joel, Herm, Bobby, Sydney, Kinza, Marion, Gerry, Kerry, Joyce, Keiko, Gale, Flo, Jamie, Pupa, Thikhathali, Corey, Thabo, Zujun, and Don't Forget . . .

Ronnie!

For more tips on preparing cover letters, writing query letters, and following submission guidelines etiquette, sign up for our FREE newsletter for writers, delivered monthly by e-mail. At Writer’s Relief, we want to help you get your creative writing published. Whether you’re a do-it-yourself type of writer or you’d like a little help with the process, Writer’s Relief has the expertise and the experience to help you reach your writing goals.

REMEMBER TO CHECK OUT OUR LIST OF WRITING CONTESTS and ANTHOLOGIES! You won’t find a better list anywhere (AND IT’S FREE!) of upcominganthologies, special-themed journals, and contests. Find it by visiting: 
http://www.writersreliefblog.com/post/Anthologies-Contests.aspx