Comic Sans

You send queries in Times or Courier - period. Anything else is unprofessional.

Because it's a poorly designed, clumsy typeface. Just like Jokerface, Papyrus, CurlzMT, etc, etc.

Querying in display type is a newb mistake. Don't do it.

There's nothing funny about Comic Sans.

Also, Bank Gothic is used waaaaay too much, especially in movie titles. It's time for a new typeface, designers.

Comic sans is too busy fighting crime...

I've always hated Comic Sans. One of the guys at work sends all his emails in it, and I just want to print them all out and force him to eat them.

I don't have a problem with comic sans. If I'm bored or stuck I might change my WIP into purple comic sans just to see my characters die in a more ironic fashion.

Will I query with comic sans? No, because I understand there's a difference between what I personally find fun and interesting and what the professional and business world wants.

Of course, when I become massively successful and filthy rich I will write all my MS in white wingdings. In pdf.

acockey said:

What if I am doing it to be ironic?

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You won't get the chance. At best, it'll be seen as a gimmick. At worst, the mere sight of the hated font will lead the agent in question to hurl their computer at the nearest wall.

I enjoy using comic sans -- for silly things. I'd never use it professionally for anything.

We get a newsletter where I work in comic sans and all I can think when I look at it is how unprofessional and old it looks.

But speaking of professional, the default on word on our computers at work is Calibri, and it seems everyone now at my work is using it for correspondence, etc. instead of times new roman, which I've always used in an office setting.

^Yeah, the 2010 edition of Word defaults to Calibri, which I find incredibly frustrating because it's serif-free and outside of the Internet I just don't like serif-free fonts.

And most agencies don't either.

Bottom line, just make sure you know the guidelines before you send anything anywhere.

Oh, I hate how Calibri is the default font on Word. The first thing I do when I start a new document is adjust the font. I have a style set up on my computer with 12 pt Times New Roman so I can switch it easily.

DancingMaenid said:

Oh, I hate how Calibri is the default font on Word. The first thing I do when I start a new document is adjust the font. I have a style set up on my computer with 12 pt Times New Roman so I can switch it easily.

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The first thing I do is change Word's default font so I never see Calibri again. Calibri is just bad.

Jamesaritchie said:

The first thing I do is change Word's default font so I never see Calibri again. Calibri is just bad.

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Didn't even know you could change the default font. Though it makes sense--I just haven't gone searching for how to do it.

Alas, there's no way to do that with public computers. I try to avoid working on stuff in Word too much when I'm at school because there are so many adjustments that I've made on my version at home. Turning off smart quotes, for example.

I can't believe nobody has posted McSweeney's I'M COMIC SANS, ASSHOLE.

I giggled like a loon.

And the first thing I do when opening a new doc is fix all the formatting, including font.

Cyia said:

You send queries in Times or Courier - period. Anything else is unprofessional.

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acockey said:

@amrose What if I am doing it to be ironic?

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Then you're not being professional.

I guess this thread is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but the fact is that you should use a font that is very easy to read.

Comic Sans isn't, and the people you're sending it to spend a lot of time reading. Funky fonts are simply eye-strain to them.

Also, a funky font is a distraction from the content, i.e. a gimmick, and queries are unsolicited ad-mail to the people who receive them. They will read your query, but they have zero patience for bullshit, i.e. gimmicks.

On a related note, the now-disappeared blogger-agent Ms. Snark once said that when a person is dealing with a hundred queries a day, consistency is more valuable than "thank you". Agents want your query to conform to a standard because then they can judge its content fast and easily.

I hate Comic Sans, as already stated it's just a badly designed font.

I love courier, because I love the typewriter look, I want a typewriter so bad!

Anyway Times and Courier are my favourites!

However I used Comic Sans for like every single project for school when I was in middle school! God that was awful... If only I knew what I know today... If only I knew...

Jamesaritchie said:

The first thing I do is change Word's default font so I never see Calibri again. Calibri is just bad.

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How do you do that? Calibri makes me want to sit on my laptop.

DancingMaenid said:

Didn't even know you could change the default font. Though it makes sense--I just haven't gone searching for how to do it.

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Do a search on 'change default font' in Word's help for instructions. I'd paste them here but I'm not sure they're the same for 2007 as for 2010, which is what I have at work. Also, there's a little image to help locate the icon to click, so the text-only instructions might not be so helpful to everyone. Best to look it up for yourself so you get the complete instructions for your version.

My dentist sends appointment reminders in Comic Sans. It makes me fear for my teeth every time.

I quite like Calibri. I find it easy to read.

I wouldn't query or sub using it, but for writing it works well on a small screen.

I sub in 8pt Edwardian Script.

acockey said:

Why is this poor font hated so much?

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It has it's uses. Professional correspondance is not one of them.

It's a clumsy, jokey looking font. It doesn't look serious and it can be very annoying and difficult to read over several paragraphs.

Do you hate it? why?

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I don't hate it. But I would put down something written in it, and I found find it almost impossible to take someone seriously when they used it.

would you send a query in Comic Sans?

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Only if I was also writing that query in crayon.

The version of Word we use in work defaults to 10pt Calibri with 10pt spacing. Not good. Not good at all.

I have no feelings about Comic Sans, really. I write in 12 pt Dark Courier myself. I keep wanting to set the default to that instead of 11 pt Calibri*, but I'm not the only one using this version of Word, sadly.

*Why 11? WHY?