Plain Text/Rich Text Email Query Format Frustration

glion · Oct 22, 2011

I write all of my documents in MS Word and make frequent use of text formatting (such as italics). When it comes to emailing a query, it seems the consensus is that you should re-save your document as a Plain Text file or paste it into your email client (in my case, gmail) and re-format it into Plain Text, in order to avoid formatting anomalies on the receiving agent's end.

Is there any way around this?

Here's what I understand my options to be:

1) Re-format or save in Plain Text, either in Word or in my email client.

I wonder if I should tone my resistance down: I lose italics but what else do I lose? Maybe it's not so bad?

2) Copy-and-paste the query (and sample chapter and synopsis) into the email client and hope it works out.

I tried option #2 a year ago in one of the only queries I sent out for a previous project and was horrified to see in the agent's response that my text had rendered without apostrophes, among other things. This happened even though I tested the query I sent, by sending it from gmail to three separate types of email clients.

All advice is welcome. Thank you.

Button · Oct 22, 2011

Copy and paste the text to Notepad.

Copy the text from Notepad.

Enter into Gmail.

Use Gmail's stylistic marks.

You should be fine. There's too many problems if you copy and paste right from Word. Apostrophes and commas look weird, formatting breaks, etc.

Your query isn't that long. Takes two seconds.

rainsmom · Oct 22, 2011

I have the same issue (with italics). Here's what I do:

1. Replace ^p with ^p^p in my Word doc, so I don't have to manually add the extra space between paragraphs in Notepad.

2. Paste my selection into Notepad.

3. Copy what's in Notepad and paste it into my plain-text e-mail.

4. Make sure everything EXCEPT the italics looks right.

5. Change the formatting of the e-mail to "rich text" or "HTML."

6. Add the italics. The ONLY thing that is different is the italics.

7. Send.

People who get plain text will get a properly-formatted, plain text version without italics. Those who read in HTML or rich text will get the "plain" formatting, plus italics.

Nobody gets weirdness.

JSSchley · Oct 22, 2011

I wrote a post about formatting the first 5 on my blog:

To be perfectly honest, I strip everything out and send as plain text. Even though almost all email clients support rich text, I just feel that a query is too important a letter to risk sending something that might show up mangled. Even for italics. I put in _pseudo underline_ in the first five for the three lines I have in italics (a letter the MC receives at the outset of the novel). There's real italics in the partial or full, should they request it, and I figure an agent will understand that I a) know that should be italicized and b) know how to format italics in an actual document.

But I think you'd be safe with sending rich text in an email, too.

Plain Text/Rich Text Email Query Format Frustration

glion

Button

Resident in Question

rainsmom

Feeling like an old timer

JSSchley

Have Harp Will Travel