I am sending a query letter to an agent named Carol Smith. I had originally addressed the letter "Dear Ms. Smith." My editor changed it to "Dear Carol Smith". Is the use of "Ms." now outdated? Which is better? Thanks for your guidance.
Salutation
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Mrs-Q is likely correct (although I'm not familiar with men spelling it with one r and one l, but that's neither here nor there), but greetings like that have always rubbed me the wrong way. I would do some checking into the agent's bio to see if you can get firm information about gender. If there's a photo somewhere, even better. I'm probably old fashioned, but I think using a title (Mr./Ms.) sounds more professional. If you can't find anything, your editor's solution is probably the best way to go.
You can't always assume someone's gender from a photo. But definitely looking at their site or social media to find out is a great idea.
I personally do go with the full name, or occasionally if they are someone I'm more familiar with (even if just from Twitter) sometimes just the first name.
I personally do go with the full name, or occasionally if they are someone I'm more familiar with (even if just from Twitter) sometimes just the first name.
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Very true. I should have specified something like a professional head shot on an official website. Even then it's not 100%, I understand.
I was apparently not specific enough. I know for certain that the agent is a woman. Also I tried to obfuscate the true name by picking an alias and, sadly, picked a name that is very rarely used for men. So let's say the woman's name is Susan. The essence of what I want to know is the use of Dear Ms. Smith versus Dear Susan Smith. Thank you for your thoughts.
This is a business letter; you address her professionally.
Ms. Smith: <-- "Ms" rather than the first name, with a colon rather than a comma.
Ms. Smith: <-- "Ms" rather than the first name, with a colon rather than a comma.
Agreeing with Cyia. For better or worse, I teach Technical Writing and the most basic/traditional formats are the most expected and least likely to cause any problems. In many ways, the best technical/professional writing is invisible.
I don't usually put the "dear," but I think that's a regional preference. Either one works.
Most likely. It's business standard here, AFAIK.
Most likely. It's business standard here, AFAIK.
I thought all humans had colons, that's not specific to Americans. 
Ok, back on topic, I didn't know about the colon either, I've always used a comma
Ok, back on topic, I didn't know about the colon either, I've always used a comma
In the UK it's standard to address a letter like this:
With a "Dear" at the start, and a comma at the end. A colon, and no "Dear", is a format I've not seen before: and I spent a good amount of time working on UK/US coeditions, which involved a lot of correspondence. Odd how standards change so quickly.
To the OP: if you know the agent is female I'd go with,
With a "Dear" at the start, and a comma at the end. A colon, and no "Dear", is a format I've not seen before: and I spent a good amount of time working on UK/US coeditions, which involved a lot of correspondence. Odd how standards change so quickly.
To the OP: if you know the agent is female I'd go with,
Me either. In this context.
ETA: I've heard of it in the Colin Powell context. Just not this context.
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Why do Aussies put the date at the end of business letters rather than at the beginning?? Makes no sense!
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FWIW, I've never in my life done that.
Top right hand side AFAIK.
Yep. Date at top. No colon in salutation.
Or was that a...down under joke?
We don't. We make up our own date and it goes where-ever we want it. Which is always
Also
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Yes! See - that makes sense. But I work for govt in WA and templates force you to put it at the bottom of the letter. ...which means you have to page down to the end every time to find out when it was sent.
Anyway ...random rant. Sorry op!
(Not a down under joke but would have been a good one
)
Anyway ...random rant. Sorry op!
(Not a down under joke but would have been a good one
)
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