My novel takes place in France and therefore makes use of the occasional French spelling, where the letter E is accented. For example: Opéra. How do I deal with this in my query letter and manuscript?
When I first posted my query letter, I used "Opéra" in the text and was told that it looked like a typo. On my end it looked fine, but obviously something went wrong somewhere. I've heard this can happen in emails, as well as with e-readers. I don't want to take any chances with my query or manuscript, especially with e-submissions, but neither do I want to spell the words improperly. "Opéra" is a matter of taste--it could properly be spelled either way, but I use it as a means of distinguishing between the Opéra (the building) and the opera (the show they're performing). Other words do require the accented E. The main character's surname, for instance, has an accented E in it. There's also words like fiancé and fiancée, the magazine La Mode Illustrée, the play Roméo et Juliette, and so forth. There are a couple of Swedish words that have unusual characters in them, as well.
Should I replace these with regular letters for any e-queries and e-submissions, but leave them in the hard-copy query letters and manuscripts? Or do I need to replace them universally, and then just tell the agent who wants to represent me that certain words need the accented letters, so that he/she can make the changes?
How do I handle this?
When I first posted my query letter, I used "Opéra" in the text and was told that it looked like a typo. On my end it looked fine, but obviously something went wrong somewhere. I've heard this can happen in emails, as well as with e-readers. I don't want to take any chances with my query or manuscript, especially with e-submissions, but neither do I want to spell the words improperly. "Opéra" is a matter of taste--it could properly be spelled either way, but I use it as a means of distinguishing between the Opéra (the building) and the opera (the show they're performing). Other words do require the accented E. The main character's surname, for instance, has an accented E in it. There's also words like fiancé and fiancée, the magazine La Mode Illustrée, the play Roméo et Juliette, and so forth. There are a couple of Swedish words that have unusual characters in them, as well.
Should I replace these with regular letters for any e-queries and e-submissions, but leave them in the hard-copy query letters and manuscripts? Or do I need to replace them universally, and then just tell the agent who wants to represent me that certain words need the accented letters, so that he/she can make the changes?
How do I handle this?
