1. Lacklustre submission emails including little information about yourself or your work. This is your opportunity to pitch your book—use it.
2. Humorous submissions that aren't funny.
3. Proposals for fictional novels - what other sort are there?
4. Submission emails without representative material to read attached. We want a one hit submissions process - to read about you in your email and to read your work immediately afterwards.
5. Query emails, telephone calls or letters about what we want to read from unpublished authors. We welcome submissions but we want to read your work, not engage in phone calls or correspondence. We think all the necessary information for submissions is included in this website.
6. An invitation to follow a chain of website links to find your work. Please don’t make us have to dig it out - the delete button beckons.
7. Artists' submissions of original work. We much prefer an email submission with attachments or a link to your website (a link to a website is an easy way to view work but please don't make us trawl through a complicated string of links to get there).
8. Inclusion of non-consecutive chapters e.g. 1, 13 and 26. Always send the first three. If you’re not confident in them, revise before sending out.
9. Picture book submissions that state everything depends on the illustrations. The words are what you are supplying—if it all depends on the illustrations, why are you necessary?
10. Submissions to more than one agent in the agency - this just wastes our time. Plump for carolinesheldon@carolinesheldon.co.uk or pennyholroyde@carolinesheldon.co.uk.
11. Submissions that say your mum loved it.
12. Submissions that are obviously carpet-bombing the whole of the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook. We don't love the 'send all' approach.
