Let's face it, professional letters on letterhead aren't always your first contact with a company or with someone in which you're trying to impress. Email has certainly taken over in that department. However, at the same time, lack of quality has taken over as well. When emailing a publishing professional, make sure to spotlight your writing skills in the initial email.

This is what you should include in a professional email.

Begin with a greeting:
If you know who you are sending the email to, it is always nice to begin the email with, "Dear Ms. Smith." Should you know personally know the recipient and are on a first name basis with them, you could use their first name. If you're not sure to whom the email should be sent to, begin with "To whom it may concern."  Just remember that if this is a professional email, you should take some time in knowing who the email is going to. Beginning an email with, "Hey! I want you to publish my book," is not keeping it professional.

Start by thanking the recipient (if they are getting back to you.)
Let's say you are returning an email to someone who has queried you. No matter what the question might have been in the original email, it is always good to begin with, "Thank you for your recent email," or "Thank you for contacting us." People who are reaching out to a company want to know that they are appreciated. This is a great way to always be courteous, even if you're writing an email that isn't full of good news.

What is your purpose:
There is a reason you're emailing the recipient. What is it?

This might be the first communication you are having with the recipient, therefore thanks might not be called for. However, let them know why you are emailing by stating your purpose. "I am writing to enquire about..." or "in reference to..." Make your purpose clear before you get into the body of your test. Use good grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Get to the point and be clear about what you're trying to say or ask.

In closing:
Make sure to thank the recipient for taking the time to read your email. This is a good time to also add a note of reply, if you're expecting one. "Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to talking to you." or  "Thank you for your time."


How to end your professional email:
End with an appropriate closing. "Best regards," "Sincerely," and "Thank you," are all professional. Avoid "Best wishes," "See ya!" and "Cheers." Leave those to the casual email you're sending to your friend.

Of course, before you send the email proof it. Check your spelling. Make sure your contact information and your name is attached. Did you say what you needed to say? Do they know you're awaiting a reply? Always check your work. 

One more point. If you're trying to make an impression of professionalism, check your email address. Does it say too much about you? If you're looking to be professional for the long haul, think about getting a professional email address that gives you that appearance as well.

I always say my mother gave me a great gift. She taught me professionalism even when you're writing a  "go to hell" letter. You want to get your point across so that the person on the other side looks forward to the journey.

What I don't understand is...where has that gone?

My son's English teacher is teaching them to write professional emails. In fact, it is the only way she will respond to you. I'm proud to say, he has the professionalism down, and that makes me very happy because I see this as a lost art.

I wish I could tell you how many emails and messages I get a month, as a publisher or an author, where the author of the email has no concern over the content of the email. Misspelled words. Missing punctuation. Horrible grammar. And I'm here to tell you that "text" talk isn't professional at all. 

What happened to the days of Dear Mrs. Smith, or To Whom it May Concern? Anymore, emails or messages start off with Hey! 


Don't get me wrong. If I'm emailing my BFF about having a decaf, non-fat, mocha, well then yes, I might start out the conversation with, Hey! However, if I'm inquiring about a job, or an opportunity you can GUARANTEE I'm going to do some research on whom I'm writing the email to and I'm going to address them correctly.

I have, in fact, tossed out submissions for my publishing house when I feel that the professionalism from the author isn't there. An email in all caps will not be read and if you start a query out with Hey there is a huge chance it won't be read either.

There is a wealth of information out there on writing professional emails, letters, queries, etc. With the world at your fingertips, why wouldn't you try a little harder to impress? 

With that said, join me here tomorrow when I go over the fundamentals of a professional email. (Feel free to share it with anyone who could benefit.)

The Walker Family Series is the newest in my family sagas. Book 1, WALKER PRIDE, is available  now!
Get your copy here: 

Susan Hayes moved to Georgia to start the life she wanted to live and build her catering career. On the brink of having everything she ever wanted, Eric Walker and his family happened into her life.

Eric Walker’s life had been quiet, structured, and boring until his uncle gambled away the family’s property and jeopardized Eric’s livelihood. Now midst family secrets learned, someone ruining his business and trying to drive him off his land, he fell in love. 

Things will never be the same for them—especially if someone succeeds in destroying the Walker family and killing Eric.

How to stay motivated to write.

If you'd begun writing you'll soon realize that your mind will wander in a million directions. If you haven't given yourself permission to write you're going to be thinking of the dishes in the sink and the clothes in the washer.  Make sure your writing time is important to you and that will help motivate you.

Another key factor in writing is reading. Yep! You need to read to write. Now, I say this from experience. While writing my first book when I was much, much younger, I stopped reading. My purpose was because I didn't want to accidentally steal anything. But the truth is reading other writers only encouraged my creativity. Think about it...when you were younger and you danced until your heart was content you'd follow along at some point, right. It didn't make your dance any less yours. There are only so many story lines and so many words. It's how you string them together.

Think about how music moves you to work out, or dance, or sing at the top of your lungs. That creative spark sparks another. Reading is much the same.

A less popular method of keeping motivated (this is usually by newer writers) is share your work. Find someone who is so enthusiastic about reading what you've wrote and share it with them. Their enthusiasm will spark yours. I'm not talking a critique partner either. I'm talking someone who just loves what you do. It might take some guts to find that person, but I tell you it's worth it.

Again, journal everyday. I'm not saying you need to even journal your trip to the store. However, there is something in everyday. Look up writing prompts on Google. There are tons of them and they will spark your creativity a little bit. We can all use that.

Create a blog. Everyone is an expert in something. Yes, even you can write a blog about something. Heck, Sienfield had an entire show about nothing--and that was the tag line! Create a blog calendar and search how to create blog content. It may not be a book, but it is keeping you writing.

The best way to keep motivated is to have a goal. Do you want to publish in magazines or write books? Are you going to submit to a big house, small house, or self-publish? If you're working with publishing houses you're going to be under contract to do certain things with your writing. A contract certainly motivates you!

Motivating yourself to write will NEVER come easily. After 22 books published I still have to convince myself that I have to sit and write and not just mess around with it. Those dishes aren't going anywhere. They'll be there when I'm done. Writing is important to me. Luckily it pays my bills. So that is one motivating factor. The other is that I crave it and love it. Be true to yourself. That might be all the motivation you need.

Author Bernadette Marie is known for building families readers want to be part of. Her series The Keller Family has graced bestseller charts since its release in 2011, along with her other series and single title books. The married mother of five sons promises Happily Ever After always…and says she can write it, because she lives it. 

When not writing, Bernadette Marie is shuffling her sons to their many events—mostly hockey—and enjoying the beautiful views of the Colorado Rocky Mountains from her front step. She is also an accomplished martial artist with a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do.

A chronic entrepreneur, Bernadette Marie opened her own publishing house in 2011, 5 Prince Publishing, so that she could publish the books she liked to write and help make the dreams of other aspiring authors come true too.

If you're in the industry you hear it all the time. "I've always wanted to write a book." With a smile on my face I usually tell the person that all you have to do is start. Of course the very unserious "writer" will give me a list of their excuses as to why they can't. A writer who will consider it says, "How do I start." To me that is the key phrase that says, I'm ready.

You have to be motivated to write. Simply put, it takes time out of your day just as it does to go to the gym. Now you can't just sit down and usually write an entire book in one day. You have to start a little at a time. The key is to start.

Motivate your writing by sitting down with a notebook and writing whatever comes to mind. Perhaps you don't want to write a book, you want to write a blog. Google blog topics and you'll be amazed at what comes up. If nothing else you'll have some writing queues to get you started. Let your brain flow for a little bit.

Set out a few minutes in your day, every day to write. You don't need eight hours a day unless you intend on this being your whole career and you can financially afford that now. Ten minutes will be a great start. As your craft grows so will your motivation to continue writing regularly.

Once you start the process of writing with the intent to publish or just to get started it will be like going to the gym. One day you lift  five pounds. After a few weeks you lift twenty. Like I said, you're not going to become a writer in one day, okay you will, perhaps just not a published one. But on day one you wrote something. What usually happens is his motivates you to write something else the next day.

If the desire is really in you it will begin to self motivate you.

If you've loved writing in the past and lost sight of it this process can help you get back on track again. Continuing to carve out a little time each day will help to keep you motivated.

Journal writing is equally as motivating for the creative process. Seriously, jotting down what you did, saw, felt in a day will keep that daily task minder in the back of your head. Every little bit counts. Just like running. Every step gets you to your goal.

 Author Bernadette Marie is known for building families readers want to be part of. Her series The Keller Family has graced bestseller charts since its release in 2011, along with her other series and single title books. The married mother of five sons promises Happily Ever After always…and says she can write it, because she lives it. 

When not writing, Bernadette Marie is shuffling her sons to their many events—mostly hockey—and enjoying the beautiful views of the Colorado Rocky Mountains from her front step. She is also an accomplished martial artist with a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do.

A chronic entrepreneur, Bernadette Marie opened her own publishing house in 2011, 5 Prince Publishing, so that she could publish the books she liked to write and help make the dreams of other aspiring authors come true too.

And we will rebuild...

It is 2015 and today is September 11th. For so many of us this is one of those days where we all say, "Where were you when?" Where were you when we fell under attack? Where were you when innocent lives were taken? Where were you when selfless first respondents lost their lives? Where where you when your sense of security and your daily life as you know it changed forever? I was getting my 1 year-old son ready for his first morning away from me in a Church-pre-K school. I had to let go of one of the people I loved most and let someone watch him for all of two hours so he'd learn what it was about to grow up and go to school. I had to feel insecure with the world around me changing so rapidly I couldn't see straight. And yet, for the sake of my two little babies...I needed to stay calm.  Every year I dedicate my blog to the remembrance of what happened that day. I wore the name of a man, Joseph Mistrulli, on my arm for years, until the bracelet gave way. I didn't know him, but I took it upon myself to learn about him and remember him. In 2012 his daughter joined me on my blog, bringing two different world together as we are all brothers and sisters. She shared with me a poem she'd written for her father in it appears below. In 2014 my husband and my eldest son (who was 3 at the time of the attacks) visited Ground Zero. I tear up just thinking of my husband's reaction when he was there. He's a big strong man who had to sit on a bench and cry because it was so emotional. And...in reality...our lives changed that day forever, but we were so far away from it as well. Today I am reposting my blog post from 2012. I ask that you take a moment to think of all those who died that day and all of those who have fought for us to stay free and safe. Hug everyone you know. Bring peace into your own life and walk through life with a purpose. You never know when you'll be called upon.


IN REMEMBRANCE 2012 (reposted)

There is never a day that has passed since September 11, 2001 that I don't appreciate the mountains outside my window, the blue sky over my head, and even the sound of air traffic. Today, just miles from my home, at the Red Rocks Amphitheater thousands will walk the stairs, many in full firefighter gear carrying tanks and hoses, to commemorate the day that so many people were lost. For years I have wanted to walk beside them, and still, I make it my goal that someday I will walk that walk.

Last year I was alone on 9/11. I walked in a local parade with my karate family. A sense of community wellness and love was deep in my heart that day.  On the tenth anniversary, I came home to an empty house, void of the six men that I protect and likewise protect me. And I, like I'm sure so many others, was sucked into the television documentaries of the day that had passed.

Living in Colorado, let me tell you how it was here. It was quiet.. Eerily quiet. No sounds of air traffic. No kids playing in the streets. No traffic. The world had stopped.  Seeing the footage of New York City, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania, I know that they had no silence.

The media sheltered the world from so much of the devastation. We did not see those trapped and hanging from the windows screaming for help. We didn't see shopkeepers hiding behind their counters avoiding debris. We didn't realize people who lived across the streets lost their homes. It was about the towers.

Last year I think faces were added to our minds.  Last screams. Last phone calls. Last images.

Even now as I think about it tears fill my eyes. Strangers carried each other down flights of stairs as they passed firefighters walking up the stairs. And the devastation of how many families waited and waited for word.

I met a woman at a conference from Nova Scotia who worked at the airport that day. Her stories of the mass amount of planes that had to land there was amazing. With US air closed, this was the only choice.  Airplanes filled the hangers, runways, and highways.  She told us of two young girls who had come from England and were headed to Boston. Their trusting parents put them on a flight, and their grandparents would be at the end of that flight in Boston, but the plane landed in Nova Scotia.  I can't imagine the frantic family there, who wasn't in a tower, who didn't lose a loved one, but because of such a horrible act of terrorism their little girls were lost with strangers.

What did we learn that day? We learned that we are all neighbors. Thousands of miles away, Coloradans filled blood banks to donate blood. The first plane to fly after the attacks was a private jet from Colorado carrying blood to New York.  We opened our wallets, our homes, and our hearts.  Strangers became brothers and sisters.  We banded together as Americans--as people.

I think of how much it hurts to think about today, from me, a television bystander untouched by the events directly. Sure, I can't meet my husband at the gate of an airplane. I have to take off my shoes to go through airport security. I can't knit on the plane. But I am alive. I am well. I didn't lose anyone I knew and loved with all my heart. If I ache this much...I think of those families.

Every year I honor a man I never met with my posts.  It started with my sister-in-law asking my husband to get her a bracelet with Jason Dahl's name on it.  He was the captain of United Airlines flight 93 which crashed in Pennsylvania, and a fellow Coloradan. He asked if I wanted one and I said no. It felt petty. No good would come if I made a monetary purchase to a company to took a name from a list of those who were lost in such horror. But he bought me one.  I wore it for years.  My son wore it until the metal gave way.  But I didn't let that gift signify just something I wore.  I learned about the man.

Every year I pay tribute to Joseph Mistrulli who died when the first tower was hit. He was carpenter working to finish a job, who was to have left the building that morning at eight, a father to three, and a loving husband. His family was gracious over the years to post letters and pictures online so those of us could remember him.  This week I was honored to have his daughter contact me and thank me for keeping his memory alive. Who knew that the events of that day, which live with each and every one of us, would still bring people together.  She has offered to share her story here on my blog and commemorate her father.  I'm beyond honored! 

Some of my children were very young when this happened.  Some weren't born. I look at my own life and the tragedies that have happened and the wars that were fought. I know so little about them. Born during the Vietnam War I know nothing about it. World War II, I know a little, but think of the lack of humanity that we know so little about.

9/11 may someday be something that is only called Patriot Day on our calendars, but I hope its not. I hope we continue to educate our youth on that day and to remember it. It was a horrible day. It was a terrorist attack on U.S. soil. And it taught us all that there is still humanity in our society in light of a few who devastated so many lives that day.

Please go hug your kids today, your spouse, your loved ones. Tell a stranger hi. Smile at someone who looks a bit overwhelmed. Give back to the community you live in even if you only pick up a piece of trash.  Be there for each other and don't forget... no matter your skin color, your religious or political beliefs, or your sex... we are brothers and sisters in this life.  Take care of each other.