Often, it's the writers who aren't taking enough time to present themselves at their best. You don't know who's on the other side of the desk. You might be dealing with a schoolmarm or you might be dealing with a stoned beatnik. No matter who sits in the editor's chair, writers should always try to make a good impression. According to Daniel, his publishing house receives thousands of submissions a year.
Queries come from new authors, prison inmates, teenage poets, and seasoned writers.
Still, he's quick to point out that we all makes mistakes, including the editor who inadvertently gave me a new last name. The best thing writers can do, says Daniel, is develop a thick skin. Don't worry so much about rejection, but find a way to better your work, or find a publisher more suited to your writing. Of equal importance is that writers should understand it's not a matter of us versus them. Really, we're all on the same team, trying to put literature into the world.