I felt terrible, but I wrote a rejection letter last night.  This nice writer sent me a wonderful query about a nonfiction book idea. Only problem: I'm not a publisher. I am the web editor for Book Publishers Northwest, a group of Washington state book publishers. 

The writer got my e-mail from Book Publishers Northwest's website.  He saw the word "publisher" in the group's name and assumed that we were a publisher specializing in Northwest topics.  Umm, sorry, nope, nice try, no sale.  That's how my e-mail back to him sounded.

The gentleman at the other end of the query was wonderfully polite after he got my sad rejection letter. He admitted that he didn't know much about how to submit and hadn't thought through the need to research before submitting.

Most of the folks hanging in Red Room are probably way, way too smart to send off a query without doing some basic checking.  But, just in case, before you waste .44 on a letter or just your time on an e-mail, do take a moment to find a publisher's website and read what they have to say about submissions. 

You might even discover useful information. That's how I learned about the Phobos contest that led to my first fiction sale.