Contact Etiquette Part 2
When you're contacting someone for the first time by snail mail regarding your writing (any form), use a standard layout for a business letter. The first formatting guide is to single space the blocks and paragraphs. That is, the return and sending address information elements are in blocks with the date included either under your return address or centered at the top of the page. The return address block comes first, either flush left or right-justified.
Space at least two lines before beginning the recipient's name and address, left-justified or flush left. If your letter is short, use 1.5" margins all around. For a longer missive, one-inch margins are fine, but no smaller. Under the sender's information block, leave a blank line and then include the salutation which begins "Dear M...:" If you know only a last name and not the gender of the person to whom you are writing, use "Dear M. Lastname:" Notice that the salutation is followed by a colon. A comma is also acceptable for a business letter, although less formal.
Do I sound like Miss Manners?
Insert another blank line after the salutation and begin the first paragraph either flush left, aligned with the recipient block and the salutation, or indented 2-5 spaces. Similarly, insert a blank line between paragraphs, of which three or four should cover your reason for writing. Very short messages can be completely centered on the paper. Indent each new paragraph. After the last one, leave a blank line and start the closing flush left. For business, appropriate closings are "Yours truly," and "Sincerely," or perhaps, "Sincerely yours,". Leave four blank lines to accommodate your signature and type your full name. You can follow it with email/phone/fax/website information, if you wish.
Something I left out of Part 1, electronic contacts: use a black, 12-14 pt., sans serif font (like Arial or Verdana). For print, be sure to use a serif font no smaller than 12 pt. Times New Roman is fine. I use Georgia for my own silly purpose, including the fact that it is slightly larger than Times. Your printer should be functioning well with no variations in the ink coverage. Must I say only use black print on white or cream-colored paper for business letters?
Just in case you're wondering how to word all the information that might go into a recipient's address block, here's an example:
Miss Nora Zane, Acquisitions Editor
Big Six Publishing, Co., Imprint Books
1225 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10025
Space at least two lines before beginning the recipient's name and address, left-justified or flush left. If your letter is short, use 1.5" margins all around. For a longer missive, one-inch margins are fine, but no smaller. Under the sender's information block, leave a blank line and then include the salutation which begins "Dear M...:" If you know only a last name and not the gender of the person to whom you are writing, use "Dear M. Lastname:" Notice that the salutation is followed by a colon. A comma is also acceptable for a business letter, although less formal.
Do I sound like Miss Manners?
Insert another blank line after the salutation and begin the first paragraph either flush left, aligned with the recipient block and the salutation, or indented 2-5 spaces. Similarly, insert a blank line between paragraphs, of which three or four should cover your reason for writing. Very short messages can be completely centered on the paper. Indent each new paragraph. After the last one, leave a blank line and start the closing flush left. For business, appropriate closings are "Yours truly," and "Sincerely," or perhaps, "Sincerely yours,". Leave four blank lines to accommodate your signature and type your full name. You can follow it with email/phone/fax/website information, if you wish.
Something I left out of Part 1, electronic contacts: use a black, 12-14 pt., sans serif font (like Arial or Verdana). For print, be sure to use a serif font no smaller than 12 pt. Times New Roman is fine. I use Georgia for my own silly purpose, including the fact that it is slightly larger than Times. Your printer should be functioning well with no variations in the ink coverage. Must I say only use black print on white or cream-colored paper for business letters?
Just in case you're wondering how to word all the information that might go into a recipient's address block, here's an example:Miss Nora Zane, Acquisitions Editor
Big Six Publishing, Co., Imprint Books
1225 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10025
posted by Georganna Hancock M.S. | 5:46 AM
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