There are so many ways to make oneself odious and unattractive to others. I'm sure we all try hard to be pleasant and at our best, and it only takes caution and watchfulness to avoid committing what I like to call professional or literary halitosis.
Take care of yourself. No literal halitosis, please. I know writers spend most of our time alone, but still. Shower, brush your teeth, and try not to burp too much at the dinner table.
Don't be a pest. Don't send rude, annoying or inappropriate emails to agents or editors. Or anyone else, for that matter. That obviously is not going to help you. Persistence is okay, plaguing is not. Also, don't make your online presence a bother to anyone through any kind of spamming.
Treat everyone with kindness and tact. It can be hard, I know, especially when people are rude and tactless to you, but don't stoop.
Jacqueline Howett, whose last name happens to start with H, has provided us an excellent example of literary halitosis. Her rude, unprofessional and vulgar rampage against a negative(ish) review went viral astonishingly fast, and just goes to show that bad behavior really doesn't pay. She really shot herself in the foot with this. More then just halitosis, her behavior was downright vomitrocious.
So work hard, play nice, carry gum. Anyone who says nice guys finish last is trying to rip you off.
Sarah Allen
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