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Business Etiquette 101 for Authors and Editors
A little courtesy goes a long way
Most advice on how to present yourself as a professional when interacting digitally seems to focus on the structure of an email: use the proper greetings, keep your tone professional, use good grammar and appropriate punctuation, the usual. But there’s not much out there that addresses the interaction itself and what comes after that initial contact.
It seems to me there’s always been a sort of unwritten code regarding business transactions: if someone has put time and effort into responding to a query or otherwise helping you, it’s polite — good form, even — to thank them for that time and effort, even if you choose to do business elsewhere.
Granted, there are certain exceptions I consider to be reasonable. If you post on a job board seeking a professional to do something for you, and dozens or even hundreds of people respond, then I’m fairly sure the responders don’t expect a personal acknowledgment if they’re not chosen.
General job postings don’t require individual responses
Job postings in one of the professional editing groups I belong to can get an overwhelming number of responses, depending on the job itself, the pay rate, and the type of work involved. Over the…
