Nathan Bransford - The Forums

When you e-mail a query, you usually include the first chapter or first three chapters in the body of the e-mail. Because your e-mail program will generally not recognize formatting, such as a Word header (which is where I’ve put my page numbers) or inserted page numbers, the sample chapter pages will therefore appear unnumbered. Is this typically the way sample chapters are sent in a query, with no page numbers? Is it a problem? Do any of you implement a workaround, such as manually inserting them?

I know Nathan recommends e-mailing an unformatted query letter, so I’m guessing page numbers usually do not appear in queries, but I thought I would ask. Thank you..

Don't try to format within the body of an email, and don't worry about missing page numbers in a small work sample. You can't be sure what their programs will do to the formatting when they receive it.