Deleted without being read means just that.

Both our agency website and my own submission guidelines very clearly state that emails with attachments will be deleted without being read. Pretty simple concept, you'd think. When I want an attachment, I'll ask for one. Otherwise, your query goes in the virtual crapper. This is for two very good reasons: a.) computer viruses and b.) attachments fill up the server space. Almost no agent who accepts e-queries will accept an unsolicited attachment from someone they don't know.

So it amused me to no end today to watch the same fellow send me his query four different times, each time with some sort of attachment, and each time getting my auto-responder telling him that his email had been deleted without being read.

What counts as an attachment? Well, if you have to ask, you probably shouldn't be allowed near a computer. That being said, here are some things that I really don't want you to send me with your initial query:

• Your headshot
  
• Your suggested cover treatment for the book that you haven't actually sold yet
• One of those stupid Outlook e-business cards that you attach to every outgoing email
  
• Any kind of Word, Excel, Outlook, Entourage or Power Point file
• Any kind of jpg or gif or tif or eps or pdf or anything else that has three letters at the end of it, frankly
• Dancing animated cats, bunnies, babies, zombies or vampires
  

My computer sees these things and automatically eats your email for lunch, kids. I'm serious. Just don't do it. Ever.