New writers quickly learn that the first step to getting a publisher to read a manuscript is to send a query letter. These letters are your first and sometimes only chance to pitch your book idea. They're your first impression and an opportunity to show how well you understand the industry.

The movie industry has the same process in place for weeding out potentially bad scripts. I recently discovered a very amusing site where a cynical movie big-wig posts the disasterous movie pitches he's received. This site is as hilarious as it is educational.

It's not hard to figure out why most of these letters end up in the trash bin, but it does make you wonder how some Hollywood scripts, like White Chicks and Gigli, ever slipped through the cracks.

Check out Query Letters I Love.