 For Authors: April 18, 2018 Issue [#8857] |
  For Authors
This week: The Art of the Cover Letter Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions
Thank you for welcoming me into your virtual home as the guest host of this week's WDC For Authors Newsletter.
Once writing has become your major vice
and greatest pleasure,
only death can stop it.
Ernest Hemingway
I want story, wit, music, wryness, color,
and a sense of reality in what I read,
and I try to get it in what I write.
John D. MacDonald |
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Product Type: Toys & Games
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Greetings, you know your story/poem/article is a good read. You've revised and edited and vetted and removed the passive telling stuff. You've checked spelling and grammar. Your red pencil is worn to the nub. You're ready to send it off to the magazine, agent, editor. You've read the guidelines, not twice, but three times, and your work is ready. But so are thousands of other writers doing likewise.
So how do you get the editor to read that first perfect line/sentence.
Include with your manuscript, be it a single poem, a collection, a synopsis, or a full article or story, a cover letter as polished as your work. Unless you are submitting online with a defined format, a cover letter identifies you as writer and professional.
Your cover letter introduces you to the editor and provides a sample of your writing style. It's a courtesy, an introduction to you as writer.
 Like any business letter, include your name, address and email or web address. Include the title of your manuscript (the 're:' line) and what it is - a poem, a story, an article.
 Address the editor. Many publications provide the names of editors, but if they do not, or you are unable to find them on the website, avoid the generic impersonals, like "Dear Sir/Madam" or "To Whom it may concern", or a casual, "Greetings," instead, open with -
"Dear Editor:"
It's simple, direct, and gender neutral. Even if it is not the correct job title of the person who first reads your manuscript, the reader representing the publisher or magazine is performing an editorial function.
Then offer a brief introduction to your submission, just a sentence or two, or perhaps your opening story hook if it expresses the sense of your story. This also gives the editor a sample of your writing style and will make him/her want to read on.
 Next, offer a brief introduction to your writing. Don't tell the editor your friends love to read your stories or have encouraged you to submit. Instead, show that you edit your company newsletter, or have won online awards for story/poem, etc. (think of your Writing.Com challenge entries  ). Include here also any professional qualifications that are relevant to the theme or plot of your work. For example, if you work as a nurse in a hospital and are submitting a medical mystery, this would be relevant background information for the editor. Keep this brief, write it tight, just a paragraph in the same professional tone. You want the editor to read your story, not your life story.
 Say that you are submitting an original unpublished work that is not being considered elsewhere (unless the guidelines indicate simultaneous submissions are welcomed) - and thank the editor for the opportunity.
 Close politely (Sincerely, or Sincerely yours, is polite and professional) and sign your letter. Under your typed name (beneath your signature), it's acceptable to include a web or blog link as part of the signature block for the editor to visit and see more samples of your work  .
All this takes up less than a page - a courteous introduction to your work and your writing style. Now, the editor turns over your letter and begins reading your submission. From the in-box to the desk, your work will now speak for itself to an engaged reader/editor.
Best of luck with the results!
Write On
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading |
For your consideration ~ and reading ~ several draft letters from our members; an interesting read on the craft of writing a letter; writing to read; and a creative challenge 
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Thank you for your courteous welcome.
I wish you joy in your writing -
where one's work is seen as fun,
from there success will come.
Write On 
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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