A cover letter (or covering letter) is essentially a letter of introduction. For example, when you send a curriculum vitae/résumé to apply for a job, you usually send a letter (called the cover letter) introducing yourself and explaining, in brief, why you think you’re good for the job. Similarly, in the publishing industry, you send a covering letter along with your submission/manuscript.

I will focus on cover letters for the purpose of getting your work published, though some of the following information should be useful for other kinds of covering letters.

Always send a covering letter

I have been sending my work to magazines somewhat irregularly for the past year. I have never found a magazine that asks you not to send a covering letter[1]. It is assumed that you will introduce yourself in some fashion, however brief. Certain magazines specify that they want a covering letter and will tell you what kind of information they want. This generally includes your name, the titles of the poems/short stories you are submitting, and a short bio[2].

Here are a few reasons why a cover letter is important:

** The editor knows you are a real person. Even just a line saying, “My name is [insert name] and I’d like you to consider [insert title(s)] for publication in your magazine” shows that you are a human being and not some strange machine trying to take over the literary world.

** It shows that you have put in effort and that you are serious about getting published.

** If you have mentioned the titles of the pieces you are sending for submission (which you should always do), it helps the editors track your work. The same goes for if you have submitted your work to other magazines for consideration.

** Since a cover letter is a letter of introduction, you can describe yourself, your background and previous publications. However, this can go against you if a) the magazine specifically states that it does not want to know your publishing history, or b) you go overboard talking about yourself and how brilliant you are.

** It’s polite.

That said, as the editors of Sycamore Review say, “a weak cover letter (or lack thereof) will not keep a strong submission out of the magazine, and a strong cover letter will not get a weak submission in, no matter how many top-notch publications the author lists or who they name check.”

Kinds of covering letters

When you start looking for magazines to send your work to, you’ll find that there are different kinds:

· the kind that accepts postal and electronic submissions
· the kind that accepts only postal submissions
· the kind that accepts only electronic submissions (emails/online submission systems like this)
· the kind that doesn’t accept any unsolicited submissions

Personally, I prefer magazines that accept electronic submissions because postal submissions require you to provide postage or Internal Reply Coupons, and I have no idea where to get those.

Either way, you need to make sure your letter is right, and I have two formats that you can use.

Cover letter format for postal submissions

John Raven
55 Watts Street
Glen Iris VIC 3146

15 April 2004

Ms Angela Smith
Publisher, Adult Fiction
Reflex Publishers
258 Lindsey Avenue
Malvern VIC 3145

Dear Ms Smith

REQUEST FOR PUBLICATION

Use this ‘full block’ style format for your covering letter. The first thing you notice is that all text is left justified and each paragraph is separated by one empty line. All lines begin at the left margin, including the subject heading which can also be centred if you prefer it. Note the position of the subject heading after and not before the salutation.

Keep punctuation to a minimum. There are no commas after the addresses, or after the salutation or close. Do not use full stops after abbreviations (Ms/Mr). The last line of each address is typed in capitals. There are two spaces after the suburb and after the state.

Present the date simply – just the number followed by the month and the year. If a date is used in the body of the letter, present the same format. Any other form can be confusing, especially in mail sent internationally.

Always try to find out the name of the person to whom you are addressing the letter, and address the person formally. This would be much better than using the form ‘Dear Sir/Madam’.

Use ‘Yours sincerely’ rather than the old fashioned ‘Yours faithfully’. Notice that the second word in sincerely and faithfully is in lower case. Leave four to six lines between the close and your typed name to insert your written signature.

I wish you all success in your assignments.

Yours sincerely




John Raven

Note: This format was given to me by a very talented writer and student of creative writing. You won’t go wrong using this. Most formats that I have seen are similar to this, with only minor differences.

Cover letter for electronic submissions (emails/online submission systems)

Dear (Editor's name -- you must try to find their real name at all costs. You can then address them by their first name or second, depending on which you think is more suitable)

Please find included below/attached in a .doc/.rtf/.pf 5 poems for consideration in (Mag name): Ode to Sprouts, Winter Landscape with Old Trout, I Like Birds, I Like Weather and The Epic Ballade of Sir Turnip.

(Biographical paragraph optional - try to work out from the submissions page whether this is needed in your first query. If you do put some info about yourself, feel free to list relevant achievements, but try to whittle it down to the top several. None of that 'Was captain of tiddlywinks at Primary School' stuff.

Best wishes,
Full Name As Should Appear In Print

Note: I've taken this from Rough Guide to Submitting to Literary Journals (by Email) by ~PoetryLibrary, which you should read in full.

In case of electronic submissions, the cover letter should go in the body of the email. I’ve given you the example of an online submission system above (if you missed it, see this); these have a space for comments. I usually paste my cover letter in that area.

Before the cover letter

This resource isn’t about submitting to magazines in general; its focus is cover letters, which are simply part of the process. Still, I’d like to mention that you must ensure that your submission is the best it can possibly be. Familiarise yourself with the magazine and the kind of work it publishes. Don’t send a sci-fi short story to a magazine that only publishes sonnets. Also, read the submission guidelines carefully to ensure that you are not omitting any important information and that you are not sending the editors things that they do not want to read. For example, some magazines do not want to read a bio[2] unless they have agreed to publish your work.

I have included a list of publishing resources at the end of this article that will give you more details about sending work to magazines.

Do’s

** Always find out the name of the editor and use it. Bigger magazines have different editors for different genres, so make sure you send your work to the right one.

** Because it’s that important, I’m repeating this one: read the submission guidelines two or three times, and once again just before sending your submission out.

** Check whether the magazine accepts postal and/or electronic submissions. This information is usually available on the magazine’s website. If it isn’t, try duotrope.com. Also check if they accept previously published work and simultaneous submissions. (A simultaneous submission is one that you have sent to more than one magazine at the same time.)

** In case of email submissions, check whether and what kind of attachments the editors accept.

** Mention the following in your letter: your name as it should appear in print; the titles(s) of the poems/short stories; whether the work has been previously published and where; whether you have sent it to other magazines.

** Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself to the editor(s) unless the guidelines say that you’re not supposed to. Mention what you do, where you live and what you intend to do with your poetry. Don’t be shy to say that you’re not an MFA student or that you’ve never been published before. Don’t be shy to mention previous publications; just don’t mention too many.

** Be courteous, but not ingratiating.

** Use a spell check and use conventional grammar. Leave the experimentation for the actual writing.  

Don’t’s

** Don’t address your letter to just “The Editor” or worse still “To Whom It May Concern”. The latter has its use for certain kinds of letters. Not cover letters.

** Don’t go anonymous. I suppose people think differently on this one. In my opinion, this whole “my-work-should-stand-on-its-own-they-don’t-need-to-know-who-I-am” attitude is of little use. Assume that the editor is unbiased. If they aren’t and they reject your work for some petty reason, then you don’t want to be published by them anyway.

** Pen names (pseudonyms/noms de plume) are acceptable, if you choose a normal-sounding one. Weird pen names or names that sound suspiciously similar to already famous people will not help you. If you’re looking for a good pen name, I recommend this:  How to Find Yourself a Good Pen Name by One Night Stanzas.

** Don’t mention more than four or five publishing credits. You don’t want to appear self-important or boastful.

** While it’s all right to offer some background information on your submission, especially if it’s based on a historical or real-life event, don’t explain your poem or short story in the letter. That’s like saying, “Hey Mr/Ms Editor person, I don’t think you’re smart enough to get my poem, so I’m going to break it down for you.” If the editor doesn’t get it, maybe something is wrong with your writing. Or, perhaps, it was the wrong magazine choice. Find another market and don't be rude to the editor.

** Don’t beat around the bush. I would say that a cover letter should be about three-fourths of a page, including the address, date and other information. It should definitely not be longer than a page.

That’s all I have for the moment. Good luck with your publishing ventures.


<sub>[1] Come to think of it, I remember one really cool magazine that asked for only anonymous submissions, but even then I assume you have to send in a cover letter of some sort, even if you don’t talk about yourself.

[2] A bio is usually three- or four-line long description of yourself that gets printed in the magazine along with your writing or on the contributor’s page. For example: “John Raven recently graduated from Syracuse University with a Masters degree in Creative Writing. His work has been most recently been published in XYZ, Alphabet Review and Poetry Magazine. He loves hiking and shopping for antiques.”</sub>

External resources

The Importance of the Cover Letter  by One Night Stanzas

The Complete (Not Really) Guide to Cover Letters  by Sycamore Review

Write #3: To publish or not to publish by ^lovetodeviate

Rough Guide to Submitting to Literary Journals (by Email) by ~PoetryLibrary