I have read excellent advice from many, many blogging authors about the fine art of query letter writing. I'm working through my first MS and not at that stage of the game, yet. I have entered a couple literary contests, each requiring only that I fill out their questionnaire and attach a file with my story. However, today I submitted a short to a literary magazine.Paradigm magazine only accepts online submissions, so it occurred to me I should include a cover letter in my email. I wanted to put my best foot forward in introducing myself, but outside a few resources found through a quick Web search, I had no idea what I was doing.
I'm going to be brave and include a copy of my letter here. Please read through it and offer your advice on what I did right and what I should have done/done better. If you have submitted short fiction to literary magazines, I'd be especially interested to hear whether you felt your cover letter helped or hindered your success.
(For some reason, I'm more nervous about this than posting my Tuesday Teasers!)
Okay, enough stalling...here it goes:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Paradigm Editors,
Thank you for the opportunity to submit my work to your online quarterly. I have attached "Homage," my currently unpublished short story of 1,990 words, for your consideration.
My work is featured in the fourth issue of The Writer's Bump E-Zine, and my short story "Mariposa" was accepted for print publication in the Writer's Bump Anthology Volume One (Copyright 2009 by Richard Lee). In addition, I have won numerous Writing.com sponsored contests for my short stories and poetry.
I'm a college graduate and former Peace Corps volunteer. I've lived in Africa and Europe, and currently reside in Georgia, USA with my husband and two children.
Sincerely,
Nicole Ducleroir
Email: http://www.heftynicki@writing.com
Website: http://nicoleducleroir.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What do you think? Too dry? Not enough personal information? Too much? Ugh...! Help!
28 comments:
I don't know a great deal about magazine submissions or literary anything, but I thought the letter was very professional and gave a good amount of information. I liked it.
Really, Justine? I hope you're right. It's not easy to strike a balance between professional and personable, at least not for me! Thanks for weighing in!!
I don't know about cover letters, except that I'm going to be scouring your answers, because I'm about to be doing this too!
I think yours is nice, and it's especially great that you have some publishing creds to add in. If anything, it reads like a tiny novel query letter, and I don't see anything wrong with that! :-)
I don't see a single thing wrong with it, and I'm a query letter helper often. It's concise, gives the necessary information about you, and includes that your submitted work has not been published elsewhere which is what Paradigm prefers. You might add a one line pitch as to what it's about after the word 'consideration.'
I also have no idea about what a cover letter looks like for this. But I'm also trying to submit a piece for online submission and there is a place for an optional cover letter of up to 250 words. I just have no idea what those words should be.
I'm thrilled you're doing this. It's a brave step. And I'll be looking to see if anyone has some info about how these things should look.
FWIW, I think yours looks great. :)
I think your letter is great! I submit to magazines and ezines all the time. Sometimes I start with,
"I am excited to submit my...." to add more personality, but it's also not as professional as yours. I like yours. :)
Dearest, that letter was PERFECT!
Professional, concise, not dry, gave enough info, and was the right length. Just like a query only not. Bravo and always, best of luck to you.
Summer~ Thanks, and good luck with your submissions!
Christi~ I wondered if I should pitch the story. It's under 2K words, and I wondered if work so short needed a mini synopsis. Good to hear my instincts validated by your comment...even though I went the other way with this one. Next time, I'll try the pitch! Thanks!!
Sarah Jayne~ It's good to hear one site's guideline of 250 words for a cover letter. My letter is only 106 words, but the leaves room for a brief story synopsis/pitch. Great info, thanks for sharing it! And good luck when you submit!!
Aubrie~ I auditioned several openers, some more personable than the one I went with. I just didn't know what sounded good. I'm glad to hear how you start yours, giving me a sense of what's "done." You rock!!
Anne~ Thanks so much for the vote of confidence. This is a great exercise for when I get the big guns out and query!
Hi Nicole! I don't know the first thing about submitting short stories to magazines, but the letter looked fine to me. Professional and succinct.
Love your blog title name!
honestly, it looks absolutely perfect to me. Submit it as is. i would.
I think your cover letter is essentially fine. I've been submitting short stories for years now and what I've found is that the cover letter should essentially just be functional: the story information such as word count, any credits, and any other pertinent information about yourself, plus the thank you, of course. The only thing I'd caution would be about using Writing.Com as a credit. Since it's such a large site, and contests can essentially be sponsored/judged by anyone from the moment they join, I find that quite a few editors look at it with a great deal of skepticism (among other things).
Good for you for getting your work out there! I think short stories are a great way to build credits.
Hi Tracy~ Thanks so much for the vote of confidence and for the sweet compliment!
Hi Sarah~ Seriously, you would? That makes me feel better!! Thanks!
Lisa~ That's really good advice! I hadn't thought about that and of course, having been a WDC member for years, I know the skepticism is warranted. The official site contest is extremely competitive with generally over 100 entries per month, (and I've won three times *curtsies with a blush*) but I've also entered contests run by people with no more qualifications than "I've been writing since I came out of the womb." Great food for thought. Thank you!!
Hi Nicole,
I thought that was completely fine. Very professional and to the point.
I do wonder, though, about mentioning being married with kids etc. I don't think that's necessary. But I can't see how it'll hurt.
All my submissions have just been online so I've never had to write a cover letter for these things. :)
I have no helpful information since I have not done this myself. So, I’m just going my instinct. It reads nicely. I was looking for a story pitch, just a one liner teaser .
A.A.~ Thanks for commenting! I read somewhere on Paradigm's website that editors may use cover letter info for author bio text should a story be accepted for e-zine publication. Of course, just now I went back to double check and can't find it...
Southpaw~ I think you're right, a one-line story pitch would have been a good idea. Thanks for weighing in!
Nicole - you're cover letter is just fine. You did a good job. Remember, it's the story that matters.
I've ben a WDC member for years too, although I really only pop in every now and again now. I actually judged that official site contest a time or two myself, back when I was a site Mod.
The letter's great! I agree with Christi - maybe a line or two about the story itself would be just enough.
I think you struck a nice balance. The personal information they can use as a bio if they do run your story. I think you did a fine job.
Short, sweet, and to the point. Perfect. However, I do have a few thoughts for you. First, I would caution against the writing.com credit, as discussed. Also, I always thank the editor (or whoever I'm emailing) for their time and consideration. One more thing: you're submitting to this market for a reason... tell the editor why. Such as, "I've read the material you posted in your last few eZines, and I really feel my work has a place in the pages of your market". Editors want to know you're familiar with the market and aren't just submitting blindly.
Also, don't forget duotrope.com is a wonderful tool for writers seeking short story markets! That's how I found homes for three of my published shorts.
Good luck!
I've got no experience with cover letters of this sort; the kind I used to write to get a job were very different from query letters to get an agent to look at your manuscript (learned that the hard way -- ooops!).
However, I thought it was great -- professional, to the point, and the personal touch at the end was good. I would include a sentence in regards to the story of Homage telling basically what it's about. Other than that -- it's great!
I agree with those who suggested a one-line story pitch. It would give you the chance to show off your writing skills before they even get to the story.
Good luck!
Wow, it looks like everyone said what I was going to say, but I concur. It's a very professional letter, and I would try adding a one-line pitch. Well done, and good luck!
Hello Everyone!!
I'm such a horrible pest today and I apologize in advance :P ... but I posted a second letter that incorporated ideas from your comments. (If you have a second to read through it, I'd be eternally grateful!) I thought the one-line pitch was a superb idea, I took out the WDC mention, and I revised the personal stuff.
B. ~ You made some great suggestions that I've just now read, and I'm making note for the next go around. Thank you!!
((hugs)) to you all!!
Sorry I'm getting to your blog so late today Nicole ... I'm no expert at this but it looked good to me.
I will go look at the second post now.
I'm sorry I can't be of any help, since I don't know the first thing about cover letters like these, but it looked great to me. I admire your bravery in posting this letter, and wish you the BEST of luck in your submission process! <3
Wow, thanks for raising this issue.
The feedback you've generated is very interesting!
Al
Publish or Perish
Post a Comment