Cover letter help?

Elandryn · Jul 18, 2018

I'm not sure if this is where this goes, and it may seem like a stupid question but...(takes a deep breath)

I have decided to start submitting to short story markets - I haven't done this in years. I haven't won any awards. I haven't actually sold a piece of short fiction to anyone. What do I put in my cover letter as to accomplishments - or is it okay not to put anything? I mean, I'm basically starting over here - so not a lot to crow about yet

Thoughts please?

rainbowsheeps · Jul 18, 2018

In the same boat. Just submitted my first batch of a short to a few top magazines. I don't have "writing credentials" (no past publications, awards, MFA, etc.).

The clear answer is to not mention anything. As all advice on cover letters elsewhere states, you keep your biography in a cover letter for a short very brief. Give a sentence or two of what you do for a living or for fun, whatever. Don't fret about the bio part, because it doesn't seem like magazines care all that much about bios from the slush pile. The story quality is what matters. If you were Gillian Flynn or J.K. Rowling or Stephen King or something, they probably wouldn't be picking up your story from the slush pile anyway. So, just make the story the best it can be and give a really brief sentence about who you are, and send away.

Maryn · Jul 18, 2018

If you have no sales, then you can skip that part. Unlike a query letter, which is a challenge to lots of good writers, a cover letter is pretty straightforward. Dear Title Surname, Attached as a .doc file is my 4000-word short story Great Title, in which a very smart professor makes a very big mistake dealing with an unusual student. Its tone is very like SomeTitle in your April issue, so I hope you will agree it's a good fit. [Insert any story-specific expertise here, otherwise omit.] Thank you for your consideration.

Or something along those lines. All they really want to know is the title, word count rounded to the closest 100, a hint of what it's about, and that you've done minimal homework, i.e., read a recent issue.

Good luck!

Maryn, who hasn't made a sale in a while (apparently you have to submit!)

Maggie Maxwell · Jul 18, 2018

Totally okay not to put anything. Everyone has to start somewhere, and these editors know it. They're just looking for a good story.

"Dear [Editor], Please consider [story title]. Thank you, [Your Name]" is a perfectly fine cover letter.

Harlequin · Jul 18, 2018

Ditto on the above posts--a simple old...

"Dear Kind Editor,

I would like to submit Best Story Ever (9999 words) for your consideration.

Kind regards, Babbette Goodwriter."

...is usually enough. At least, that's pretty much all I ever use. I don't mention previous sales because I don't think it makes much difference. Selling a piece to a flash magazine means very little if I am querying a short for an interactive fiction website, for example.

rainbowsheeps · Jul 18, 2018

Maryn said:
a hint of what it's about

A lot of what I've seen posted online from editors suggests you shouldn't include any sort of indication of what the story's about. I've seen a couple of instances where that's refuted, but I've seen more suggesting you shouldn't.

Hopefully WLCT · Jul 19, 2018

IMO,it's your story that will get you published,not your bio.

AW Admin · Jul 19, 2018

I'm going to move this to General Publishing Discussions, since it's not a BWQ as much as a publishing question.

But you should spend some time reading in Query Letter Hell, in particular.

Once you've spent some time reading (especially Stickied posts, near the top of forums, and FAQs) and you have 50 substantive posts, you might think about posting an excerpt of your work for crit.

PastyAlien · Jul 19, 2018

Short-story cover letters are easy peasy (unlike query letters). This blog post explains them pretty well: https://alexshvartsman.com/2016/05/09/how-to-write-a-proper-short-story-cover-letter/ Note this is for SFF; I have no idea if it's the same for literary mags.

Cover letter help?

Elandryn

rainbowsheeps

Maryn

Baaa!

Maggie Maxwell

Making Einstein cry since 1994

Harlequin

Eat books, not brains!

rainbowsheeps

Hopefully WLCT

AW Admin

PastyAlien

Space butthole