cover letter for internship/editorial assistant

Needs tidying up a bit... have bolded awkward / incorrect bits.

storyreader said:

To Whom it May Concern: [Shouldn't that be 'Dear Sir or Madam? I sort of associate To Whom It May Concern with a letter informing the police that you have stolen the Mona Lisa for ransom, or something similar.]

Your Spring editorial internship at ----------- is a position of great interest to me. [Why not simply: I am greatly interested in your Spring editorial internship.] While researching publishing houses, I found that your press has released titles that I would have loved to be a part of. [Horrid syntax, and it sounds kind of like boilerplate] I will be finishing my coursework at ----------University this winter with a B.A. in Art History and a Minor in English. My administrative experience in my current job and related writing courses taken in college would be a strong asset to the Seal staff. [Should be 'strong assets', if admin experience and writing courses are two things.]
As a -----------, I have developed a variety of skills applicable to this position, including handling a large volume of phone calls and emails, corresponding with clients and staff, keeping documents and projects organized, and writing and editing promotional content. During my college career I have been able to practice writing, mostly in the form of research papers. However, in my class titled Introduction to Fiction Writing, taught by ------, is where I learned valuable editing skills. [Drop the 'however'. 'In my class ... is where' is wrong. 'I learned editing skills in my Introduction to Fiction Writing class, taught by [person they have heard of]']. It was a class where students were able to workshop their stories and get feedback. I have always loved stories; it was during this class though, that I realized I have a passion for editing them. I hope I can bring that passion to -------and continue to learn all things editing [awkward, probably ought to be all things editorial, but even that doesn't sound great.]
The following resume provides additional details about my background. I am available for interviews at your convenience. I look forward to speaking with you, and thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,

story reader

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Hi storyreader,
I like Torgo's suggestions, and here are some of mine (in bold italics). In general, you should try to be active rather than passive--"I am interested in the position," rather than "is of interest to me," for example. Keep your sentences simple and direct; if the reader has to get to the end to figure out your point, you're not selling yourself well. Take my advicewith a grain of salt--this is your letter and these are just suggestions. Good luck!
Nomad

storyreader said:

I am applying for editorial internships and editorial assistant jobs. I can't wait to have a job that I actually am exited about! This is my cover letter for an internship. How does it look? I tried to make myself sound qualified even though I have never worked as an editor or published anything.

To Whom it May Concern:

Your Spring editorial internship at ----------- is a position of great interest to me. ([I]This should be active rather than passive: "I am interested in the Spring 2008 editorial internship position you advertised in (or "I saw in" where you saw it--pubs like to know if their pr/pub/marketing is working).") [/I]While researching publishing houses, I found that your press has released titles that I would have loved to be a part of. (This is really awkward and kind of hard to understand--what about saying you found their list of titles fascinating and look forward to reading some of them?) I will be finishing my coursework at ----------University this winter with a B.A. in Art History, and a Minor in English. My administrative experience in my current job and related writing courses taken in college would be a strong asset to the Seal staff. (again here, make this active rather than passive: I have administrative experience and strong writing skills that will be an asset to the Seal staff. Then you can list the skills below. )As a -----------, I have developed a variety of skills applicable to this position, including handling a large volume of phone calls and emails, corresponding with clients and staff, keeping documents and projects organized, and writing and editing promotional content. During my college career I have been able to practice writing, mostly in the form of research papers. However, in my class titled Introduction to Fiction Writing, taught by ------, is where I learned valuable editing skills. (This is also very awkward. I don't think you need to detail the class or the professor unless he or she is very well known; rather, you could cut that part out and leave it as, "Through a fiction writing workshop I discovered that while I have always loved stories, I realized I also have a passion for editing them." [/I]It was a class where students were able to workshop their stories and get feedback. I have always loved stories; it was during this class though, that I realized I have a passion for editing them. I hope I can bring that passion to -------and continue to learn all things editing! [I](Torgo makes a good suggestions with "all things editorial.")The following resume provides additional details about my background. I am available for interviews at your convenience. I look forward to speaking with you, and thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,

story reader

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storyreader said:

Thanks Torgo and Nomad.I am hoping to start seriously looking for a job after about 6 months of interning after I graduate. Does that amount of time qualify me for most editorial assistant jobs? I

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I got my ed. assistant job off the back of a month temping in the position straight out of college; in London, at least, publishers look for junior staff mostly from a handful of recruitment agencies. Maybe in the States they like to have you as interns first - does that mean you don't get paid? What a gyp. I believe that as long as you are organized, reliable and have a decent relationship with the English language, you don't need to take a bunch of courses or have any relevant experience to start off in editing. Most things can be taught on the job, and there are editorial jobs to fit a wide variety of skill sets.

I don't think you absolutely need to have an internship; I had one while I was still in college--thought it would look good on my resume, although honestly no one seemed to care very much. Editorial assistantships pay so badly that turnover is really high. I think you'll be fine submitting right out of school. If you want an internship, try to get one now; they are actually quite useful and I had a really good time in mine. They also can lead to job offers right out of school (mine did).
Good luck!