  For Authors
This week: Notice Me! Read Me!! Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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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
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Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 12.99
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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 introduces 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 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 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 conveys 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. Do 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, just a paragraph in the same professional tone. You want the editor to read your story, not your life story.
Indicate that you are submitting an original unpublished work that is not being considered elsewhere (unless the guidelines indicate simultaneous submissions are welcomed - a rarity) - 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 took 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 story. From the in-box to the desk, your story will now speak for itself to an engaged reader/editor.
Best of luck with the results!
Write On
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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Check out this sample cover letter, which incorporates what we've explored - short and sweet and to the point - introducing the writer and her work
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Now, how about trying out one of these excellent challenges to incite the muse creative to build up some writing credits, perhaps the seed for that splendid professional story or poem to submit to 'Dear Editor'
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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Thank you for Noticing Me for a few ~ now go forth and be Noticed in your verse and prose!!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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| ASIN: B000FC0SIM |
Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 12.99
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For Authors: February 09, 2011 Issue [#4225]
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