  Short Stories
This week: What's the Deal with Cover Letters? Edited by: Jay's debut novel is out now!  
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This month:
What's the Deal with Cover Letters?
Clear and simple ways to tackle something that flummoxes even some practiced fiction writers-- the cover letter!
Are you intimidated by the process of writing cover letters for your short stories? Why or why not? |
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So, cover letters for short stories often feel more complicated than they actually need to be. When you don't send a lot of submissions, a cover letter might seem daunting or overwhelming; more than one author I know have used "I don't have a cover letter ready!" as an excuse for not sending submissions out the door. Additionally, since there is a lot of advice online for overly-generalized letter writing, there are a lot of mixed messages over what information belongs in a cover letter that's specifically for a short story.
At Uncanny Magazine, I've gotten to see some great, and not-so-great, examples of cover letters.
Here are a bunch of things a cover letter is not:
 a query letter: Query letters are used in many other writing functions, but unless a magazine asks you to "query first," which means to send them a query before sending any additional materials, you don't have to send a query letter. Query letters are usually for novels; most often for seeking representation from an agent for your novel. Not needed for ordinary short fiction sales.
 However, if you are working with a magazine and need to know the status of a submission, the inquiry letter you send them (essentially, "Hello, I sent a submission on [months ago date] and haven't received a response; is my work still under consideration?") is also called a query but doesn't function like a novel query letter.
a synopsis: Synopses, or summaries of the story content, should not be in your cover letter at all, unless the magazine or anthology stipulates otherwise. Including summarizations in a cover letter for a short story when they aren't supposed to be there may indicate to the editor reading your work that you aren't paying much attention to guidelines.
an application letter: Don't be fooled into using a cover letter for ordinary job application opportunities or other similar scenarios. In general, a cover letter for a story is just a basic reference sheet for contact information: your name, your pen name if desired, phone, email, and address, just in case, as well as some basic information as needed. More on that momentarily.
The most basic cover letter indicates that you have read the instructions and are paying attention to details: You want to indicate that you aren't simply sending your work out scattershot to anyone with an open inbox. Here is an example of one cover letter I use, courtesy of my workshop roommate, K. M. Szpara:
Dear [Name of Magazine] EDITOR,
I submit for your consideration "STORY TITLE," a GENRE story complete at #### words.
I am a graduate of the Viable Paradise writing workshop.*
Thank you for your time,
Jay Wolf
[contact information, if not in header]
This letter works well for just about any short story submission -- it should be altered for the following variables:
Name of Magazine: Optional; I use this when I don't know the name of the editor or editors. I usually use "Dear [Magazine] Editors," as there are many editors your story might encounter when it's out on submission.
EDITOR: If you know the editor's name and they prefer it, you should just use the editor's name!
STORY TITLE: An obvious one; the title of your submission.
GENRE: Optional, but can be useful to your editor.
####: Your wordcount, rounded to the nearest hundred words.
* : Optional; any relevant professional credits. Relevant professional credits are publications, professional workshops, and similar items. Unless your college experience was specific to your story, for example a nurse writing about nursing, your education level isn't relevant -- the editor just wants a good story! If you have a list of publications: pick three or fewer, and only include publications for which you were paid, in money, not "exposure," unless they are particularly prestigious. (There are a few noteworthy journals whose publications are not paid. Very Few.) OMIT if you do not have any professional credentials. They are not required by any means. In my opinion, using bad information here (too many credits; unprofessional credits; long explanations of education not relevant to the story) is less helpful than simply omitting the information. And it goes without saying that making it up is worse than leaving it blank. Leave the fiction in the story.
[contact info] : This should include: real name, pen name if desired, and both a physical address as well as relevant email and phone contacts.
Simple, right? I think so! Happy submitting, and here's to an ongoing successful 2016!
Until Next Time,
Take care and Write on!
Jay
For some more details on this topic, editor Christie Yant has some great additional information:
http://inkhaven.net/2010/04/lessons-from-the-slush-pile-your-cover-letter-and-yo...
and the Strange Horizons staff with some great all-purpose letter, whether you're submitting to them or elsewhere:
http://www.strangehorizons.com/guidelines/fiction-cover-letter.shtml |
This issue's picks! Check them all out!
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Feedback from "Using SMART Goals To Build Your New Year" :
Joy  writes:
Such a brilliant idea to classify goals, Jay. Thanks for the tip, which I plan to use when I'm trying to come up with character goals. Write on! 
Thanks, Joy! Yeah, SMART goals work just as well for characters... and when they fail, you get great conflict.
Quick-Quill  writes:
I love the questions and and answers. they have intrigued me to apply them to my writing.
Good, I'm glad this was helpful for you!
Jeff  writes:
Loved this week's newsletter. Thank you for the useful tips and goal-setting strategy!
Aw, thanks! I know you're very goal-oriented so I'm glad you liked it!
GaelicQueen  writes:
I have attended several online writing classes and webinars on how-to's in learning the day-to-day time management and focus on writing. Your article on SMART is clear and simple. Thanks!
You're most welcome!
I was definitely aiming to keep it straightforward as my own ability to make goals can get dwarfed really quickly. Exhibit A: I never got that Dear Me letter posted.  But hey, at least I set the goal, even if I failed at it, right?
Thanks, everyone! See you next month.
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Short Stories: February 03, 2016 Issue [#7461]
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