The Fundamentals Of A Cover Letter For Poems, Stories, And Personal Essays

by | Cover Letters | 5 comments

Review Board is now open! Submit your Short Prose, Poetry, and Book today!

Day(s)

:

Hour(s)

:

Minute(s)

:

Second(s)

Deadline: Thursday, February 22nd

Cover Letter

When you’re ready to submit your poems, short stories, or essays to literary journals for publication, you’ll need a cover letter.

Unlike the more complicated query letter you would send to a literary agent for a book project, a cover letter to a literary magazine contains only basic information about your writing submission and your author bio. It is not a sales pitch or a flashy bid for attention. Your cover letter should be professional, no more than one page, and show a knowledge of publishing industry etiquette.

Here are the essential parts of a cover letter:

1. Salutation. Whenever possible, use the editor’s full name. “Dear Sue Smith.” Never assume gender! “Pat” can be a “Patrick” or a “Patricia.” Read more: Savvy Salutations.

2. Introduction. State your intention clearly and include the title(s) of the work(s) you’re submitting: Please consider my poems, “Gray” and “To the Orioles,” for publication in Journal Name.

3. Don’t describe your submission. Don’t summarize your story or explain the themes in your poems. Trust us—it’s bad publishing industry etiquette. Editors may find it insulting if you presume that they can’t understand your work and need to have it explained to them. Plus, editors at literary journals pride themselves on how carefully they consider each submission. If you write a “teaser” into your cover letter, it will seem as if you suspect editors need to be tempted to do their jobs.

Submit to Review Board

4. Your author bio. Include a short bio that lists your writing credits. You may want to add some selective information about your personal interests as well, especially if the details reflect on your writing (but avoid TMI). If you want to publish under a pen name, note that here. Read more: Pseudonyms: Using A Pen Name In A Cover Or Query Letters To Agents Or Editors.

5. The closing. Be sure to sincerely thank the editor for his or her time.

6. Your signature (your real name).

7. Contact info. Since most submissions are now made electronically, the best place to include your contact information (mailing address, phone number, email address, and author website) is below your signature.

If you’re printing your cover letter to send a submission via standard postal service, then the letterhead and contact information should be at the top. And while your letterhead is the one place in your cover letter where you can show some individuality, be sure to choose a font that is clean and easy to read. You can tweak standard templates to reflect your personal taste—but avoid using images or too many colors.

And that’s it! You’re ready to send your cover letter and writing submission out to literary journals. To learn more about how to write an effective cover letter, check out our Most Popular Articles for cover and query letter writing.

5 Comments

  1. Phebe

    Very helpful…thank you

    Reply
  2. Leander

    Have you got an example of a good cover letter that I could see?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Blog Editor

      Hi Leander,

      If you follow the steps outlined in the article, you will have an effective cover letter.

      Reply
  3. Susoumi Banerjee

    This was duly described and easy to understand. Very helpful.

    Reply
  4. Frederick White

    Failure to read the directions is the biggest error you might make at this crucial step of the publication process. The instructions can often be found on a publication’s main submissions page on their website or on their Submittable page. Before entering your information and uploading your document, read it once (or twice), then once more before clicking the “Send” button.

    Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Review Board is now open! Submit your Short Prose, Poetry, and Book today!

Day(s)

:

Hour(s)

:

Minute(s)

:

Second(s)

 

 

See ALL the services we offer, from
FREE to Full Service!

Click here for a Writer’s Relief
Full Service Overview

Search

Reviews

“Getting that first poem published was the hardest threshold to cross. My team at Writer’s Relief kept encouraging me…then came the acceptance! We celebrated…then I continued writing, and Writer’s Relief continued doing the wonderful work they do!”

—King Grossman, Writer
(Watch King’s video testimonial here!)

“Every piece I have sent out with their help has been accepted for publication! I am looking forward to working with the team on getting my new novel out into the world.”

Services Catalog

Free Publishing Leads
and Tips!

Featured Articles



Featured Video

Follow us!



YES, IT'S MY LUCKY DAY!
Sign me up for
FREE Publishing Leads & Tips
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

WHY? Because our insider
know-how has helped
writers get over 18,000 acceptances.

FREE Publishing Leads and Tips! Our e-publication, Submit Write Now!, delivered weekly to your inbox.
  • BEST (and proven) submission tips
  • Hot publishing leads
  • Calls to submit
  • Contest alerts
  • Notification of industry changes
  • And much more!
close-link


STOP! BEFORE YOU GO...
Sign me up for
FREE Publishing Leads & Tips
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

WHY? Because our insider
know-how has helped
writers get over 18,000 acceptances.

FREE Publishing Leads and Tips! Our e-publication, Submit Write Now!, delivered weekly to your inbox.
  • BEST (and proven) submission tips
  • Hot publishing leads
  • Calls to submit
  • Contest alerts
  • Notification of industry changes
  • And much more!
close-link

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This