We’ve heard your feedback about cover letters. Check out our tips and tricks on submission cover letters below, along with some insight into what purpose they serve for us!
What’s in a cover letter? Many writers submitting their work for the first time (or even the hundredth time) come to this box on Submittable and wonder, What the hell am I supposed to put here? Cover letters might seem like a hassle or an unnecessary burden, but they serve a very important purpose for us editors. Cover letters are our first introduction to you, the writer, out there in the real world. They provide (brief) additional context to the submission you’re hoping to publish. They don’t need to be long, and you don’t need to include your whole life story, but a little bit of context goes a long way.
Truthfully, cover letters can be pretty formulaic, which isn’t a bad thing. Editors know what they’re looking for when they open a cover letter, so it’s helpful when the information is where we expect it to be. (I’ve used the same cover letter, more or less, for the last ten years, just updating my bio from time to time when those details change. And I’ve modeled mine after a former professor’s, who was kind enough to share his when I first began submitting my work. For reference, I’ve included my template at the bottom.)
So here are a couple Dos and Don’ts for cover letters:
- DO include a bio. This is the most important part of the cover letter! If you don’t include anything else, at least tell us who you are and if you have other publications or if this would be your first.
- DON’T summarize your story. If you need to explain the piece to a reader, it’s probably not quite ready for publication.
- DO include brief information about the submission. Is this fiction or CNF? How many words?
- DON’T list every single journal you’ve been published in, or every award you’ve won. Pick the most prestigious three or four.
- DO tell us if we’ve read your work in the past and encouraged you to submit more. We love to see repeat submitters!
- DEFINITELY DON’T use some kind of generative AI to write a cover letter. Remember: This is our introduction to your writing; we don’t want to be wondering if you’ve used AI in your submission, too.
Template:
Dear [EDITOR],
I’ve attached my story, “[TITLE],” for consideration in [JOURNAL NAME]. The story is approximately _____ words long.
Below is a brief bio:
“Cole Meyer is a writer from Milwaukee. He is the editor in chief at The Masters Review and CRAFT and serves as the editorial director for Discover New Art. He received an MFA in creative writing from Florida State University. His work has been included in the Best Small Fictions series and on the Wigleaf Top 50 longlist and appears online at SmokeLong Quarterly, The Baltimore Review, Aquifer: The Florida Review Online and elsewhere. He lives in the DC area with his wife Emily and their dog and cat.”
Thanks so much for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Cole Meyer