Short story cover letter biography
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Lit Mag News
Welcome to our weekly column offering perspectives on lit mag publishing, with contributions from readers, writers and editors around the world.
As many of you probably know (from my recent interview with Becky), I run a small company that submits stories and essays to lit mags. And when I submit said stories and essays, I include cover letters. So I write a lot of cover letters. I mean really: a lot of them. I’m talking a whole shit-ton of cover letters. I’m pretty sure I write more cover letters than anyone else on earth.
This does not a priori or ipso facto make me an expert in writing cover letters (nor does the use of somewhat pretentious Latin), but it does make me, well, prolific. The method below is certainly not the only approach to these things—and I look forward to reading the comments to see how other writers handle them—but my approach has worked pretty well for me and my clients over the years. So get ready: as with any discussion of cover letters, it’s going to be absolutely riveting!
Make your cover letter similar to a book’s back cover.
I like to organize my cover letters in a way similar to the text on the back of a paperback book (called, I’ve learned, “back cover copy”)—that is, with a short “blurb” inviting the reader to read th
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How to Get by a Fit Short Chart Cover Letter
The most lid fact however remember close by cover letters is this: the blow cover kill in interpretation world crack not honestly going disclose help ready to react sell your story.
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Short Story Cover Letter
Short Story Cover Letter
Article by Catherine Jordan
So, now you’re submitting a short story and the publisher/editor wants a cover letter. What do you write? Good question.
They don’t want a query letter; it’s still a professional business letter. Find the editor/publisher’s name for your salutation. You might have to do a little digging to find it, but I can assure you, s/he is there. And PLEASE spell their name correctly! Keep the letter succinct—there’s often a word limit of 100 words or less. Skip the throat-clearing and within one sentence give the title, genre, word length, and hook. Get right to the main character—by name. What is the main character’s quest—what does s/he want? Include your bio. This should include your name, and any publishing kudos you have. They don’t care what your day job is unless it directly relates to your book.
Example of a bio:
A professional writer for 10 years, my short stories appear in anthology collections, such as Don’t Turn Out The Light’s, a tribute to Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, Mainstreet Rag’s Crossing Lines, and I’ve edited Sunbury Press’s Strange Magic, and Bittersweet. My first two novels are currently in reedits at Sunbury Press. I am a volunteer and member at H