Cover letters for magazine submissions.

 Lets face it. The cover letter is the first thing the editor, or assistant editor, or assistant to the editor, or assistant to the assistant editor sees when they open your submission.

Should it be a big fancy hoorah? Complete with a play-by-play breakdown of your short story masterpiece?

No.

Keep the damn thing simple. All you want to do is give the person reading the manuscript some very basic information. Who are you? Who is this addressed to? What are you sending? How should they contact you?

Keep it basic and to the point. Your manuscript will sink or swim on it's own merit. Any fluff you add here will just take time away from the reading of the manuscript. The cover letter should be professional, simple and forgettable. Print it in the same font and on the same paper as your manuscript. Preferably some variant of Courier on plain white paper.

Below is the basic format for magazine submission cover letters that has been passed down to me from on high. Use it well.

John Doe
1234 Avenue Street Drive
Hometown, US 98765
(123)456-7890
johndoe@email.com


Bigwig Fancypants, Editor
Best Stories Ever Magazine
P.O. Box 4567
Bigtown, NY 54321


Dear Mr. Fancypants,

Enclosed is a manuscript of my short story, 'Super Happy Fun Time' for your consideration. It is about 2700 words long. I write under the pseudonym Jacob Doe. A SASE is enclosed for your response, but the manuscript itself need not be returned. Thank you for your time in considering my submission.

Sincerely,

John Doe

Just make a note if you wish to be published under a pseudonym, whether or not you want the manuscript returned (include sufficient postage if you do) and how long the thing is. That's it. Just give em the basic info they need and let your incredible storytelling powers take it from there.

Now, go out there and take the food off my table, tiger.

Also, don't print the cover letter in blue ink. I just did that to... Nevermind. Print the cover letter in blue ink on sparkly pink rice paper. Go wild.