Lesson 3: The Business Side of Things

Cover Letters

Always include a cover letter with your poems. At one time this was considered unnecessary, but it is now standard practice. Like your poetry, your cover letter should be neat and free of any spelling or grammatical errors. Editors see your cover letter before they read your poems. You’ll want to make a good impression.

Keep the following in mind when writing cover letters:

1. Like your poems, your cover letters should be neatly typed and free from spelling and grammatical errors. Use plain white paper, a common typeface, and 12-point font.
2. Your cover letter should follow the standard format of a business letter. Include the name of the editor, if you have that information.
3. Include the name of the publication to which you are submitting your work. Some publishers produce more than one publication.
4. Mention any publication credits you have if they are related to the work you are currently submitting. Generally, this will mean mentioning any poetry you have previously published. If you are submitting work to a children’s magazine and your short stories for children were previously published, mention that. If you are submitting poetry to a religious magazine and you previously published devotional material, mention that.
5. It’s generally better not to mention unrelated publication credits. Whether or not you can write publishable news articles or sales copy has little bearing on your ability as a poet. Don’t worry if you don’t have any publication credits yet. The quality of your work is more important than previous publishing experience.
6. Include personal information only if it is relevant to the publication you are submitting your work to, or if the editor specifically requests it. For instance, when I submitted a poem to Midwifery Today, I mentioned that I used to teach childbirth education classes. I leave out that detail when I submit poetry to other publications, however. If you are submitting work to a literary journal published at your alma mater, mention this. If you are submitting to a nature magazine and you’re a park ranger, put this in your cover letter. Remember, though, editors generally aren’t interested in hearing your whole life story.
7. If any of the poems you are submitting have ever been published before, include that in your cover letter. Tell the editor when and where the poem was published. Make sure you read the writer’s guidelines first to find out if the publication accepts previously published work. Many don’t.

A few other things to remember when submitting work:

• Always include an SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) with any submission.
• Never send your only copy of a poem.
• It’s not really necessary to type the addresses on envelopes, but it does make you look a bit more professional. It takes a little more time, but not that much. I recommend it.
• Make sure you add the correct amount of postage. In the U. S., you can mail four sheets of paper plus an SASE with one $0.37 stamp. You can mail about twice that much with a $0.60 stamp.

Write an appropriate cover letter for each poem or group of poems you will be submitting.

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