{"id":806,"date":"2023-02-10T21:00:33","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T21:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/wordpress\/greenblotter\/?p=806"},"modified":"2023-02-10T21:00:33","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T21:00:33","slug":"how-to-write-a-cover-letter-for-a-litmag-submission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/2023\/02\/10\/how-to-write-a-cover-letter-for-a-litmag-submission\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write a Cover Letter for a Litmag Submission"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by Isaac Fox<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A literary magazine cover letter is a strange thing. It sounds more formal (and probably more important) than it actually is. Expectations differ a lot from magazine to magazine, but in general, a cover letter just communicates some simple information and shows that you can be a polite human being.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the biggest errors new writers make in their cover letters is boasting. It\u2019s not a place to pitch yourself; your creative work should do all the talking on its own. Instead, keep things simple and fairly impersonal. Your language should be business-casual\u2014a few contractions are usually fine, but don\u2019t begin the letter with a \u201cHey\u201d or anything.<\/span><\/p>\n

Personally, I try to say as little as I can. The less words I use, the less chances I have to say something dumb. So here\u2019s what usually needs to be in a cover letter:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

1. A polite greeting. Try to find the name of the departmental editor who will (ideally) be opening your email or submission form. For example, if you\u2019re submitting poetry to GB, \u201cDear Lexi Gonzalez\u201d is perfect. Addressing a cover letter \u201cDear editors\u201d is also fine, especially if you can\u2019t figure out who might be reading your submission. (Avoid \u201cTo whom it may concern\u201d\u2014it kind of reminds folks of junk mail, and it\u2019s a pet peeve for some editors.)<\/span><\/p>\n

2. The genre (e.g., poetry, prose, visual art) and title of what you\u2019re submitting.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. A note that your piece is a simultaneous submission (if you\u2019re submitting it to other publications at the same time) and that you will immediately withdraw it if it\u2019s accepted somewhere else first.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Some kind of pleasantry and a polite closing.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Anything additional that the publication asks for. I\u2019ve bumped into litmags that actually DO want to hear all about your cat, dog, best friend, spouse, and favorite video game in your cover letter. Editors may also want you to tell them about previous publications, the wordcount(s) of whatever you\u2019re submitting, any relevant trigger warnings, and goodness knows what else. Submittable forms will often ask you to put your third-person bio in the cover-letter field. Carefully read a publication\u2019s submissions page and\/or submittable form to figure out what they want.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a sample cover letter that I recently sent:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dear editors,<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve attached three poems titled “My Thoughts on Being Engaged to You Again,” “Abecedarian: Ingredient List and Complete Procedure for the Production of Success,” and “Night Song for Lake Ice.” They are 133, 82, and 150 words long, respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

These pieces are simultaneous submissions, and I’ll let you know immediately if they’re accepted elsewhere. Thank you very much for considering my work for publication.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gratefully yours,<\/span><\/p>\n

Isaac Fox<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If I really, really love something I\u2019ve recently read in a litmag I\u2019m submitting to, I might briefly compliment that piece near the end of my cover letter. I doubt this actually helps my chances of getting accepted, but it can\u2019t hurt. Hopefully it at least brightens someone\u2019s day a little.<\/span><\/p>\n

At Green Blotter<\/em>\u2014and most other publications, honestly\u2014nothing in your cover letter is likely to affect your chances of having a piece accepted. (There are two exceptions to this at GB: if you don\u2019t tell us that you\u2019re an undergrad, or if you put something really<\/em> awful, like hate speech, in your cover letter). We read blind, so most of the people reviewing your submission don\u2019t even know who wrote the piece they\u2019re reading.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, at some publications, your cover letter really does affect your work\u2019s chances of getting accepted. Treating every cover letter with care is good practice for when you submit to a magazine where it really, really matters.<\/span><\/p>\n

Isaac Fox is a student at Lebanon Valley College, where he majors in English and creative writing. When he\u2019s not reading or writing something assigned, he\u2019s probably reading or writing something unassigned. His work has previously appeared in <\/span>Tiny Molecules<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Rejection Letters<\/span><\/i>, and several other publications. You can find him on Twitter at @isaac_k_fox.<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Isaac Fox A literary magazine cover letter is a strange thing. It sounds more formal (and probably more important) than it actually is. Expectations differ a lot from magazine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[22,3],"class_list":["post-806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blog-post","tag-isaac-fox","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/greenblotter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}