Journal Submission Journal 3/3/20

Cover Letter Dos and Don'ts

I have tried all sorts of cover letters, read dozens of 'tutorials' and copied their examples in my own voice. I've gone extremely minimalistic, I've even buried insane secret messages in otherwise regular letters—and had a few bored editors ask about my life-sized popsicle stick castle or suggest that using safety scissors to trim the lawn might not be the most efficient way to address the mutant mole issue, but those nonsensical messages to readers usually went unnoticed. My experiences as an editor and submitter with over 150 journal publications (and still going hard at it) have led me to the conclusion that cover letters don't matter much, but they can be a way to make an editor feel a little better. Editors don't often get feedback, so just knowing someone living and breathing actually read something you'd spent a bunch of time taking from submission to publication... it's nice. So taking that extra moment is kind of like holding the door for an approaching stranger, saying "have a good day" to a cashier or helping an old man up a set of stairs. It's easy and dadgummit, take the few moments to do it right.



Don't: Stress it. Cover letters in some settings are extremely important, like in job application for example. A cover letter for a writing submission is a lot lower stakes. Many journals won't even look at the cover letter until they've read the pieces, some don't require them at all, but most prefer some sort of organizing note for quicker searching. If you have a Pulitzer or a best selling book or held some prestigious fellowship that could tip you over the edge, but for the most part, your writing will be judged on your writing, not your credentials. At least that's my experience from working at 4 journals.



Do: Address the correct genre editor. This is a small touch and won't make or break your submission, but when the editors glance at the cover letter they get the little added feeling that you aren't mindlessly mailbombing every journal possible. I don't always do this, but I'm going to try to be better. To find the editor to address check the journal's masthead or "About us" section for the proper genre editor.





Don't: Lie. Don't say you know an editor you don't or that you've been published somewhere you haven't been, that you have a credential you don't have or whatever. Cover letters don't matter a whole lot to most journals, no need to make an ass of yourself.





Do: Include the titles of all of the pieces you're submitting. For prose include the word count, and for formal poems indicate the form with the title for good measure.





Don't: Summarize your story. The story or poems should speak for themselves. If there's a specific reason you are submitting this particular piece to this particular journal yes, mention that, briefly. But don't bore the editor with what you think is important about the story.





Do: Include a short biography. List some of your best (or most apt for that journal) publications and any awards you've won. Feel free to mention your MFA if you have one or are working on one. If you want to list your profession or your hometown/city of residence, go for it. Say something quirky about yourself? Sure, but keep it short and it should be either interesting or funny and in good taste. If you want to do that, try to check out other bios that the journal includes to see if it's fitting. If you're sending to a quirky journal feel free to funktify up your cover letter too. Quirk appreciates quirk usually... just don't over quirk it.





Don't: Include every single publication you have—top out at like 5 or 6. Fewer is fine. You don't need to have been published elsewhere to be considered. While on one hand having those credits shows that you're serious and have put in the work not only in your writing but in the course of publishing, on the other hand editors love finding new talent. Also don't bother listing 'runner up' or 'finalist' results, only if you won the contest. The only exceptions would be if you don't have many publications but you have been nominated for a year end anthology like Pushcart Prize, Best American ____ or O. Henry. However, remember that as John Fox reminds us, Pushcart gets over 10,000 pieces nominated every year, so there are a whooooooole lot of Pushcart Prize nominees out there. My household has 4 nominations and 0 wins (technically 1 is still pending)





Do: Make it something like this, but with your own personal flair. Think of it as your creative writing magazine submission cover letter template:





Dear Poetica Lyricist (or poetry editor)



I thoroughly enjoyed the most recent issue of Viper Hiccups! The wonderful assonance in the penultimate line of Everett Mann's "Paul Hogan Makes a Scene at the Louvre with his Much Younger Girlfriend" was music to my ears. I first saw your magazine last year ago when Ronnie Silliermann linked your blog article about the preponderance of spondees in hip hop lyrics. I am submitting four poems today which are titled



"Metaluna is for Lovers" (a sonnet)

"The Gatorade Ghazal" (a ghazal)

"Bare Feet for Quentin"

"Torture Devices of the Smurfs and Other Museum Exhibits Doomed to be Rejected by the Board of Trustees"



As you requested a third person bio in your guidelines: Gary Gerry is a political border expert from Washington DC. He received his MFA in poetry from the New School where he served on the editorial board of LIT. His work has appeared in Lotus-Eater, The James Franco Review and Cease, Cows among others.





or for fiction it would look something like this:





Dear Vic Shun (or fiction editor)



I loved the most recent issue of The Super Awesome Lit Mag! I was really taken in by the dialog between the butcher and the dog with Elvis's reincarnated soul from Henry Ree's story "Why Still Reading This Nonsense So Closely?".



I am submitting a piece of short fiction for your consideration entitled "Fortnights and Blanket Forts" which is 3,444 words long.



As you requested a third person bio in your guidelines: Kori Richard Corey is a Glassblower living in a tiny house outside of Portland, Oregon. He loves Ed Wood movies and is a passionate collector of OK Soda™ memorabilia. This would be his first publication.





Lists

Entropy Mag's list of where to submit is a great resource and while this is February's list, there' s a good amount of places that have rolling deadlines or aren't until sometime in March.

Zebulon's Flash Fiction Submission Guide . Yeah, I'll admit I referenced this, I put a lot of work into it, and though it's almost 5 years old and needs an update, there are a lot of smaller and lesser known journals I reminded myself with using this guide.

Duotrope . Always. A great search and browse function.

Submittable Discover Tab . Good for deadlines. There are a few March 15th deadlines and definitely some end of the month/April 1st ones to keep your eye on.

Poets & Writers Contest Calendar . If you've got a little extra scratch and want to enter some contests this is one of the best places to go. I used this a lot in January but overextended my submission budget a bit so I'm back to pacing out those $3 submissions.

New Pages Calls for submissions . New Pages is a tremendous resource, they have lots of supplemental information about hundreds of journals including lit mag reviews, which you don't see too many places.









Journals





Eunoia Review : This Singapore-based online journal aims at " sharing the fruits of ‘beautiful thinking’" which has the distinction of the title "Fastest Responding Market" at Duotrope—and they live up to that title. I submitted to them recently and got a response in just over 13 hours. Instead of publishing issues periodically they have taken a more Poetry Daily, Everyday Fiction route and feature 2 new pieces on their website every day. Submissions are made via email and are free. : This Singapore-based online journal aims at "has the distinction of the title "Fastest Responding Market" at Duotrope—and they live up to that title. I submitted to them recently and got a response in just over 13 hours. Instead of publishing issues periodically they have taken a more Poetry Daily, Everyday Fiction route and feature 2 new pieces on their website every day. Submissions are made via email and are free.









Ravaged cabbages,

the shell

of a salted snail

tossed among dandelion heads





Waxwing

:





:









:

leaves like corpses

brown and shriveled ugly/in the space

between rebirth I notice you

in the shape of my calves





at once direct, playful, inventive, irreverent, and darkly beautiful. Despite common sense and the laws of economics, Conduit has been thwarting good taste, progress, and consensus for over twenty years. Conduit publishes distinctive voices of literary merit—experimental to accessible, established to emerging—in snazzy volumes, featuring work that demonstrates originality, intelligence, courage, and humanity. Conduit champions a fresh mix of writers. If that isn't enough, Conduit reaches beyond the literary by interviewing astronomers, ethno-botanists, artists, graphic artists, and historians, et cetera, believing a vigorous imagination is one that is cross-pollinated by diverse areas of human inquiry. They accept poetry submissions through







We’re a literary journal that’s totally bonkers-in-love with voice-driven writing, pop culture, and the kind of honesty that gets you right in the kidneys. We love stories and poetry and art because they’re our insides turned out for everyone to see: the darkness and the confetti in equal measure.

They are open for $3 'Tip Jar' submissions year round, but they also take free submissions via



Conduit : This cool and quirky Minnesota print journal has been publishing for almost 30 years continuously now. For the more uniquely voiced journals it's often best to let them describe their vision. They describe themselves as:They accept poetry submissions through their submittable page for a $3 fee. Split Lip Magazine : This quirky online journal recently moved homes to a slightly different name. They describe themselves as:They are open for $3 'Tip Jar' submissions year round, but they also take free submissions via their submittable page in January, March, May, September, and November. Apeiron Review : This Philadelphia-based literary journal only reads 2 months out of the year: March (hey, that's us!) and September. They are eclectic but lean toward the accessible side of things. I like what they say they want so I'll quote that here:

We want something real, something beautiful, something ugly, and something that sings to the far reaches of our being. Make us laugh or make us cry, but we want something visceral. Free verse poems are generally favored over those that rhyme. Experimentation is encouraged. There are no limits on form, but please keep short stories and nonfiction to 3k or less. We do accept flash fiction with 1k word counts or less. They also have a soft spot in my heart that they don't know about because they nominated one of my wife's poems for a Pushcart Prize, though I'd never put that in my cover letters (to bring it back to the top). To send your submission in this month for free go to



They also have a soft spot in my heart that they don't know about because they nominated one of my wife's poems for a Pushcart Prize, though I'd never put that in my cover letters (to bring it back to the top). To send your submission in this month for free go to their submittable page Hot Metal Bridge : This online lit mag from University of Pittsburgh's MFA program is another interesting one to check out. I found them a few years back and they keep putting out great issues. I especially liked this bit from "After Graffiti, Northside Carbondale" by Bryce Berkowitz: