“Maintaining your composure and remaining level headed through your career allows you to observe yourself objectively and this is very important for your work and how you choose to navigate your spaces.” – dimitrireyespoet.com
As you can gather from my countless blogs about writing poems, revising poems, publishing, professionalism, and more, just about everything you put on paper has to be considered when you plan on publishing your work. One of those everything’s involves writing a cover letter which is often needed with just about every submission.
Though there isn’t a precise way to write one, there are some things you should consider when you draft it. It needs to be clear and straightforward with a glean of confidence and professionalism without seeming too pretentious. I’ll go over some tips on putting a good cover letter together and I’ll also include a general template below. Here is How You Should Write Your Poetry Cover Letter.
Cover letters usually ask for the same contact information. Sometimes it’s some of it, other times, it’s all of it. This includes your name, address, and phone number or email. If you have a Submittable account, I highly suggest that the contact information is included in your saved cover letter. In my Submittable video on YouTube I teach you how to create an account and briefly show you how to save a templated cover letter.
Next, like any letter you have to begin with a greeting. These can vary from formal greetings to less formal greetings that express more of who you are as a writer, but I suggest doing so after you have a bit more experience under your belt–again, you don’t want to come off overly confident. Maintaining your composure and remaining level headed through your career allows you to observe yourself objectively and this is very important for your work and how you choose to navigate your spaces.
Some examples of formal:
Dear Editor
Dear (name of editor)
To whom it may concern
Informal:
Hello,
Greetings,
Salutations,
Pro tip: It may work in your favor to have researched who you’ll be submitting your poetry to. It makes it feel more personal if you address the editor(s) by their name and it looks less like you’re simply looking for a publication and more like you are a poetry participant that carefully read a few issues of their magazine— which you should be doing regardless!
After the greeting, you are responsible for the main message. Keep it short, brief, and gracious (always gracious to play it safe.) If you have an extra sentence of niceties or extra information you’d like them to know about your work, now is the time to let them know. Be cautious though, and when you can, just let the poems do the talking. I’d only suggest penning a sentence or two about your work if there’s something in your manuscript that isn’t overtly mentioned in the pieces, but serves as an umbrella for your themes. Like a location or historic event for example.
You’ll notice below, that “short and sweet” is just 3 to 5 sentences. As long as you stay brief, informational, and state your claim as to why you should be considered you did your job.
Example of main message:
Here are (x) poems included in my submission. (Here’s where you’d put a line or two about what the work is about. Remember, only if necessary. If not, move onto the next sentence without this!) I put a lot of effort into this work and I hope that it shines through. Thank you for your consideration.
Lastly, your closing and signature. This is the simplest part. Base your signature off of the tone you used in your greeting. You can use some like…
Sincerely,
Best,
Best regards,
Thank you,
I look forward to your response,
I hope to hear from you soon,
Additional tips:
- Generally you should stick to a 12pt font in an accepted font style.
- If the cover page is included in the manuscript, you can change the font size to compensate for the amount of space.
- Your bio can go sometime after your signature. This is usually requested upon publication, but it’s a good idea for them to already have it. In a way, you are making it more convenient to publish you because they’ll already have the information.
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