so when you submit yr story how about you change the cover letter so it actually matches what you send so we at least assume you are sort of professional and actually give a shit about being published by us and not just blanket submitting the whole fucking internet?
THANKS BOO!
3 comments:
i have inquiries regarding this. i understand how the hard copy of a cover letter works. i put in time at my university's lit review. i've read the internet how-tos. apply for a job and you know how it goes. but as far as submitting poetry/fiction online, what are editors expecting? something real profesh. or can i choose my own adventure stumble through it with fun in mind?
hey carrie,
you want to introduce yourself and state the title of the piece you are submitting. if they place asks for a wordcount, include that. feel free to give some biographical information, but not too much. if you've been published in some places feel free to include the sentence "my work has appeared in", but i don't feel it's necessary. i feel, and this is mostly just me, that if you've been published in a bunch of really obscure journals you don't need to include the pub credits. as someone reading submissions, i don't feel that i need to know if you've been published or unpublished. at times i'd rather not know. i don't think you need to include if you have an mfa or if you are a student. i think if you don't have an mfa you also don't need to make a point of it.
a lot of this is personal. the main thing to do is to introduce yourself, include the title of the piece, any pertinent information about yourself, and to then thank the editor. it's not that it's important, but it's nice. everyone likes being thanked. also you cannot give highfives or thumbs up over the internet, so, i mean, there's that.
in terms of getting creative with it, go for it, but if it's not funny or really awesome it'll probably just bug the editor. for practice, go find some of michael martone's biographical notes. sometimes they are actually the piece published.
anyway. i hope this was in some way helpful.
have a great night!
-sasha
yes. thank you very much.
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