A professional cover letter helps; however, it hurts if the information in the cover letter provides unnecessary information or conveys a poor impression of you. A less than professional cover letter often eliminates the possibility of publishing something that is well written, timely, and in a popular category.
5 Things to Leave Out of a Cover Letter
1. Irrelevant Personal Information – providing information about your family situation, kids or no kids, health, age, gender, race, or other personal information that is nothing to do with the reason for contacting the publisher or editor.
2. List of Prior Rejections- telling the a publisher or editor the number of time your manuscript has been submitted to others is unnecessary and typically biases the outcome of your submission; another rejection.
3. Pointing Flaws in the Article or Manuscript – your perception of flaws may not be the same as the publisher or editor. If there are flagrant flaws, the publisher or editor will find them. Helping to receive a rejection letter is not in your best interest or a confidence builder.
4. Hyping Your Article- your perception of brilliance may not be the same as a publisher or editor. Over hyping sends a message of arrogance and not willing to work with the publisher or editor and leads to a pretty quick rejection letter.
5. Pointing Out Why the Article or Manuscript does not Match Publishing Guidelines- this one is pretty simple, because if it does not match publishing guidelines – do not send it. Not meeting publishing guidelines leads to an instant rejection before your article or manuscript is even reviewed by the publisher or editor.
These are some of the common things writers include in their cover letters and there are other less common things as well. The important thing to remember is be professional, not opinionated, and provide on the information necessary to get the publisher or editor to read your article or manuscript.
Resource
Writer’s Guidelines Database provides the guidelines for 844 magazines, ezines, books, etc.
