Creative writing - Mike Sanders 2014

More cover letters
Publishing your work
Getting published

The first thing a publisher sees when your submission package is opened is your cover letter. Your creative writing might be stellar, but this letter can make or break your submission depending, on the editor. After all, this is your first point of contact with someone who, potentially, has part of your creative writing future in their hands, so make the right impression the first time.

For one thing, the letter should be beautifully presented—typed on good quality paper and clean. The person opening your submission package is someone with whom you hope to build a professional relationship. Think of your letter as a job application.

Personally address your letter to the right person. Find out if the agent or editor you’re approaching is a Mr. or a Ms., and be sure this is the right person within the organization to handle your genre. Mistakes here show you haven’t done your research, which in turn throws a question over how serious you are about getting into the publishing business. Why should an editor spend time reading your submission if you haven’t spent time finding out how they spell their surname?

Clearly include all your contact information. Add it in the header or footer of your manuscript, too, just in case the cover letter becomes detached from your submission as it’s passed around an editorial office.

Include your book’s title, genre, and word count. (The word count immediately tells an editor whether your book is of a commercial length.) Make your letter succinct—a maximum of one page. Try to summarize your book in one or two killer lines. You might need to practice this to get it right, but these will be lines you use continuously.

IDEAS AND INSPIRATION

Don’t start your letter with a question the editor might answer “no” to. For a fiction submission, ensure the letter is more about the book than you. Your Himalayan adventures can go into the author profile. For nonfiction, platform and qualifications are very important, so your query should be roughly 60 percent about your book and 40 percent about your platform. (If your book is about surviving in the Himalayas, your adventures are relevant and important.) If you’re submitting nonfiction, make it clear why you are the best person to write this book. What are your qualifications/experience?

Never say you’re the next J. K. Rowling or Dan Brown, but do mention other authors whose style your own is similar to. This can give the publisher an idea where you see your book falling in the market.

Also be sure to show you actually can write. Proofread your letter to eliminate typos, tangled sentences, and waffling.

Only pitch one book in this letter. Your book might be part of a trilogy, but that’s not the most important thing about it, and if you can’t sell one book, you won’t be able to sell the other two. Mention in the closing line that you see this book as part of a series if it’s really important.

Follow the publisher’s submission guidelines assiduously—it’s not difficult. Try not to irritate the editor you’re submitting to by including the whole book when they’ve asked for three pages. If they like your book, they’ll ask for more. If they only ask for three chapters and you feel your book starts taking off at chapter five, don’t send the five chapters. Instead it’s on you rewrite those first three chapters if that editor’s consideration is really important to you.

Remember that writing for an editor is simply writing for another readership. It’s a tough, knowledgeable readership, but you can find all kinds of things about what they prefer (such as what books they’ve published in the past). It’s a balancing act of playing to their preferences and them being the appropriate publisher to begin with. If they’re not, move on to the next most likely one.