I’ve had students ask to see sample cover letters for magazine submissions, so thought I’d share several of mine here.
Here’s one I wrote for an article that appeared in the magazine KidTime in October 2006. (I’ve redacted some personal information.)
date
Editor name
KidTime
Street address
City, state and zip
Ms. Lastname,
“What is it? An overgrown chestnut? A porcupine egg? A beaver ball? No, although the last two are nicknames for it. What you’re seeing is a larch needle ball.” That’s my opening for an article on the naturally occurring phenomena of larch needle balls. The article might be appropriate for your November theme of “Harvest Time.”
My information comes from an interview and larch ball hunting trip with an experienced collector. In addition, I’ve corresponded with Montana Forest Service and Glacier National Park personnel, Montana scientists, and Seeley-Swan Valley residents. As far as I’ve been able to ascertain, nothing is in print about this unusual subject except an article I wrote focusing on the collector for Real People (“That’s Incredi-ball” January/February ’97).
I’ve also had articles published in Highlights for Children, Cricket, Child Life, and others.
Besides the article I’ve enclosed eight color transparencies along with descriptions. Of course, I’ve included a self-addressed stamped envelope for your convenience.
Sincerely,
Obviously, that was a postal mail submission. Here’s an email submission of a short story that sold.
Attn: Conny
Kiah’s mom has just announced they are moving away. Anger bursts out of Kiah like lava spouting out of a volcano. She says she’ll stay and just live with friends. But when Kiah thinks about her friends, none of them seem a good fit. But it isn’t until she figures out the real reason they are moving that Kiah decides to make the best of it and makes up with her mother.
This short story “No Way” is especially appropriate for the older age range of your audience. The length is 1433 words and I can offer you first rights. I’ve pasted in the story below.
My writing credits include over 160 magazine short stories and articles for children and adults. I’ve been published in such magazines as Highlights for Children, Cricket, Jack and Jill, and many others. My recent book projects include three picture books for Unibooks (Korea) and seven e-readers for Compass Media.
Sincerely,
So what do these letters have in common? A brief description of the article or story and my writing credits. I’d usually say the title and word count as well, but see that I didn’t even do so with the article. If you don’t have writing credits, you leave that out. You’ll see in one case I addressed the theme the magazine had for a specific issue, and in the other I mentioned the story would fit the “older range” of their audience.
It’s pretty simple. Some samples you’ll see tell even less about the story. But the basics I usually include are:
• Specific editor’s name (or title specified in the magazine’s writer’s guidelines)
• Magazine name and address for postal mail
• A teaser for the story or article
• What you are submitting – e.g. article or short story
• Title and word count
• If appropriate, why you chose the magazine
• Rights available, if appropriate
• Any applicable background info – e.g. what gives you authority to write the piece and/or writing credits
• For postal mail, SASE for reply or return of manuscript
Letters are single spaced with a blank line between paragraphs. My physical letters have my name and contact information in a footer. It can also follow your name below the signature. And, of course, you want your letter to be free of any errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.
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