How to Write a Cover Letter

Source: sfwa.org

The appearance of the cover letter, and its adherence to standard format, is far more important than the contents of its actual message.

In all cases, include the following information on the cover letter over the salutation: Your name, address, phone number, social security number, fax number, favorite lottery number, height, weight, shoe size, political affiliation, number of words in the story, number of words not in the story, number of numbers in the story, an acknowledgment of the designers of all the type faces used in your story, and the number of pages in the story. Staple a glossy photo of yourself to the page.

Many people recommend that you submit to a particular person, rather than just to The Editor. This is good advice, but it does not go far enough in the present day. The would-be author must make his or her (or its) editor her or his (or its) constant study. Your research into your editor has not finished once you have selected your target. Indeed, it had hardly begun. To illustrate the proper scope of research, consider the information that the savvy submitter adds to the cover letter, above and beyond the conventional editors name, title, and business address. It is also wise to include the name of the editors spouse, the editors home address, her home phone number, her usual hour for leaving the office, the address and schedule for the school or day care center of any children, her bank account numbers, any surveillance photos you have obtained, and any other information that would demonstrate the degree to which you have been studying, obsessing upon, and otherwise stalking the person to whom you are submitting your life work. Having disposed of the above formatting issues, let us touch briefly on the content of the letter. There are several acceptable techniques. Here is one frequently successful format, reproduced in full.

Dear (Editor Name);
Once upon a time...

The editor will of course turn to the next page to see what comes next. She will then encounter the first page of your story, and, assuming that it is merely a continuation of the letter, will read further. As getting the editor to read the story is one of the would-be authors major challenges, there is much to recommend this technique.