How To Write the Perfect Cover Letter Even Tho Nobody Cares (+ formatting and submission methods)
Lesson 5 of 12: Sorry For The Inconvenience — A Submitter's Guide to Lit Mags
Welcome to Lesson # 5 of A Submitter’s Guide to Lit Mags. You can find all past lessons on the course introductions page here.
Alrighty, for this lesson, I’m going to cover:
Cover letters → what they are, what they aren’t, what to do with them
A gross amount of research into lit bios that might be diagnosable as narcissism
The secret about cover letters (that isn’t really a secret).
Formatting (OK, more like telling you about all of the folks who can tell you way better than me)
Eight ways you might get asked to submit your writing [video].
*sigh* Yes, eight.
Here is a link to the spreadsheet where you can find all of the lit mags mentioned in this lesson.
Oh hey, it’s Valentine's Day! What could be more romantic than reading about submission guidelines on Valentine's Day?1
Part 1: Cover Letters
A cover letter is the ‘hello’ to editors that tags along with your story. I am sure there was a time of paper-cuts and envelope-licks when they were important. But now, in these future times of digital inputs and clicky bits, they are the writing world’s equivalent of writing a check. But hey, I don’t make the rules.
I think we stress over cover letters so much because, after all the work you’ve gone through to write and submit this thing, messing up the cover letter would feel like just the worst way to get rejected.
And sometimes, we overthink cover letters a lot because of what I call dumb human stuff. Basically, we can see ourselves in the bad behaviors we’re expecting. For example, a lot of university-connected lit mags have readers who are eighteen or so. At eighteen, I was a complete asshole. If I was a reader at eighteen, and I saw a cover letter where someone was published in Fancy Pants Quarterly with an MFA from Oo-La-La University, my newly developed brain would think: Oh, I need to read this person’s story!
Now, here I am at thirty-five, writing my cover letter, and I have a choice: to agonize over what I say in case the reader is anything like who I was at eighteen or believe that every single college student who works at a lit mag is more mature than I was at that age (entirely possible).
Also, I think all people feel a sense of trust when they see someone with a badge of authority (having been published somewhere top-notch in this case), and humans are inclined to treat personal connections differently than strangers — a connection's submission vs. a stranger's. So, when I worry about cover letters, I am never thinking: What if the editors and readers of this lit mag are unfair pieces of shit?! Instead, I think: Oh God, I hope these people are nothing like me.
Here is the thing with all that: there is nothing you can do about it.
If you had the power to stop humans from doing dumb human stuff, I’d hope you would use that power for something more important — like stopping groups of three slow-walkers from taking up THE ENTIRE GODDAMN SIDEWALK.
Sorry, moving on.
The good news and the better news!
So do you want the good news first or the better news?
Hmm, let’s save the better news.
Good news: The factors within your control are straightforward.
I have a fair amount of data on this since I run a database. It isn’t perfect, but pulling from the cover letter data, only 7% of magazines ask for additional, specific information to be included in cover letters beyond best practices. Given this, it is highly unlikely you will be rejected for anything in your cover letter.
93% of the time, best practices work and cover most nit-picking:
Dear/Hello/And so on… [Name of the Editor who will read your genre],
Why find their name: Some care, and it doesn’t hurt if they don’t. You can find this information on their Masthead. Copy-paste the name to avoid spelling errors. Also, avoid “Sir/Madam” since that rubs some folks the wrong way. If there are loads of editors, I often just put Dear [Lit Mag Name] Editors… You can find the editor’s names in ‘Masthead’ or ‘About.’ If they do not have a masthead, run screaming.
[Blurb from Lesson 1], e.g., Jimmy Steals Bob’s Donut is a 750-word magical realism flash fiction story about a love triangle between two construction workers and a donut.
Round your word count to the nearest 50 or 100 as you like. If you choose to include a one-line blurb, don't go overboard. Say what the story is about, but don't explain it. If you explain it, you might end up hurting your chances by robbing the reader of the impact of realizing the full weight of your work. Personally, I rarely use the blurb.
Thank you …for considering it / …taking the time / …being absolute gems (whatevs)
I don’t think I need to explain why you should thank people.
This is a simultaneous submission; I will withdraw it if accepted elsewhere.
Why: Again, some care, and it doesn’t hurt if they don’t.
Optional: Include any trigger warnings here.
Most lit mags don’t ask for this. But it is polite if it is relevant.
Here is my bio: Third Person Bio - 50-100 words. More on this below.
OK, this is almost always requested, though on occasion (Jersey Devil Press, for example), a lit mag will ask for the bio elsewhere. It does happen, but it is very rare.
Sign off with contact information, including name, address, email, and phone number.
*For a lit mag that has eligibility requirements or encourages specific identity groups to submit, pay a bit closer attention. Some may want you to state clearly that you fall under their parameters.
I am being extremely thorough in the above guide in a way that even I don’t do with most of my submissions. For example, here are a few cover letters of mine that have led to acceptances:
Moon City Press
*Note on titling collections of poems and flash: Unless a lit mag asks otherwise, title a collection with the titles of each poem separated by a comma. Or, if your titles are super long (as in my case), use keywords in the title. In the cover letter, list the full titles.
Booth
*I believe they have a separate box for the bio. I love it when that happens!
Bending Genres
As a rule, to save myself a headache, if a lit mag doesn’t say anything about cover letters, I keep it wildly simple. But I’ve been submitting to lit mags for a long time. When I read guidelines, I gather from their vibe what is OK and what isn’t. No lie, I once addressed an editor as “Dear Miserable Fuck,” and got an acceptance. Because I caught on to the humor in their guidelines. But you do not need to do this. It did not help me get accepted to be this simple — only saved me time. And because I know the secret that I will reveal to you in…like three minutes, depending on how fast you read.
If you want to be 100% safe 93% of the time, use the template I provided above.
Side note: I always wanted to make a database of cover letters that lead to acceptance. This is a long-term fun project I always annoy Karina about. And we have way too many not-fun, more important projects to handle right now. But if you feel comfortable with it, share any cover letters in the comments that lead to acceptances for you and the lit mag you submitted to. I will make a spreadsheet to share with the class so others can see exactly what worked with a lit mag so nobody has to stress any longer.
Part 2: Literary Bios! Ugh.
Note on bios: I have seen a lot of snarky comments and condescension around folks caring too much about their lit bios. And — like — I get it. But I’m the type of person who will shower and fix my hair before going to the dentist. So if I’m being asked to present myself in 75 words or less on a piece of writing I’ve spent hours, days, of my life working on…well, you better believe I’m going to overthink every strand of that bio. I suspect I’m not alone here, so excuse the overkill.
I took a 25,706-word vomit pile of all the cover letter data we have on Chill Subs and turned it into a word cloud in the shape of an actual cloud because I think it’s funny. It’s a word cloud cloud. Hah!
Include. Short. Bio. Please
Out of all the cover letter requests, the most common factor was → Include a short third-person bio. When I started writing, I didn’t have a clue what to do with my literary bio. I wanted to create the perfect one, the “Goldilocks Bio.” But I kept getting it wrong. Too long, too short, not enough publications, too many publications! Gah! So when I got my hands on a database of lit mags, I pulled all of the word counts from cover letter requests from wherever I could find. Because I’m a psycho.
Most Common Max Word Counts:
50 words: ~20%
100 words: ~22%
Observations:
Short Bios (most often): The most preferred bio lengths are 50 and 100 words, indicating a preference for relatively concise bios.
Mid-range Bios (sometimes): The next most frequent preferences include word counts of 75 (24 times) and 150.
Extended Bios (rarely): few magazines appear to have a preference for longer bios, as seen with entries like 200, 250, 300, 400, and 500.
Range (common): Many magazines seem to provide a range, like 25-50 or 50-75.
The data suggests authors should aim to craft a bio (for lit mag submissions) that's 50 to 100 words in length. Personally, I have four bios. 50-word prose, 50-word poetry, 75-word prose, 75-word poetry. I don’t go above 75 words.
Ok, so — there you have it: an absolutely irresponsible amount of effort put into determining the ideal length for a literary bio. Now, what the hell to write in it?
Well, a little over a year ago, I wrote a guide on writing lit bios for our Chill Subs blog. I stand by it, so here it is.
There are two things to remember when writing a literary bio:
Don't stress about it.
You will stress about it.
First, let's have a little therapy session. Some role play. You're a snazzy literary agent at a swanky New York party full of people doing snazzy and swanky things. Now, who walks in? Well, it's your client: You! Look at you. Fuckin' yum.
Time to make your elevator pitch. Be simple. Be succinct.
Who is this stellar new writer you've got with you? Tell me in one or two sentences.
What are some of the best magazines they've been published in?
Do they have any accolades? A best-selling novel? An MFA? Or do they just make really great toast?
Where can I find more of their work?
There. Therapy over. Now, take that information, mash it together into a paragraph, and slap it into your cover letter. Boom, bang...boing? Whatever. You're done. Always (always) check through a lit mag’s submissions guidelines for what they say about bios. Some will ask for them to be super short. Some don't care. Some want them to tickle. (For example, The Molotov Cocktail just wants two clever sentences.)
Best method: Read 3-5 of the bios of writers they've published (They're found below each of the stories you absolutely read because you read every magazine you submit to. Right?)
Bethany Jarmul, a friend of Chill Subs and an excellent writer, has cooked up some wonderful examples of what this looks like (if you ever get a chance to take a seminar with her on submitting, I’d highly recommend it. She’s a powerhouse).
No publications: If you're new to writing, pretend you're a narcissist on a date. Talk about yourself in the third person and leave out the bad stuff.
Example: Jane Doe is an accountant by day and writer by night. She enjoys Legos, photography, and knitting. She lives with her husband and golden retriever in Portland, Maine. Connect with her on Twitter: @JaneDoe.
Standard: Write a 75-100 word 3rd person blurb about yourself highlighting your writing accomplishments and a few publications. End it with a note about where readers can find more of your work with a single link (unless a magazine explicitly asks for links somewhere else).
Example: Jane Doe is a writer and poet. Her work has been published in Taco Bell Quarterly, The Maine Review, and Gone Lawn. Her story “The Best Story Ever” won first place in the Coolest Writing Contest Ever. She lives with her husband in Portland, Maine. Connect with her on Twitter: @JaneDoe or on her website: janedoewriter.com.
Super Successful Writer: Not sure why you’d need our advice on this one, but for this case, still try to keep it short with a focus on your most prestigious accolades (whatever that means to you.)
Example: Jane Doe is an award-winning author of 12 books including The Best Book (Fake Press, 2023) and Amazing Book (Another Fake Press, 2022) which won the “Best American Book” award. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Paris Review, and Ploughshares among others. She lives in Portland, Maine. Connect with her on Twitter: @JaneDoe or on her website: janedoewriter.com.
Final thoughts on bios:
Your best practice for bios is to have them say: Look at me, now look at this. Give your details then direct people to a website or social media where they can learn more about you. This is the one I currently use:
Benjamin Davis (he/him) has stories and poems in several literary journals including Booth, Moon City Press, Softblow, and Slippery Elm Press. His poem collection, The King of FU (Nada Blank, 2018), was such a smashing success it shocked the indie press who printed it into an early grave. He is now writing his first six novels. Find him on his website: daviscommabenjamin.com
Now, for the better news — the secret
Almost nobody cares about cover letters, and if they do, they will tell you
I’ve interviewed a lot of editors. And I used to ask them about cover letters and bios. Here are some highlights of by-far the most common response.
Honestly, my biggest note is that stuff like that doesn't really matter. I know newer writers can stress about it, in part because it feels like a just-right bio or cover letter is going to become the key to unlocking an acceptance or is going to be the reason why they might get rejected, but that just isn't the case. Just be simple, straightforward. Mention a couple pubs, if you have any. If you don't, mention that this is/would be your first publication. As noted above, most editors and journals would love to see that! If you're a student, either MFA or undergrad, feel free to mention that, but also, you don't have to. And if you aren't, don't worry about not being; it doesn't matter. Mostly just keep it simple and don't worry or think that much about it. Spend your time and energy on the writing itself. - Aaron Burch (HAD, W&S)
Writers sometimes fret about cover letters. All that’s needed for many journals is a brief note like: Thank you for considering these poems. (Adding something like, “I enjoyed your fall issue” or “Thanks for all you do” can warm an editor’s heart but isn’t necessary.) Then a brief bio like the bios you see on the journal’s website. Unless the journals ask for something more. Word counts for prose submissions can be helpful, but that should really appear on the doc. I’m seeing that left off a lot. - Barbara Diehl (Baltimore Review)
Cover letters, haha! I don’t ask for them, but people send them in anyway. Often I don’t have time at all to read them. If they’re short, I’ll sometimes skim them. - The Aurora Journal
And so on. And the trend is moving more and more in this direction. Most journals I find don’t even read them. It has become more common to see Submittable forms with input boxes rather than cover letter requests. The only time cover letters require some real doing is with e-mail submissions. For this, I highly recommend checking out Pigeon Review’s guidelines page. They give an awesome, super clear example of an emailed cover letter. Or you can look at ONE ART’s guidelines in Lesson 4. If an editor wants something specific in your cover letter, they will tell you. If they do not tell you and hold something against you for it — I can’t stress this enough: move on. We are not teenagers. This isn’t a date.
The best part about all this is that you can just be you.2 If you are a person who likes going a bit extra and chatting up an editor, go for it. Put all the essential information first, and make sure you’ve spelled the lit mag and editor’s name correctly (as these seem the most common pain points for folks). I’ve loved little notes in cover letters. It has never changed my decision, but it’s nice.
I suppose, in the end, it comes down to time and energy. The time and energy you would put into Sherlocking a slight advantage for a fraction of lit mags with a rightly worded cover letter is not worth it. Most lit mags fall into these buckets:
10% - Care and want to see something specific (most of those will make this clear in the guidelines).
40% - Think they are nice. As long as the essentials are there, you’re good.
50% - Don’t care. Rarely read them.
Some neat tools on Chill Subs that you can use for cover letters & lit bios:
Part 3: Now — Formatting your document
This one is actually going to be fairly quick (for me) because →
→ Erik Harper Klass has already written an extremely detailed article on the subject: A Guide for the Formattingly Perplexed. It is better than anything I could do.
→ William Shunn has a whole website (with templates) dedicated to properly formatting manuscripts. For prose. And for poetry.3
I’m going to add a few pointers here on poetry formatting because I don’t think Shunn is as common for poetry. First, I always have a ‘Blind’ copy of my packet. Second, unless specifically asked for (like with Gulf Coast), I don’t put my contact information on every page — only the first page.
→ At Chill Subs, we’ve developed a tool that automatically does this for you (for prose). It is a premium tool, but, as I mentioned in the video, we do have scholarships for folks who need them.
Two things to note:
These formats work 99% of the time. The only thing to check for is whether a lit mag wants it with or without personal information (blind or not). As of writing, the default is still to include personal information, though I see this changing.
I’ve seen some editors write things like, ‘My heart sings when I see Garamond!’ in interviews. But I feel that can add to the confusion. Trying to chase those sorts of idiosyncrasies will be time-consuming and frustrating. And, I promise, with Times New Roman, that editor’s heart may not sing, but it’ll continue to beat just fine. Any chance-risking expectations will be clearly laid out in a lit mag’s submission guidelines.
I always save files as .docx. This is by far the most common file type editors ask for. Occasionally, I see a PDF only, but that is rare. Saving every file as .docx will save you time later.
For collections of flash and poetry, always start a poem on a new page. To do this, move your mouse to the left-hand side of the title, click, and “Insert Page Break.”
OK, Part 4 — How about submitting the damn thing?
For this, it is better to show you. There are eight ways. Most magazines will have only one method (though, on occasion, a lit mag will use two or have an email call for some special genre).
Submittable → The most common method of submitting. Over 40% of journals use this platform. It is simple to use. (Like Pigeon Pages)
Email → The second most common method for submissions. Roughly 30% of journals use this. Requires special attention to cover letters. (Like Pigeon Review)
Duosuma → Less common submission method (maybe 3-5%. Created by Duotrope. (Like Witcraft)
Submission Manager → A bare-bones submission manager developed by One Story. Not too common. Can be a bit confusing. (Like Diagram or AGNI)
Moksha → A submission manager favored by Science Fiction lit mags with no fees allowed. (Like Apex)
Oleada → A rarely used but chill and friendly manager that allows for more versatility and affordability for editors. (Like JAKE or Rejection Letters)
Google Form → Not too common but straightforward. (Like Write or Die)
Embedded Form → Rare but so damn nice when you find it. (Like Threepenny Review or Intrepidus Ink)
I made a couple of videos for the most common methods: Submittable and Email. The rest are quite straightforward. All are free. They don’t sync, though. So if you submit to one, it won’t show up in another. You’ll want to track submissions in a separate place. More on that in Lesson 7.
Submittable Tutorial:
Email Submissions Tutorial:
Discussion: Ben vs. Ben
I am going to share a piece we published in The Sub Club Newsletter by an experienced writer who makes the exact opposite argument to everything I’ve said in this lesson. Here it is → Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Cover Letters by Ben Jahn.
Now, if I agreed with him, I would not have written this entire lesson arguing against pretty much everything he says. If I thought his ideas were meritless, I wouldn’t share them. I’d rather not muddy up the discussion with some point-by-point breakdown. Instead, go give it a read. It’s short. Consider his points, consider the lesson, and share your findings. Do you agree? Disagree? Want to throw rocks at one or both of us? Have at it.
There are also 15 lit mags with quotes who care about what you put in your cover letter beneath Ben’s essay. I removed the paywall so you can explore them. What vibe did you get from those requests? Did it make you feel more or less comfortable with the idea of submitting to their lit mag?
Go take a look at the guidelines of any lit mag you’re hoping to submit to. Read through and look for mentions of cover letters. What do they say? What questions do you still have that worry you about submitting to them?
Thank you for joining! On Friday, we’ll move on to Lesson 6: What Happens After You Submit. If you’re new to this course, you can find the full breakdown and schedule in my introduction post.
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Literally anything else
In my case — treating all unknown humans like you would a mushroom you’ve found in the woods and are uncertain whether it or not it’s poisonous.
The poetry format is extremely detailed. Most of the time, having your info on the first page and then putting each poem on a new page in size 12 TNR font will be just grand.
I've read a lot of cover letters, as I read for a lit mag. Apart from the obnoxious ones where the person says something rude, or super long ones where they describe how to get to their grandma's house, they don't matter. I've seen great covers for stories that didn't make the cut, and strange or incoherent covers where the editor's name was wrong for stories that did. One thing I do like to see as a reader is readers being acknowledged. Like, "Dear Readers and Editors." These may be the same people, or there may be slush pile readers and editors... When I submit, I don't like to name editors, because they change. The only time I will name someone is when it's a contest and I know the judge's name, then it's readers+editors+judge. If the story has something specific, like a real-life news item or lived experience that influenced/informed it, I include that sometimes. (I published a flash piece that was inspired by an unfortunate real event where 18,000 cows died in a fire, for example. So I included that in the cover letter.) I also write with "wrong" English on purpose sometimes, so I'll mention that in the cover letter, just as a heads up (I worry they will think I forgot to spell check.) So anything like that, I'd flag in the cover letter. Not what the story is about, but anything that informed the story or about the writing style that can be misunderstood at first glance. Content warnings are nice, but not for me the reader to watch out, but for me the reader to see what the person thinks is worth warning about (tells me more about the author). I like to include my gratitude for anyone taking any time to read my pages. I feel like some of this (what I'm saying here and what others have said/written on the subject, and how it "works") is gatekeeping, like "do these things to prove to us you know what you're doing." So I think all of this can go out the window. Two rules for cover letter: Just don't be rude. And don't lie. Two rules for bio: Be brief. And don't lie.
While the information he presented was interesting (Lits that actually like cover letters), it adds to the work of submitting which I struggle over anyway just “selecting” the poems that I think fit, thus increasing the cramp in my neck when I finally hit send. However, if the Lit asks for a little more info, I’ll do it because I’m a “follow directions” freak.