Don’t labor over your cover letter when submitting to a journal or magazine! I mean, of course read the publication’s guidelines, and if they’re asking for something specific, by all means provide it. But honestly, the best cover letter is the simplest cover letter. If you address your submission to the editor by name, great. “Dear Editor” works too. Every editor will tell you they’ve received submissions addressed to another magazine—oops! It happens, we get it. I’ve even published a couple of those submissions. It’s not cause for rejection, but try not to do it. Most editors don’t need, or want, a summary of your submission. If you have previous publications and want to mention them, lovely. If you don’t have any publications yet, it’s fine to say so. Or not. A short biographical note is nice. Should you mention something you’ve recently read in the magazine to demonstrate that you’re familiar with it? Sure, but we’re assuming you must know something about our magazine. The bottom line is that your cover letter should be brief and polite. A good cover letter obviously doesn’t ensure publication—only the manuscript itself can do that. But an unprofessional or rude cover letter (yes, we’ve actually received rude cover letters) just might earn your submission an instant “no, thank you.”
—Stephanie G’Schwind, director of the Center for Literary Publishing and editor of Colorado Review