the art of the cover letter
& resources, recommendations, tweets, etc.
Happy Tuesday, all!
Here’s what I have for you today:
Housekeeping
Resources
The art of the cover letter
What I’m reading
Quotations
Tweets
Final notes
Housekeeping:
New product alert!
If you live in the U.S., you can now order a ~curated gift box~ off my website. I did these last year & had so much fun with it, so I’m bringing them back.
Here’s the description:
I will curate a box of gifts just for you—these may include a combination of books, zines, visual art, clothing, jewelry, accessories, and ephemera that I think you'd appreciate.
Please feel free to add a note to your order regarding preferences, sizes, interests, etc.
Alternately, if there's just a ~vibe~ you're going for, I'm happy to work from there, too. Do you want everything to be queer? Only female writers? Blue? Let me know.
A poem:
Just wanted to let y’all know that Maria Isabelle Carlos (iconic poet & editor!) came up with the best title (and poem idea) of all time:
Psalm for Photos on Zoë Kravitz’s Instagram and the Busted-Up Watermelon Between Her Legs that Brought Me Closer to God
Lord, if you’re up there, bless
the floral-print chiffon shirt
gathered in a sultry, tuggable knot
just below her breasts. Bless
the left one’s half-moon inner curve
jutting out between the folds
and bless her bare shoulder where
thin cloth slipped off and let light kiss
the shelf of her collarbone.
Bless the smashed watermelon
wetting the ground between her
and the camera, one chunk blurred
in the foreground and a twinned split
half nestled between her inner thighs—
her left hand inviting a finger-
sized piece toward her parted lips—Bless me, O holy whoever, for I’d give
anything to be that battered melon
in all its shattered softness,
red and pulpy and giving to wherever,
whatever she wants, if she’d have me:
I’d be the piece, pinched and lifted
toward her mouth, I’d be the half-eaten
wedge next to the arch of her foot,
I’d be the pink juice puddling
the floor beneath her smooth, perfect knee—
whoever you are, if you’re out there,
make me the hole her thumb carves
in the fruit’s fibrous flesh, make me
that sacrosanct space, let me wet,
let me woman, let me be
broken open and devoured.
Shoutouts:
Thank you to Twitter people for being so sweet to me. Grateful for the love.
Resources:
For journalism ppl:
($0.40 - $0.50 per word) Yes! Magazine | Submissions for the ‘Bodies’ issue later this winter. Check out their detailed pitch call. General guidelines here. Deadline Aug 2
The art of the cover letter:
Today, I’m offering you a chapter of my ebook Publishing Poems: An Easy Guide. Here goes!
If you've started your journey toward publishing your work, you've likely noted that most publications request a cover letter and brief biography with your submission. And, while it's true that some journals prefer anonymous submissions—that is, only look at the poems, without any biographical context—most journals do read your cover letter and bio. And, believe it or not, a well-constructed cover letter can go a long way re: getting published.
Here’s why a strong cover letter & bio are important: These serve as an introduction to you and your work—editors usually see these before your actual writing—and this cover letter will either pique their interest or, to be frank, irritate them.
I’ll offer three different examples of cover letters:
a bad one
a neutral/generic one
a personalized/specific one
Here’s what a bad cover letter might look like:
Dear Mr. Desbry Borutis,
Heres a poem I wrote last week. i hope you like it .
BIO:
Jane Doe is a fan of iced coffee , cats, cacti, and unicorns. She loves you and thinks you’re beautiful! Follow her on Instagram @janedoe, Twitter @itsdoe, Soundcloud @DJ-JD, and at insearchofu.com.
Thank you, sir!
-Jane
Let’s look at what went wrong here:
I am not a man.
My name is misspelled.
Grammar errors / perceived sloppiness.
An unprofessional bio with irrelevant information.
Again: I am not a man.
The generic cover letter is a lot stronger.
This type of letter is useful if
you’re submitting your work to a wide array of journals.
you aren’t well-acquainted with that journal and don’t have the time/energy to search for specifics.
Here’s how the generic cover letter might look:
Dear Editor,
Enclosed are five poems for your consideration.
Here’s a short bio:
Jane Doe’s poems have been published in The Paris Review, Ploughshares, AGNI, and elsewhere. She serves as Poetry Editor of The Southern Review and is a professor at Rice University.
Thank you so much for your time.
-Jane
This cover letter is perfectly respectable—it’s professional and respectful, and it doesn’t require any research of the journal itself. It’s simple & pithy & you can use it for any submission. Voila.
Finally, there’s the personalized/specific cover letter.
This cover letter is useful if you want your submission to stand out and to ensure that the editor/reader gives your work their full attention before making a decision re: publication.
Pro-tip:
If you’re *paying* for submissions (that is: submitting to journals that charge you a reading fee), this is the cover letter to use to maximize your chances of publication.
Here’s how the personalized cover letter might look:
Dear Despy Boutris,
Enclosed are five poems for your consideration. I recently discovered The West Review and love what you publish—I particularly enjoyed Katey Linskey’s “Sprinting on Sprained Ankles” in Issue 8, which inspired me to submit some of my own work for your consideration. I hope that one of these poems might fit in with a forthcoming issue.
Here’s a short bio:
Jane Doe’s poems have been published in The Paris Review, Ploughshares, AGNI, and elsewhere. She serves as Poetry Editor of The Southern Review and is a professor at Rice University.
Thank you so much for your time.
-Jane Doe
Why this cover letter is effective:
Like the generic cover letter, this one is simple, short, professional, and respectful.
It’s personable and shows a genuine interest in the publication.
In summary:
A cover letter should
be short & sweet
be polite
be professional
A cover letter should not
misspell the editor’s name
misgender them
be excessively verbose
offer irrelevant information
What I’m reading:
“How Lesbian Artists Reclaim the Body in a World That Reduces Them to Sex,” Marissa Higgins
Unbearable Splendor, Sun Yung Shin
Madder, Marco Wilkinson
Quotations:
My voice goes husky as I say your name.
the tulips bloom & i am
reminded how easy it is
to fill a bed. how easy
to make your own food,
to photo-synthesize, to un-
synthesize as if we had
never been together at all.
soon i forget the smell
of highway from your
passenger seat, teach
myself to drive stick, call
my own name with teeth
bared, the shape of bulbs.
The poem is a room I build, hoping she
might stay. Or the poem is the door, is the wizened
oval table, is the creamy-colored curtain shifting
in the room’s singular window. I can never
get it right.
-Maria Isabelle Carlos, “Elegizing”
Here is a column of matter that without memory,
nor ears, nor eyes, opens its green cells
to the beck and call of springbirds as pupils to light.
I need no conscience to bloom.
-Thalia Trinidad, “In January, Deep”
When I was young the river was just / the river.
-Jackson Holbert, “Unsent Letter to Jakob”
Today’s mood is an unreliable blue.
-Heather Myers, “Lottery”
Bullfrog caught in a mower black-red. Driveway
chalk gray-red. Tire-tracked doe red-red.
Under a sycamore my throat whirls from pity to
nausea. The suburban sky does nothing, sees less.
Another small chest deflates at the edge of my vision
before gas tank heaves & gut tries to follow.
-Sarah Ghazal Ali, “Elegy with New England Roadkill”
I have a thousand valleys inside me.
Descent upon descent.
-Sun Yung Shin
I feel myself from a young age to be all bear, no god.
-Sun Yung Shin
Tweets:
Final notes:
If you purchase any physical product(s) from my store this week, I’ll send you a free gift.
& stay healthy, sane, & keep looking out for each other—