Pretty simple this week — the magazine in question was just closed to submissions for a while.
No, this week’s lesson doesn’t come from the magazine; it comes from me. Note, if you will, the annoying, stilted, and perhaps even slightly officious tone of my cover letter. Good Lord, that’s terrible! I have no idea what made me think that a cover letter should sound like a Margaret Dumont character from a Marx Brothers movie, but there it is.
Even had Jabberwocky not been on hiatus at the time, I’m pretty sure my cover letter alone would have gotten me tossed on the rejection pile without so much as a glance at my story.
Your cover letter should be brief, breezy, and friendly. it’s job is to get the person reading it to put it aside and pick up your story, not think, “Who the hell is this guy?”
