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ottersdaughter View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ottersdaughter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Submitting to Anthologies
    Posted: 08 Mar 2017 at 9:59am
I have a question, and I'm hoping someone here knows the answer: When you submit a story to an anthology (by email specifically), what the hell do you put in the actual email? Is it supposed to be a mini cover letter? Just your name? A complete genealogy? Help?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Mar 2017 at 11:54am
When I've submitted, the anthology website provided fairly detailed instructions about what needed to be included.  Some sites accept cover letters or author biographies as options. Then, the advice I've received is to make certain the cover letter or biography follows a strict, industry-recognized format.

Truthfully, I've found the whole process daunting.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tonicwater79 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Mar 2017 at 11:42pm
#truth
 
I think sometimes I worry more about the details of the Cover Letter and such more than the submissions themselves! Smile


Edited by tonicwater79 - 08 Mar 2017 at 11:43pm
"She holds the pen that spells the end, she traces me and draws me in."

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote writerman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Mar 2017 at 4:24am
a document that is your best work - read it aloud for no mistakes, typos, etc. Otherwise, don't sweat the small stuff. Seriously.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tonicwater79 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Mar 2017 at 5:36am
That is absolutely true!
 
It's an odd idea, like what difference should it make?, but it REALLY does!
 
 
"She holds the pen that spells the end, she traces me and draws me in."

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote sootfoot5 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 2017 at 12:43pm
Often it makes no difference st all. Many times they don't really want anything but your factual bio. BUT those that emphasize the request for a cover letter have an interesting need for it- they want to see if they click with you as an individual. If an anthology editor states in the call any plans to edit the writers' work, you can bet they want to know if you are a pompous jerk or not. Granted, this is just my theory, but I submitted something recently to a magazine that had specifically requested a cover letter. They are also stated that they were going to do editing of every riders work. So with my submission I stated that something to the effect I don't remember what that hey so you're going to be editing with your guess you want to know whether not you like me and I Soum says if you other smart ass but cute things I don't remember I didn't go over the line anyway I mean I was I was respectful and all that. Well they didn't take my story, but they did say it was the most interesting cover letter that they had ever read and that they certainly wanted me to submit to them again based on the cover letter! They also said that I seem to really understand the writing process and what editors did again based on the cover letter!

So, that's why I think they ask for cover letters. They just want to know if you are someone they can work with. Don't try to do what I did because I'm an old lady who doesn't give a rats ass. Just tell them in a sentence or two what inspired you to write the story, thank them for their time, address the letter to the actual name of the editor and if you don't know it, FIND OUT, and give them a bio.

I hope this info helps you. Leslie/sootfoot5. Dictated but not read

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote milesmum Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 2017 at 1:08pm
Being neck deep right now in an anthology I am editing, I certainly speak from some experience on that side of the desk.

We didn't ask specifically for a cover letter, and some folks just sent their piece with an email that said, here is my piece for your anthology. Others spoke to the reasons they were drawn to our call for submissions or the theme of the book, and others gave a standard bio, re: This is where I have published before, this is the university where I teach, etcetera.

I think cover letters do serve to introduce you as a person, so saying something personable is really helpful in terms of first impressions, and if you have credentials, that information also feeds the first impression.

As far as my experience wading through hundreds of submissions goes, people who just attached their piece with no introduction or barely an acknowledgment that a fellow human would be reading it, gave a less than favorable first impression, so I wound up opening their submission with an already not entirely favorable view of them.

Yes, what matters most is the quality and fit of the submission, but editors are human and appreciate being treated that way and if it's a toss-up between including this piece or that piece, the information in the cover letter and the impression it gave the editor may well be the deciding factor (as soot points out above).

Long story short, be friendly, be nice, and if you have any info that can shine a favorable light on you before the editor's eyes land on the work, by all means provide it (unless the call for submissions specifies not doing so, of course).




Edited by milesmum - 20 Mar 2017 at 1:11pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote writerman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 2017 at 5:04pm
Both of you last two have a good way of putting things. Helped me out for sure!

Edited by writerman - 20 Mar 2017 at 5:05pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ottersdaughter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 2017 at 9:53pm
Thank you guys, that helps so much! Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tonicwater79 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 2017 at 10:48pm
Originally posted by sootfoot5 sootfoot5 wrote:

Often it makes no difference st all. Many times they don't really want anything but your factual bio. BUT those that emphasize the request for a cover letter have an interesting need for it- they want to see if they click with you as an individual. If an anthology editor states in the call any plans to edit the writers' work, you can bet they want to know if you are a pompous jerk or not. Granted, this is just my theory, but I submitted something recently to a magazine that had specifically requested a cover letter. They are also stated that they were going to do editing of every riders work. So with my submission I stated that something to the effect I don't remember what that hey so you're going to be editing with your guess you want to know whether not you like me and I Soum says if you other smart ass but cute things I don't remember I didn't go over the line anyway I mean I was I was respectful and all that. Well they didn't take my story, but they did say it was the most interesting cover letter that they had ever read and that they certainly wanted me to submit to them again based on the cover letter! They also said that I seem to really understand the writing process and what editors did again based on the cover letter!

So, that's why I think they ask for cover letters. They just want to know if you are someone they can work with. Don't try to do what I did because I'm an old lady who doesn't give a rats ass. Just tell them in a sentence or two what inspired you to write the story, thank them for their time, address the letter to the actual name of the editor and if you don't know it, FIND OUT, and give them a bio.

I hope this info helps you. Leslie/sootfoot5. Dictated but not read

 
Awesome response! I get that you need to have a good feel for a person, especially if you're going to be working with them. Some people just are not a good fit. Personalities clash - and so can EGO's I've noticed.
 
I tend to go the humble route - I enjoy writing. And I know not everyone is going to love it, but some will. I mean, I don't enjoy everything that I read!
 
 
"She holds the pen that spells the end, she traces me and draws me in."

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