Published Authors - cover letter advice?

Factual Questions
1

I’m not positive I’m putting this in the right forum - I think my questions have factual answers but I apologize if it should have gone somewhere else.

I’ve written a children’s story (ages 5-8) and want to submit it to a publisher.
I’ve edited, edited, edited, rewritten, rewritten, and rewritten. I submitted it to a couple of critiquing groups I belonged to, and edited, edited, edited, rewritten, rewritten, and rewritten again.

I’ve researched in depth what’s being published these days, and the various Canadian publishers and what they publish. I’ve attended a couple of open industry seminars and workshops, I got a package from a Canadian children’s book organization with tips on submissions, and I have the addresses, contact names, and specific submission guidelines for the various publishers that I think would be appropriate. I’m not planning on doing multiple submissions.

So, I am now struggling with my cover letter. I’ve seen some sample cover letters in a few books and websites, but still have some questions:

  1. I know you should give an outline of the story in the letter, but how much of the story should be told in the cover letter? Should you “give away” the ending? Or should it be more like the teaser on the back of a book?
  2. I understand that it is a good idea to state why you have chosen a particular publisher. I have chosen the ones I chose because they currently publish books with similar styles to my own story… why else would someone select a certain publisher? Any tips on how to word that part?
  3. I read that it’s best to let them know that if you haven’t heard from them in a certain period of time you will be submitting it to other publishers. I can’t figure out how to word that without it sounding sort of like a threat of sorts. “Please note, if I have not received a response from you within 6 months, I will be submitting my manuscript to other publishers”. I don’t know, it sounds like a cocky ultimatum to me – answer me or else!
  4. I know too that my cover letter should SELL! my story, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do that without sounding naïve and cocky, like I think my story’s gonna be the best thing they’ve read all year (I mean, it will be, but I want to appear humble, of course. ;))
  5. What size envelope should I send it all in, or does it matter?

Any help anyone can give me would be greatly, greatly appreciated!

2

You’ll definitely be getting a mix of fact and opinion in the responses, but we’ll leave that up to the moderators. Just for the record, I’ve written eleven books (eight published already, three scheduled for next winter/spring). Six of the eleven are children’s books in a series, and only the first of the six required a proposal and cover letter.

  1. Don’t hold anything back. Explain the story and the hooks. If there’s a surprise twist in the ending, tell it. This isn’t a teaser.

  2. There are a lot of reasons to choose a particular publisher. You’ve heard good things about them from their other authors. You like their layout style. They have great marketing. They’re local. The fact that they publish other books like yours isn’t the only possibility, and you should definitely state it. Try something like this: “I’m contacting you because I think (title of your book) would fit well with your current titles, and would sell well alongside (sample titles of theirs).”

  3. Threats are bad. Don’t do it.

  4. Don’t tell them how much they’ll like it, how much the readers will like it, or how many will sell. That’s for them to figure out. Pitch the story on its own merits. Avoid fluffy adjectives (e.g., “this poignant story tells the uplifting tale of…”). Do the hard sell with facts, like: “This book will ride the current wombat craze. Fourteen different wombat books have hit the New York Times children’s bestseller list this year, and this one carves a new niche in that market.” You don’t want your book to look like a “me-too,” so explain why it’s different from their other books and the current bestsellers.

  5. I don’t think it matters much, but I like to send my proposals flat rather than folded, so I generally use a 9x12 manilla clasp envelope.

As an aside, you didn’t mention whether the story is illustrated. This is an important point. If it is, and you already have illustrations, tell them in the cover letter who owns the rights and whether an additional person would need to be paid for it. If it is, and you don’t have illustrations yet, then explain whether you have detailed illustration notes. Don’t expect them to use any illustrator you suggest, but do tell them if you have a couple of possibilities lined up. In my case, the publisher asked me to suggest some names. They talked to those people and their regular stable of illustrators. They sent me a couple of portfolios and asked which one I liked best. As I understand it, I was pretty lucky to get that much input.

Good luck!

3

Here’s a good breakdown on what should be covered in a cover letter and why. Lynn has really good advice, much of it directly pertinent to your questions.

On your specific questions, the world of children’s books is different from all others, so it’s a bit tricky trying to give advice culled from other forms of publishing.

The easy stuff first. I don’t understand the advice about telling the publisher why you’re submitting to them. Unless they are extremely specialized and so is your manuscript I wouldn’t do this. The unspoken assumption is always that you’ve done your homework and are submitting because they are a proper fit for your story. As for 3), just state: This is not a simultaneous submission. They know what that means as well as you do. No ultimatums or time limits. They’re busier than you think they are.

Most children’s publishers will accept unsolicited manuscripts, but some state they only want a query letter and a sample. If you’re sending the complete manuscript, don’t say very much in the cover letter. If you’re only sending a sample then you have to figure out a way of saying that your story is great and exciting and wonderful without using the actual words. Think of it as a writing exercise. Unless the ending is somehow staggering and life-changing, don’t bother including it. If you’re only sending a letter with no way to judge the quality of your work, you’ll probably get rejected. What are you giving the editor to go on?

Use a full-sized envelope. Why should the editor read wrinkled, folded pages? Of course, include a SASE and also an e-mail address.

On preview, I see that most of what I say is consistent with InvisibleWombat. As for inconsistencies, well, use you best judgement. the publishing world isn’t a monolith.

4

Published author here.

First rule: Don’t struggle with the cover letters. Editors rarely buy them. (One editor I know said the only reason for the cover letter was to put it into a file when they bought the story so they had your address.) Just write a professional letter giving relevant information.

Not one word of it. Never put *anything * about the story (other than the title) in the cover letter. You can talk in general terms (“This is a fantasy novel set in Medieval Iceland. It runs 100,000 words.”), but do not talk at all about the story. It will most likely shortchange the book and will give the editor an immediate reason to not read any further. The story comes from the outline and sample chapters, not the cover letter.

That should be fine – but you don’t have to bother stating that. It’s not going to make any difference.

This is an option, but you don’t need to include it. What you wrote is fine if you want to. Be sure, however, that the time limit is not shorter than their published response time.

No. Your story sells the story. You cover letter has nothing to do with it. I know people who write two-line cover letters and sell (“Here’s a story for you. I hope you’ll like.”). For a novel, the best format is:

  1. A one-sentence opening paragraph that indicates you’re making a submission. (“I’m sending you my horror novel, Furious for your consideration.”)
  2. A paragraph giving any relevant biographical details. By relevant, I mean any previous publications of the same sort of work. Don’t include nonfiction if you’ve sold fiction. If you have no credits, then leave this out.
  3. Any special information (e.g., needs illustrations; an expansion of a previously published story; any issues about the rights).
  4. A one-sentence paragraph thanking the editor for her time.

Don’t summarize. Don’t try to sell the book. Don’t tell the editor why this book will sell (they know better than you do whether it will or not).

Whatever you can fit the letter, the summary, and the first three chapters into without folding. Include a #10 SASE for a reply – they’ll send their note and assume the manuscript is disposable (most are these days). The reply envelope should have the proper postage to reach you.

5

Sounds like we might need a little clarification here. It sounds like RealityChuck and I are giving exactly the opposite advice, but I don’t think we are.

For example, I said to include a full summary of the story, where RealityChuck said (in bold!) not to include one word of it. Note that RealityChuck is a novelist. He sends in complete manuscripts. I write primarily nonfiction, and I don’t write the book until I’ve already made the sale and received the advance. Even if you’re enclosing the whole thing, I believe that a lot of busy editors won’t read a long unsolicited manuscript without having enough of a summary to know whether it suits their current interests. That may be different for a short children’s book. I sold mine using a proposal, not a finished manuscript, so the summary was mandatory in my case.

I disagree with what RealityChuck said about not selling the story. If you look at the submission guidelines for children’s book publishers, you will often see a required section describing marketing ideas and comparisons to existing books. Yes, his advice may be good for novels (I wouldn’t know, as I’ve never published a novel), but it’s definitely not for publishing in general.

6

Thanks a lot for all the advice, guys!
I really appreciate it.

7

There is definitely a difference between fiction and nonfiction. My advice was indeed, for fiction.

With nonfiction, you can often sell the concept with just a cover letter, but any form of fiction requires the actual manuscript.

8

So far, I’ve never been able to get away with just a cover letter. It always seems to take a full proposal, unless I know the publisher very well. On one book I’m pitching right now, the publisher wants a proposal, detailed table of contents, and two sample chapters.

I haven’t done fiction before, so I’m curious why you said you had to have the full manuscript, but you’d only send in the first three chapters.

9

I forgot to mention, RealityChuck, that I’ve noticed your signature line in other threads, and I like it. When did you first start calling yourself a writer? I’ve been telling people that “I write” since the first time someone actually paid me for writing something (a magazine article 21 years ago), but I didn’t actually start introducing myself as a writer until last year, when it became my primary source of income.

10

As an aside and total highjack (sorry elret hope it is useful info to you too) since we have *the authors * involved :

Any advice on when to submit directly to an editor and when to (try to) use an agent?

11

I’ve never used an agent before, jimmmy, but I’m looking for one now. The reason I didn’t need an agent for my previous work is that I had an “in” with each of the publishers. In one case, it was a trade association press that had sold almost 1,000 copies of one of my self-published books. In another, it was a historical society where I know most of the key people. The kids book series came about because I knew one of the sales reps pretty well, and my latest book happened because I’m an expert in the field, so I could send a pretty compelling proposal. Even so, it got rejected by the first publisher I sent it to.

Now, I’m looking at writing a couple of books in a field where I’m not known and I have no contacts. I’ll need an agent for those, I fear.

12

It it next to impossible today to get a manuscript or even a proposal looked at without an agent.

Now for the caveats.

Children’s books are a different field. Many publishers there do say that they will look at unsolicited submissions. I forgot to add earlier that Elret should take a look at the Society for Children’s Books Writers & Illustrators site. Most of the good stuff there is for members only, but you don’t have to be a published author in order to join. You also get their Bulletin, which has updated information about the field, including publishers.

For the rest of the world, there’s a big split. Not between fiction and nonfiction, but between large New York publishers and smaller presses around the countries.

For a large New York publisher you almost have to have an agent. Editors are overwhelmed with manuscripts and they want a filter to vet them before they come in. Getting an agent isn’t all that difficult: I’ve had three. Each has sold at least one book for me. At the same time, each has been a problem in some ways. I mostly write nonfiction, so I got each agent by sending out a full proposal - outline, chapter, and all the other apparatus - and seeing who was interested. Somebody always was. OTOH, I write what I am told are very good proposals.

I know that my agent will get me a personal look from an editor. No guarantees, though. I’ve also received many, many rejections, even for books that later sold.

A few people still report success without an agent. Some genre publishers will look at unsolicited manuscripts, and occasionally a new “literary” author is discovered that way. But this is getting rarer. Once you have sold some books and have a reputation, it may become easier to work directly with editors you’ve come to know, but this isn’t an option for a first-timer.

Dozens, if not hundreds, of smaller regional presses has sprung up around the country because of the consolidation of New York publishers into fewer imprints. These are not the same as the Internet “we’ll publish anything you send us” scum. These are legitimate and often very high quality publishers that only publish a few books a year. Many of these will look at unagented manuscripts and proposals. The downside is that it’s harder to know who is the right match for you and the fact that they only publish a few books makes them just as hard to crack.

There are simply too many people wanting to sell too many books. Getting responses - even with an agent - takes longer and longer. Without an agent you can expect to have to wait literally years. This is true even for people working directly with editors who have already published them. One friend is on his fourth year. I’m over two with an editor who asked to see a proposal. I’m sure Chuck can tell you horror stories similar to mine. The field is rampant with them.

Yet hundreds or thousands of new authors get published every year. As with all things, the people with both the most talent and the most drive will win out.

13

Check really carefully that a particular publisher does accept unsolicited manuscripts and unagented works. Most children’s publishers don’t.

Getting an agent can be harder than getting a publisher. In general it’s unlikely that an unpublished author would get an agent so if you’re just starting out, I’d target the publishers who do accept unagented and unsolicited manuscripts. Once a publisher has offered a contract, then it might be easier to get an agent. I don’t know if I’d go that route but I’d definitely go that route if I were not confident about contracts and negotiations.

We’ve never sweated the cover letter. The usual submission would be a brief cover letter with a bibliography, a synopsis and either the whole ms or a chapter depending on what the publisher says they want. We do multiple submissions and don’t mention it (probably not a good thing to do if you’re just starting out). We never put a timelimit on how long they can hold the ms but we do submit elsewhere and if we remember we do send polite nagging followup letters and emails.

We’ve got a US agent. AFAICS, she’s hopeless.

14

Those small regional presses are a great way to go! Of my last two books, one was with one of the big houses (a London-owned publisher with a big Boston office) and the other was with a small regional publisher in the midwest.

They paid about the same advances. The big publisher pays royalties every six months, and I get them about three months after the end of the payment period. The small publisher pays royalties monthly, and I get my checks about 10 days after the end of the period.

They both required full proposals. The small publisher had approval to me within two weeks, and a check for the advance ten days after that. The big publisher took months to approve the deal, run a peer review, negotiate the contracts, and cut the advance check.

On the other hand, the small publisher assigned me an editor. The big one assigned an editor, a copyeditor, a proofreader, and a marketing coordinator.

Granted, the small publisher was publishing a children’s book and the big publisher was handling a major technical reference work, but you get the idea…

And I share Exapno Mapcase’s feelings on the Internet vanity publishers. I’ve known quite a few authors that have gotten ripped off, and the quality of most of those books is very poor. No editing, no proofreading, no marketing, cheap cover stock that curls, cheap paper, reduced discounts to the bookstores, and inflated prices. End result, you pay them to publish your book, and you’re lucky to sell any except to your mother.

Take the time and effort to find a real publisher. It’s well worth it.