First let me just differentiate between cover letters and query letters. A cover letter is one that’s included with an essay, short story, or poem to an individual journal. In other words, you don’t need to query a journal ahead of time to see if it’s okay to send your work.

So let’s review cover letters first--though they're quite similar to query letters. My advice is to keep them short and to the point. (A sample one is below.) When I read cover letters myself, as an editor, I mainly like to know the highpoints of someone's writing career. (In other words, don’t talk about hobbies, pets, anything extraneous.) But also not to worry if you don’t have many credits yet to your name. All writers start somewhere, with a first publication. And, ultimately, the work itself is what will inform the decision.

It’s always a good idea if you can find out the name of a specific editor to whom to send your work. Say you want to submit an essay to Fourth Genre; you could go online and learn that the co-editor is David Cooper. So you’d write, “Dear David Cooper.” If you absolutely can’t find the name of any of the editors, then I’d address it to the editor in the genre in which you’re submitting. For example, “Dear Poetry Editor.” Or, “Dear Fiction Editor.” Also, when submitting hard copies, always remember to include a SASE for the return of manuscript. Wherever possible, do read individual submission guidelines, most of which are now on the web.

Anyway, let me make up a query letter:

Dear David Cooper,

Please consider my essay, “Please Publish Me,” for Fourth Genre.

My essays have appeared in such journals as “_______,” “________,” and “________.” In addition, I studied writing at ___________University, where I received an MFA degree.

Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

In other words, as I say, keep it very simple! Editors and agents receive so much material.

All of the above pretty much applies to query letters. The main difference is that, in a query letter, you’d also be making a pitch for your work: You want them to invite you to submit the manuscript. Therefore, in addition to the above information, you’d include a short description of the manuscript. Keep it as succinct as possible. Usually no more than a paragraph.

Mainly, if it’s nonfiction, describe the subject matter.

For example, with my first memoir, I’d say something like: “My memoir, 'Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You,' is about growing up in my incestuous family. I explore how, on the surface, my family seemed perfect. However, this appearance of normalcy was a façade, a mask that hid what my father did to me at night, when we were alone.”

Or, in the second memoir, I’d say something like, “Love Sick is structured around the twenty-eight days I spent in a rehab facility recovering from a sexual addiction and an eating disorder. However, as an addict, I led a double life, so I also detail the acting-out behaviors that led me to rehab in the first place.”

If you’re submitting a novel, then you’d want to describe the plot and the protagonist, and maybe the overall theme, in as few sentences as possible. Short but engaging, is the goal.

So, okay, I know writing these letters is daunting. But write them anyway! It's so important to get your work out there, and circulating!