Or is it really a matter of just asking the intended recipient what they prefer? Maybe I’m making it too complicated?

As for agents and publishers, asking for the “right” cover letter is like asking for the “right” recipe for chili. Ain’t no such thing. What one agent thinks is perfect, another will think is overblown. Fortunately, most agents and editors will tell you what they want, if you take the time to look at their website.

But in my far from humble opinion, the real problem is that there are too many writers. Or should I say too many people writing for the wrong reasons. Somewhere along the line, some hungry professor decided to teach a creative writing class. Ever since then….

If someone is writing for the right reasons, who cares if there stuff is on Publish America or YouTube? If someone is writing something good or meaningful, what does it really matter? Because the thing is an end in itself.

If someone is simply writing to make money. Well, then they need to quit doing that, because there are as many more lucrative ways of making money as there are snake charmers in India.

Maybe ‘professional writers’ should come to grips with the fact that writing isn’t a profession and let desperate gutter snipes enjoy themselves in their lime-flavoured angst?

I’ve always felt like Preditors & Editors is a better resource for agents and publishers. Also, it is free and on-line.

When I was trying to publish my short fiction through Writer’s Market, it was a total bust. When I started using Ralans and Duotrope? Much success.

The thing about Writer’s Market is that it was very useful before the internet. Now, it is not particularly useful as anything but a doorstop for the majority of writers.

I also noticed that Writer’s Market, for a long time, was afraid of legal harrassment, and thus kept some borderline operations listed. Preditors & Editors is not afraid of hawyers. In fact, I suspect Dave K. would relish the opportunity to open the accounting books in open court for quite a few of the shady operations out there.

Also, for a long time – and I don’t know if this is still true – web-based magazines were unlisted, as well as very respectable zines. Publishing a story in Electric Velocipede, Lone Star Stories, Farrago’s Wainscot, or Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet would be a feather in your cap. I didn’t even know these places existed until I abandoned Writer’s Market.

I suspect the real value of Writer’s Market lies in the non-fiction trade magazines. I hear such relatively unexciting operations pay quite well, but have such specific needs that it can be difficult to find good content for their audience.

Anyway, that’s my take on Writer’s Market.

Cover letters for different types of submissions are different. In fact, the cover letter that particular edition was telling writers to craft was far better suited to non-fiction magazine submissions.

For short fiction, your cover letter should be something like:

Dear [editor/s],

Enclosed/Attched please find my [wordcount] story, [name of story], for consideration in your magazine. My work has been published in [list 3 or fewer publications. If you don't have prior publications, skip this part.] Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
[your name]

Seriously, that’s it. Unless the guidelines ask for more. Some want a bio, some ask that your email or physical address appear under your name. If submitting via snail mail, the cover letter should have your address and email and phone # at the top in the header. If you have professional stationary (that is not some weird color, uses some completely crazy font, or is scented) that’s fine to use for the cover letter.

This differs from the cover letter you’d send an agent, btw.

Up until now I’ve taken The Writer’s Market more or less as a bible of publishing (perhaps consequentially, I’ve never had a single piece of fiction accepted and/or published anywhere, nor have I ever been compensated in anything except cordial gratitude for any journalism I’ve done). Not to sound snippy, but if these things are not desired in a cover letter, then what is? Are there any essentials at all? Of course you study the publication itself and attempt to phrase yourself in a style befitting theirs– I’ve got quite a bit of experience doing that in my job applications to every magazine and newspaper in the tri-state area, but what to say of content, if anything?

I definitely hear you about the conflicting information thing. The talk about cover letters that reaches my ears ranges from “they’re a straight and narrow evaluation of how well a writer can follow directions and adhere to conventions,” to “bend or break every ground rule they set down in the guidelines– they’re looking for assertive iconoclasts and trend setters.”

“Big publishing houses will only publish insiders.”

This conception is born of the image of publishing as a very small niche industry where all the CEOs are old friends and chat with each other. Ergo, reputations in publishing travel extremely quickly and one can find himself firewalled out of the business after trying to push his luck. I have my doubts that any industry still alive and kicking today, especially the hyper-competitive battle royale most all publishing business inhabits, could be so insular(inbred?).

In another way, though, it’s just the nature of business. And let’s face it, just like supposedly unfettered, impartial mainstream American journalism, lit publishing is a first and foremost a business endeavor. Which proposal has a greater probability of a good return on investment: taking the dive on a new, unpublished author who cold-called your anonymous email account with a digital cover letter and manuscript, or picking up the pitch thrown to you by a published author with a pre-existing fanbase, maybe a mid-level award or two to his name and an existing relationship with one of your agents?