Some weeks ago I attended a writing get together where James was guesting, and picked up some interesting points which I’m now putting into place with my latest batch of story submissions.
The other guest was an assistant editor with Baen, and in our discussion he convinced me that I may have been too stingy in my cover letters. My philosophy has always been, the less said, the better, and so my letters contained no information about prior publications or what have you. He indicated that a publication is still tangible reassurance that you can work with the editor, and usually means that you’ve been in the biz long enough to learn a few of the rules, among other things.
I’m now thinking that the ‘what have you’ should remain deleted from the letter, but I’ll include my better publications, so long as the places I’m submitting doesn’t specify they’re not interested. I doubt it’ll make a world of difference, since it’s the story that really counts, but if it helps to grab the slush monkey’s eye for an extra 2.3 seconds, it’ll be worth the trouble.
