Whenever you contact a publisher with hopes of selling your work, a letter will be involved. There are cover letters, which accompany a manuscript to the publisher. There are query letters, which go to publishers when they will not accept a manuscript or when you want to get a feel for their interest before sending the manuscript. Some things will be found in both of these and some things are unique to the letter. To know how to approach a cover letter or query letter. It helps to think about their purpose.

COVER LETTER

Cover letters are all about manners. They signal the difference between thrusting a manuscript into an editor’s face with a curt, “Here!” and have a pleasant meeting about the manuscript before handing it over. Editors have said that they find the lack of a cover letter to be rude.

So, since a cover letter is primarily a courtesy, what does it need to do? It needs to identify the manuscript briefly and give any information the editor will need to know going into the manuscript. Here’s a quiz, which of these do you think should go into your cover letter?

A. A complete plot synopsis for the manuscript.
B. A short teaser that identifies the basic facts about the story or manuscript.

A. A history of why you wrote the manuscript, including what inspired it and why you think kids need to read it.
B. A line or two about yourself if you experience makes you an expert on some aspect of the story or article.

A. Notice that this is the first thing you’ve ever written, or that it’s something you crafted for a writing class. B. A line about the publisher showing you’ve put some thought into the market match before sending the manuscript.

The answer is…
B, every time.

Cover letters don’t need to tell the full plot of the story or the full scope of the article, but they should let the editor know what kind of manuscript lies under that letter, and should do this in an engaging way. For example, there could be “teaser” introduction to stories or article. Here’s one for an informational article:

In North America, one caterpillar doesn’t nibble leaves and shoots. Instead, he sucks the body fluids out of small insects and then wears their fluffy corpses as camouflage. Cricket readers will love meeting this tiny vampire and learning about his unique life cycle.

What did that do? It caught the editor’s attention and made her/him want to read the piece. It mentioned the publisher’s name (they love it when you mention their magazine or their company.) So, how would the teaser intro work for a story? Maybe something like this:

When Bear runs out of honey just before the monthly meeting of the Books and Tea club, he begins a series of outrageous trades to get the treats he needs for his guests.

What did that do? It introduced the main character, the problem, and what the character will do to solve his problem – all in one sentence. It makes us wonder just what these outrageous trades will be, and it implies a level of humor that’s always appealing to young readers.

There is one really important thing these little introductions to the piece do – they make them sound like fun. Always remember, if the reading isn’t fun, kids probably won’t do it. So even if you think your article or story teaches the best lessons in the world, focus on the fun if you want to make the sale.

Your cover letter will be super short – one good sized paragraph that introduces the piece in an appealing way (sentence 1). Gives its relevant statistics (length, genre or article type and why it fits the publisher in the second sentence.) And mentions anything the editor really needs to know (that you’re an expert on entomology for the bug article or that you experienced an avalanche just like the character in the story. (sentence three…if needed)

QUERY LETTER

The query letter has a tougher job. It must be polite and engaging and it has to let the editor know exactly what you’re offering in a way that (1) convinces the editor that the manuscript you’re going to send works and (2) leaves the tiniest bit of curiosity in the editor. Query letters can fail based on any of these points.

A rote list is not engaging. Instance that the young reader needs the lesson you’re wanting to send doesn’t show the editor that the young reader will want to read the piece. Vague focus on theme and abstractions won’t let the editor know what you’re actually offering.

Let’s look back at the butterfly article. If you were sending a query letter, you want the piece to sound engaging but you also want to show what the article will contain. This might work as a query letter for that article:

In North America, one caterpillar doesn’t nibble leaves and shoots. Instead, the Harverster caterpiller sucks the body fluids out of wooly aphids and then wears their fluffy corpses as camouflage.

The article I am proposing “Carnivorous Caterpillers,” will introduce Cricket readers to the benefits and dangers of the unique lifestyle of this unexpected predator. The tiny Harvester caterpillar benefits from this high protein diet by rapid growth and fewer molts, but being a predator puts the caterpillar in peril as well. The ants that protect wooly aphids (because the ants benefit from the aphid’s “honeydew” secretions) will attack and kill anything that threatens these aphids.

The article will also look at how this unusual caterpillars grows into a unique butterfly and describe the Harvester “monkeyface” chrysalis and the unique diet of the adult butterfly, one that doesn’t include flower nectar! Sources for this article have included both interviews with a researcher working with these butterflies, and information from books and magazines about Harvesters.

Do you see the difference? This is a much longer letter because I need to let the editor know the scope of the article, why kids will like it, and why they can trust my information to be accurate. Each of those points must be covered in a query letter for nonfiction or the editor cannot be sure of whether he/she wants the article.

In a fiction query letter, you’re job is much like the short blurb from the cover letter. You’re going to introduce the main character, plot problem, and what the main character will do about it. And you’re going to do it in a way that sounds interesting a lively. A query for a picture book or short story will naturally be shorter than one for a novel because it’s going to take longer to give an editor a sense of what the character is going to do about the plot problem.

For example:

When Elizabeth and her ragdoll Meredith go on safari through the sunflowers, they discover a real live lion! Elizabeth decides to keep him; now all she has to do is teach him a few manners. After catastrophe in the kitchen, a brouhaha in the bathroom, and an unfortunate meeting with her mother, Elizabeth begins to suspect lions simply don’t make good house pets.

That’s really all the plot I would give for a picture book because I want to leave the editor wondering…and it’s easy to overtell in a picture book. But this blurb introduces the main character (Elizabeth) and the story problem (she wants to socialize a lion so she can keep him) and the results (catastrophe). It hints at change in Elizabeth but leaves the final revelation untold…something needs to be left for curiosity.

A novel query would have more explanation:

Carter just wanted to make a few dollars so he could replace his cell phone. But when he takes a job with his crazy inventor uncle and his super smart cousin, he’s soon testing out a new virtual reality suit that his uncle believes will revolutionize the way people experience books.

The suit brings a story to life and drops the user right into the action. But Carter soon finds his uncle’s invention is making classic novels a little too real. After a hacker reprograms part of his uncle’s system, Carter ends up in a sword fight with D’Artagnon and then down a rabbit hole with Alice where the March Hare has razor sharp steel teeth and a taste for more than tea. Carter has to find the clues to the hacker’s identity without losing his head.

This is actually a pretty short novel without a lot of subplots so the query for it wasn’t overly long. It’s basically an action-adventure in a science fiction setting so the description needed to focus on the action and the sense of pressure on Carter to make it through the story plot – facing challenges all along.

Now, every query will also have an “info” line that tells exactly what the piece on offer will be:

At just under 1000-words, “Carnivorous Caterpillars” is an informational article similar in structure to “Past Article,” which from the March 2008 issue of Cricket Magazine. Can I send you “Carnivorous Caterpillars” and the source materials?

This shows why the article fits the magazine (It’s structured like an article I found in a previous issue and mentioned in the query. That tells the editor that I have read the magazine, I know the kinds of things they like, and how my thing will be structured so the editor can imagine it on the page.)

For the picture book, the informational line would be: LION IN THE GARDEN has the kind of determined quirky main character and lively action that I’ve seen in several PUBLISHER books. The manuscript presently runs 800 words. May I send it to you?

And for the novel:

At 20,000 words, “Virtual Unreality” is complete and ready to send. It has the fast-pace and strong reluctant reader pull of many of PUBLISHER’s shorter tween novels, and reflects the request for boy action novels that I recently saw in your blog.

This shows novel length, that it’s complete and ready to send, and that it fits the publisher for specific reasons. They really like it if you pay attention to what they put out there specifically to help writers send them the right stuff.

YOUR MISSION

Whether crafting a cover letter or a query letter, the number one thing you can do is to be clear and engaging. Focusing on lessons or on what you thought about as you wrote it or on all the people who’ve read the story only muddies the waters for the editor and thus lessens your chance for a sale. Editors are looking for writing that engages the reader because those are the kinds of stories and articles and books that get read. Editors know that the more time you’ve spent in studying their needs and desires, the more likely it is that your book or article or story is actually a good match for them. Keep those things in mind, and you’ll find your letters help pave the way to publication instead of creating one more challenge to overcome.