Sunday 18 January 2009

I wonder

I've just submitted a short story - yes I know, that's 4 this month I'm on a roll - and in my covering letter I intruduced myself and said I've had work published in this and that. That started me wondering. Do you suppose Della Galton and Christina Jones have to do that?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Crickey, you're firing on all cylinders at the moment. I've barely managed to find my car keys.

I'm sure well-known writers had to introduce themselves at the beginning of their careers.

Jayne said...

I have no idea but I bet they do. It must be nice to have a long list to write in a covering letter! (Not to mention awards won! Wow!)

Well done on all your subs - you're putting me to shame! I am going to get a real wriggle on this week :)

Suzanne Ross Jones said...

Well done on that 4th submission.

:-)

Annie Wicking said...

Good luck with your submit.
I bet get my finger out I'm working on number 3 and you're on number 4. ;-)

I wonder...What about J.K. Rowlings?

Do you think she says.. I've had a small amount of success with a few of my books. My family and friend have enjoyed reading them and I'm sure you will too. ;-)

best wishes ((Hugs))

Annie

CL Taylor said...

Nope. Della told me, during one of her courses, that when she subs a story she just includes a cover note with the number of words, her address and F.B.S.R.O. (First British Serial Rights Offered). I think once you've been accepted by a magazine once you don't need to introduce yourself again so now I do the same for Take a Break and My Weekly.

Colette McCormick said...

Glad you found your car keys Captain.
Good luck with your wriggle Mummy.
Thanks Suzanne.
Good luck with what you've subbed Annie. I love the idea of JKR covering letter.
That's good to know Calistro. It must be a good place to be.

Ayr Writers' Club said...

I used to detail every publication success in a covering letter.

Over the last year I've submitted mainly by e-mail and I've only included the bare necessities. If I'm sending a story to an Aussie mag and it has already been published in this country I will say but I don't list all mags I've been published in.

I can't remember where I heard/read (or maybe made up)this but ...
it doesn't matter what you've done in the past, it's the story you're submitting now that counts. If it's good enough to be accepted it will be, if not, it won't.

Maybe I'm missing out on sales by doing this, I don't know.(I may start adding a list from now on!)

Colette McCormick said...

I don't list each individual thing that I've had published, I usually leave it at "I've had stories published in magazines and books in Britain and Australia" or something similar.
It makes sense that it's the story submitted is what's important so I'm sure you didn't make it up Sky Blue.

Tim Atkinson said...

Poor old Barbara Pym suddenly found her publisher - who knew full well what she'd achieved, because they'd helped her do it - dropping her like a stone towards the end of her career. It was Philip Larkin who helped her get back into print, so maybe it's not what you've done but who you know?
Tim
http://writingtherapyblog.blogspot.com/

Tim Atkinson said...

Poor old Barbara Pym suddenly found her publisher - who knew full well what she'd achieved, because they'd helped her do it - dropping her like a stone towards the end of her career. It was Philip Larkin who helped her get back into print, so maybe it's not what you've done but who you know?
Tim
http://writingtherapyblog.blogspot.com/

Ayr Writers' Club said...

I'm just back from my writing group meeting where we had a successful short story writer giving a talk.

She says she has a footer on her covering letter. In small print it says, 'published in ...' then lists the various magazines. It's discreet but gets the message across.

I might start doing something like this myself.(I have a horrible feeling that I only stopped doing it because I hadn't sent out anything for ages and forgot I used to do it.)

Anyway, good luck with all your submissions.

Colette McCormick said...

Isn't life about who you know Tim? Maybe I just don't know the right people.
The footer at the bottom of a covering letter sounds like a good idea. i might try that.