Staying out of the slush pile: Cover / submission letter hints

I've been going through submissions to both Fish Creek Press and Wolf Willow Journal this morning in anticipation of doing a bit of reading over the weekend.  If you're like me, you've done a bit of reading about covering letters, synopses, and the like before submitting your work.  Or maybe you've ignored convention altogether.  Regardless, I'm quickly beginning to see why some work doesn't get read, and a lot of it has to do with covering letters.

Just like a job application, for many editors and presses, the cover letter (or email) is the first thing we read.  In a job application, the purpose of the cover letter is to get your resume read.  In publishing, there's little difference, because your cover letter's entire purpose is to get us to read the first page of your submission.  So please, put a bit of effort into it.

Personally, I don't particularly care what your publishing credentials are, what you've published, where it's been published.  These are nice to know, but because I'm an editor by trade, I'm not even as concerned with polish as some other editors and publishers might be.  What I am looking for, however, is a spark of *something* that I just can't define, that little *pop* that makes me want to know more about your character / topic / whatever.  Without that, a work falls flat and, as an editor, there's only so much I can do, which is why a slightly rough manuscript with verve has a far better chance, at least with me, than a perfectly polished one that's lifeless.

I'm digressing a bit, but it's because I'm passionate about books, about writing, and about stories, above all else.  So how does this help you write a cover letter?  Well, you'll need to make sure you've covered the basics (the who, what, why, etc.) of your submission.  Then edit your letter.  Please?  I received one the other day where the word "editors" hadn't even been spelled correctly.  Then give me a reason to keep reading.  Just as with a job application, I want to know what's in this for me as an editor, as a publisher, and most importantly as a reader.  Why should I read your manuscript?  What's there that I won't find anywhere else?   

Look at examples (and there's lots of those available), but make sure that yours is uniquely ... well ... yours.  Put some personality into it, and don't (heaven forbid) just copy and paste something from the Internet.  Editors do know when that happens.  Really.

Best of luck with your submissions!