Submitting to Literary Agents: Your Covering Letter

Writing.ie | Resources | Getting Published | Submission Tips

Ann Field

17 September 2014

Back in November last year, as part of the Writers Web TV online workshop Getting Published, viewers were invited to submit their covering letter to be critiqued by Inkwell and Writing.ie’s Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin. This is a service offered through Inkwell’s Agent Submission Assessment package, and Ann Field was one of the writers whose letter was critiqued. Now ready to submit to publishers, Ann was in touch with writing.ie to outline some of the tips she picked up and to show you the results. She says:

“Looking back on it I can see so many mistakes. The main thing, believe it or not, is that I didn’t think it should be in the form of a letter. That sounds so silly but I thought the email was the letter and everything else was an attachment. I felt that all the contact details were contained in the email and was afraid they may think I was duplicating information.

My next mistake was believing the editor would like to know about me and my dog etc. Now I realise it was a writing biography they were after, and not my life story.

I also took Vanessa’s next piece of advice and put the paragraph about the novel first, followed by any writing accomplishments. (unless they asked otherwise)

I remember her mentioning about publishers asking for ‘influences’ and I always recall her advice not to say ‘I am the new Jeffrey Archer’.

Another piece of wisdom she had was in regard to ‘sayings’ which don’t travel. I had written ‘the craic was ninety’ and as she pointed out, that would not have the same meaning in other countries, and might not be understood by for instance, an agent in the UK.

My cover letter was quite short, as was my synopsis, so I cheekily added it as well. Vanessa took the the time to review both. It definitely required an overhaul.

I discovered that I should tell the whole story in the synopsis, the ending included. My take on a synopsis was basically a blurb. I now have it tidily into just under the 500 words limit for one agent I’m planning to submit to.

Below is the original cover letter and synopsis I sent to Vanessa to critique. She had the patience of a saint to give such helpful, productive and incisive feedback when my efforts were so poor. Just last Sunday, I approached three publishers and have included the revised cover letter I sent to them. There is quite an improvement.

Old version

Cover Letter

My name is Ann Field, married to Terry and we have three grown up children with only one living at home. Originally from Dublin and now living in Leixlip, County Kildare along with our West Highland terrier, called Bonnie who follows me everywhere. I have had two short stories published in Woman’s Way magazine this year and have a poem due for publication in January, 2014 in Boyne Berries.

The novel has three Irish girls on holiday in Spain who unknowingly bring a religious artefact home to Dublin. They are followed by Spanish criminals who want it back. The novel has a tongue-in-cheek attitude, giving the reader an insight into a sadistic mind, an egotistic businessman and a detective who has to think on his feet. I hope the humour lightens the torture.

Undeclared : A Synopsis

Claire and her two friends arrive home to Dublin after a week long holiday on the Costa del Sol, unaware that an undeclared item has travelled with them. With boyfriends arriving to varying welcomes, the girls’ don’t realise their troubles are just beginning.

Spanish criminal Snr. Aldo Santana, known to his enemies as ‘El Toro’ is angry that events have not gone according to his carefully laid out plan. He sends his trusted friend, the sadistic Eduardo Campano to locate the missing Mary Magdalene bowl. However, Ireland is not kind to Eduardo who finds the people are nosey, the roads are bad and he can’t catch a break as he is thwarted at every turn. Aldo Santana travels to Dublin to ensure his pre-arranged sale with an Irish businessman goes through.

Self-made man, Denis De Brun is trapped in a loveless marriage. He would do anything for his arthritic mother and she wants this artefact. Well known to the Irish public, he courts the media to poke fun at the Irish police force, An Garda Síochána.

Revised Version

Title: HIDDEN Address

Word Count: 83,146

Genre: Crime Fiction Email: newwriter@gmail.com

Twitter: @newwriter

Dear Editor,

HIDDEN sees three Irish girls return from a Spanish holiday, unwittingly bringing a valuable religious artefact home with them. Pursued by Spanish criminals, who will stop at nothing to retrieve the stolen Mary Magdalene relic, this novel features a sadistic killer, an egotistic Irish executive and a detective whose job is on the line.

HIDDEN is my debut novel beginning on the Costa del Sol in Spain. It quickly moves to a police station in Dublin and the parts of Kildare I am familiar with, notably Celbridge and Maynooth. The idea for the novel originated with documentaries and films about the Holy Grail. I find Mary Magdalene intriguing, always perceived as an outcast; I wonder what happened to the vessel she used.

My name is Ann Field and I am originally from Dublin. I have belonged to a Creative Writing group in Leixslip for two years. I have had two short stories published in Woman’s Way magazine, ‘Time for a Date’ in January 2013 and ‘Battle of Wounded Knee’ in July 2013. Another short story, ‘Blue Curacao’ appeared in the inaugural edition of ‘The Incubator Journal’ launched in Belfast on June 8^th this year. I have a poem due for publication in September 2014, called ‘Shooting Stars’.

Currently, I am writing a follow-on novel to HIDDEN featuring the same detective, which I hope to turn into a series of crime books set in Ireland.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

AF Field

About the author

Ann Field has written her debut novel, HIDDEN within the police procedure area of the crime genre. The novel is just over eighty thousand words and it is begins on the Costa del Sol but is mainly set in Dublin, Ireland.

Ann belongs to a Creative Writing group in her local library for two years. She attended an online course, covering topics from the construction of a novel, to finding an agent and on to eventual publication. This course was run by Writers’ WebTV and facilitated by Vanessa O’Loughlin, editor of Writing.ie. Ann also attended ‘Inside Publishing Track’, an informative talk by Eoin Purcell of New Island books. This was held in The Irish Writers’ Centre, Dublin.

Ann successfully submitted two short stories to ‘Woman’s Way’ a weekly Irish magazine. ‘Time for a Date’ was published in January 2013 and ‘Battle of Wounded Knee’ in July 2013. Another short story, ‘Blue Curacao’ published in The Incubator Journal in June 2014. It appeared in the inaugural edition of the online magazine, which hails from Belfast. She travelled to the official launch on 8th Junewhere she performed a reading of her work on stage. The published works are available on her website.

With a penchant for poetry, Ann has a poem ‘Shooting Stars’ due for publication in Boyne Berries this September. She has been invited to the magazine’s launch and will travel to County Meath to read her work.

Having completed her debut novel ‘Hidden’, she is currently writing the follow-on novel in her series of detective crime novels.

Ann is a qualified bookbinder and worked in Hewlett Packard as a Procurement Admin.