What is the first thing an agent or publisher sees when they open your submission email? Your covering letter…
This is your first point of contact with someone who, potentially, has your future in their hand, so make the right impression the first time.
The whole industry works on email so ensure your own email address is sensible and easy to find – ideally with your name in it, and check it regularly. If you plan to or are considering using a pen name, save that for a conversation with the agent when they take you on. Submitting under a pen name can be confusing for everyone and you need to speak to your agent to discuss why/what that name will be – it’s often a marketing tool and needs to be thought through.
Your covering email should be:
- Beautifully presented, spell checked and coherent – think of your letter as a job application. Don’t spend months on your book and five minutes on your cover letter, take time to get it right! Show you can write – no typos, tangled sentences or waffle. Or they may never get past the covering letter.
- PERSONALLY address your email to the right person – use the agent or publisher’s name (NOT Dear Mr. Penguin/Dear Mrs. Curtis Brown) Google them to get the spelling right. Find out if the agent or editor you are approaching is a Mr. or a Ms.· Make sure this is the right person within the organization to handle your genre – and make sure they are currently open to submissions! Mistakes here show you haven’t done your research, which in turn throws a question over how serious you are about getting into the publishing business – why should an agent or editor spend time reading your submission if you haven’t spent time finding out how they spell their surname or you are ignoring their guidelines? What does that say about how easy you’ll be to work with?
When emailing
- When you are emailing, NEVER blanket cc OR bcc agents. No one wants to feel part of a herd – show why you want to approach this person with your (precious) work, show you know who they represent and that you know who they are. If you saw them speak on a panel, mention that.
- Ensure you include your book’s title, genre and word count. The word count will immediately tell an editor whether your book is of a commercial length and whether you understand your genre.
- Be SUCCINCT – a maximum of one page (see below)
- It’s vital that you summarise your book in a pitch paragraph – and open your letter with it. You will need to practice this to get it right – take your time. These will be lines you will use continuously and will potentially be used by an agent to pitch your work. When you find yourself standing next to a legendary agent at a book launch, stun them with your brilliant pitch and they’ll remember you when you send in your manuscript.
For a Fiction Submission
- For a fiction submission, ensure that your covering letter is more about the book than you. Your Himilayan adventures can go into your bio paragraph, but the book is the focus. For non-fiction, platform and qualifications are very important (if your book is about surviving in the Himalayas, your adventures are relevant and important). If you are submitting non-fiction ensure that you make it clear why YOU are the best person to write this book – what are your qualifications/experience?
- Show the agent who you are and what else you are doing/have done so they can get a feel for who they may be working with. If you’ve won writing competitions or have a huge network, let them know.
- DO NOT say that you are the next JK Rowling or Dan Brown, but do say that you hope to emulate/write in the style of, for instance, Maeve Binchy or Rosamund Pilcher. This can give the agent/publisher an idea where you see your book falling in the market. Comparative titles are extremely useful for anyone reading to get a sense of where you see your book fitting – use current titles people have heard of, ideally successful ones. By providing a mixture – ‘I see this as x meets y with additional z’ – you’ll give the agent or editor a strong sense of your work.
- Do NOT say your mum loved it. DO say if you’ve worked with a professional editor or author on it. The publishing industry is small, if the person you have worked with is well known and respected, mention their name.
Pitch one book at a time
- Only pitch one book at a time. Your book might be part of a trilogy, or the first in a series of ten, but that’s not the most important thing about it – if you can’t sell one book, you won’t be able to sell the others. Mention that you believe the book has series potential.
- Clearly include ALL your contact information in your covering letter – email AND telephone. Include this information in the header or footer of your manuscript too, just in case the covering email becomes detached from your submission as it hits the agent’s Kindle, or is passed eagerly around an editorial office. This has happened. Take note!
- FOLLOW THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES. It’s not difficult. Agents get so many submissions, if you can’t follow the guidelines it’s a sign you could be hard to work with – they are more likely to hit delete than read your work. Don’t include the whole book when they’ve asked for three pages – if they like your book they’ll ask for more. If they only ask for three chapters and you feel that your book starts taking off at chapter five, don’t send the five chapters – rewrite them so they are fabulous from chapter one.
- Don’t send your book anywhere until it’s finished and has been extensively re-drafted, it needs to be as perfect as you can make it before submission. It’s not an agent’s job to find your grain of genius in a first draft. My books have four to six drafts before I send them to my agent – I would never send a first draft to anyone!
To summarise, your covering letter should include:
- Word count, genre, a well thought out title that works within your genre
- Your pitch paragraph that makes the agent want to read your book
- A paragraph on who you are/ your bio. Include any writing achievements but also what you do when you’re not writing.
- Comparable titles to show where you see your book positioned in the market
- Your contact details – use your own name
Best of Luck!
(C) Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin
Vanessa will be giving more details and tips to aspiring authors keen to nail their submission package at the Date With An Agent as part of The Insiders Guide to Publishing 2026 (22nd-23rd May). See here for further details.
