The Cover Letter That Gets Your Poem Read

Every contest entry has a cover letter, and most of them are hurting the poem. A judge on the three things the letter should say, the three that kill it, and the one-sentence test that tells you if your letter is working.

Every contest entry has a cover letter, and most of them are doing the poem no favours. The letter is the thing the judge reads before the poem, and it is the thing that sets the judge's expectations before the poem has a chance to speak for itself.

I have read enough cover letters to know which ones work and which ones kill the poem before it starts, and the difference is simpler than you think.

The three things the letter should say

Thing one: the poem's subject. Not the theme, not the meaning, not the significance. The subject. 'This poem is about my father's hands' is the thing the judge needs to know. 'This poem is about the human condition' is the thing the judge does not.

Thing two: the poem's context. If the poem is part of a series, or a response to a prompt, or a specific occasion, the letter should say so. The context is the frame; the frame is the thing that makes the poem make sense.

Thing three: the bio, briefly. One sentence. 'I am a poet from Mumbai who has been writing for three years' is the thing the judge needs. A paragraph about your philosophy is the thing the judge does not.

The three things that kill the letter

Killer one: the explanation of the poem. 'This poem is about the way grief changes the way we see the world, and it uses the metaphor of a river to show the flow of memory.' The explanation is the thing the poem is supposed to do. If the letter explains the poem, the poem does not need to exist.

Killer two: the apology. 'I know this poem is not very good, but I wanted to try.' The apology is the thing that tells the judge the poem is not ready. If the poem is not ready, do not submit it.

Killer three: the manifesto. 'Poetry is the highest art form, and I believe that a poem can change the world.' The manifesto is the thing that tells the judge the poet is more interested in being a poet than in writing a poem.

The one-sentence test

Here is the test I use on my own cover letters, and it is the only one that matters: does the letter make the judge want to read the poem? If the answer is yes, the letter is working. If the answer is no, the letter is working against you.

The cover letter is not the poem's introduction; it is the poem's advocate. The advocate's job is to get the poem read, not to explain it.

A worked example

Bad: 'Dear Judge, I am submitting my poem about the way grief changes the way we see the world. I believe that poetry is the highest art form and that a poem can change the world. I hope you enjoy it.'

Better: 'Dear Judge, this poem is about my father's hands. I am a poet from Mumbai who has been writing for three years.'

The first letter is a manifesto; the second is a door. The door is the thing that lets the judge in.

Where the letter goes wrong

The trap is the letter that is a summary of the poem. The summary is the thing that tells the judge the poem is not worth reading, because the judge has already read it in the letter. The letter should be the thing that makes the judge want to read the poem, not the thing that tells them what the poem says.

If you want to see a cover letter that works, the cover letters post has the method, and the contest window is open when the poem is ready. The letter is not the poem's explanation. It is the poem's advocate.

Keep reading

For the craft side, the contest-tips module covers the deeper method. The past winners is the page to read next, and the current window is where the work goes when it is done.

By Writory Editorial, for Writory.

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