How to write the best submission emails

When it comes to submitting your work, structuring a good submission email can attract more positive attention to your work. Include a greeting and a small amount of information to make yourself more memorable, or keep up the mystique and only reveal the basics: it’s totally up to you!

Simply attaching your submission document with not so much as a ‘hello’ can come across as rude, and isn’t the best impression to give off when looking to publish your work. There’s plenty more to know about email etiquette, so strap in and read this if you want to have the best chance of making a positive impact when writing submission emails!

Submitting your work to journals and magazines

The hope is that you’ll already have found a place to submit your work – based on your piece’s theme, length — or, you might have written a piece specifically for the magazine you’re aiming for. Your work would have already gone through the motions – ideas to planning, then through to writing and editing.

In whatever case, the hardest part of submitting should already be completed. Now, you’ll be wanting to increase your chances of getting published. Your story/poem should definitely be more than able to stand on its own already

The basics of submission emails

Writing an email submission doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s best to include some form of greeting and introduce yourself — bonus points if you can address the recipient by name. If not, don’t worry; it’s just a nice personal touch — as long as you make sure not to misspell it! Common courtesy is still needed, and often overlooked in the rush to fire off submissions; but remember, the email is still an extension of you and can affect how your work is perceived.

Depending on where you’re submitting to, you might be asked to paste your submission directly in the body of your email, but if you’re doing this, make sure it’s formatted well enough to be read as you intend it to be. Often, it’s best to attach your work in a document, unless you’re specifically required to do otherwise. For more artistically presented work, you may want to include a high quality screen capture to make sure it’s correctly laid out — but make sure you’re still reading those submission instructions!

What to include in a submission email

You might want to include whether or not you’ve been previously published elsewhere. This isn’t necessary (unless the guidelines tell you to include something like this), but again, it gives a little more personality to your submission, and may lend more credibility to your writing career. Plus, hardcore fans can follow your progression and find more of your work – never pass up free marketing!

If there are multiple submission windows open, you can also make the editor’s job easier by including the category you’re submitting to, and other information such as a brief summary of your work. Again, not required every time, but it can make your submission look a lot more professional.

Next, it’s best to send along an author bio, as is often required. This shouldn’t be too long, just enough information for any readers to get your vibe. These are usually written in third person, and can be updated with each entry to add in more relevant information as you progress through submissions. It’s recommended to keep yours in a safe place and paste it wherever needed, just to make your life easier. Tip — make it memorable so you stand out!

Different types of submission emails

Prepare for déjà vu as you read this line: your submission email can also depend on the type of work you’re submitting. For example, longer scientific articles may benefit from including the abstract — or otherwise, a short summary of the paper — to really entice the editor into reading more. 

For a poetry chapbook submission, or even a collection of poems, you may want to take some time to describe any underlying themes or links between them — or to specify any layout or formatting instructions to ensure they’re kept in order when published. 

Submission email templates!

To make things easier when mass-submitting, you may want to think about writing an email template. From there, you could tweak it when needed, which will save you time and effort. You could even use it as a baseline for submitting your work directly to publishers!

The main things to remember when writing a submission email are:

• Be polite and courteous, and provide correct and relevant information
• Keep it short (no-one needs to read an excessively long ramble about the food you ate which led to the nightmare your piece is based off!)
• Include the basics (according to the publisher’s submission guidelines)

Then, it’s time to finish up! Sign off as you’d like, whether this be a thank-you for reading, or a unique goodbye to keep them thinking about you. After that, it’s time to send. Go on, click the button – and try not to panic too much – it’s out of your hands now!

Mailed it!

Okay, that was the basics on writing a submission email. Make sure to introduce yourself, and include any key information deemed necessary by their submission guidelines. Also, keep it polite and concise: these editors are busy people!