问询信和投稿信Cover Letters and Query Letters--688IT编程网

科技写作漫谈：投稿信(cover letter)的写作

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Rites of Submission:Cover Letters and Query Letters

by Jacqueline K. Ogburn

Covers letters and query letters are a source of great anxiety for writers. Because the submission process seems so mysterious, cover letters are viewed as talismans or lucky charms, the magic object that will open the door leading to publication, fame and fortune. Not quite. A terrific cover letter never sold a bad manuscript, and many lovely books have sold in spite of their cover letters. Query letters are trickier, because they are the proverbial foot in the door.

So what is a good cover letter? First it is a courtesy. As an editor, I did find submissions that lacked a cover letter a bit rude, like a phone caller who doesn't bother saying hello or identifying themselves before launching into the conversation. Like any business letter, it should include your name and address. The text should have the title of your manuscript and what type of book -- picture book, easy-to-read, nonfiction, etc. It should be simple and direct and signed. That's it.

A good query letter is a different beast. Simplicity is still a prime virtue, but a query letter is a come-on; it should entice the editor to read more. It should give a taste of your book, a description of what it is, what is special about it, and it should be less than one page long.

I hear skeptical questions from the back of the room: but what about marketing information, reading levels, testimonials from my high school English teacher, my experience as a teacher in a special school for the double-jointed? Following one of the basic rules of good writing to show, not tell, I have written a selection of cover letters and a query to identify common approaches and problems.

投稿信(cover letter)中应包括的内容

投稿信有助于稿件被送到合适的编辑(对于多编辑的期刊而言)或可能的评审人手中. 没有投稿信的稿件可能会给编辑造成一些困惑: 如: 这篇稿件是投给哪种刊物的? 何种栏目? 是新稿还是修改稿? 如果是修改稿的话, 是哪位编辑负责的? 如果这篇稿件有多位作者的话, 哪一位是通讯作者? 其联系地址是哪一个? 等等.

为节省编辑的时间editorinchief是什么意思, 投稿信要尽量写得简短明了、重点突出, 最好不要超过一页. 其中包括的内容大致有:

(1) 所投稿件的栏目类型; 有些期刊在作者须知中还鼓励或建议作者在投稿信中提供合适的审稿人或提出需回避的审稿人.

(2) 如果稿件是系列论文中的一篇, 或者与以前发表的文章有密切关系, 投稿信中要提及这方面的内容(包括刊名、文章题名、发表时间等), 必要时, 还需附上发表过的论文, 以免编辑或审稿人发生误解.

(3) 不可遗漏期刊所要求的有关说明或声明, 如果需要事先与编辑说明有关文稿学术意义或其他细节问题(如有关图表的制作软件等), 也须在投稿信中交代清楚. 对于高度综合性的刊物(如Nature, Science)或本领域的顶尖期刊, 在投稿信中最好简要说明一下稿件的广泛兴趣性或重要性, 以及为什么要给该刊投稿.

(4) 通讯作者和详细的联系地址尤其重要, 通讯作者还应将其电话号码、E-mail地址和传真号码列在投稿信或稿件的题名页(首页)中.

如何推荐审稿人？

应尽量推荐对稿件主题比较熟悉的小同行作为审稿人, 以下体的同行通常可以作为审稿人推荐:

(1) 稿件中参考文献的作者;

(2) 拟投稿期刊的编委;

(3) 重要的研究体或个人: 如: 就职于期刊主办单位的科研人员, 经常在拟投稿期刊发表论文的作者, 在本领域具较高知名度的学者, 等等.

投稿信: 实例简析

Department of Publication, NSFC

83 Shuangqing Road, Haidian District

Beijing 100083, P R China

July 18, 2001

Professor T. Braun, Editor-in-Chief of Scientometerics

Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry

Eötvös Loránd University

H-1443 Budapest-70, P.O. Box 123

Hungary

Dear Editor:

This is a manuscript entitled “International visibility of Chinese scientific journals” by Shengli Ren and Ronald Rousseau. It is submitted to be considered for publication as an “Article” in your journal.

All authors have read and approved this version of the article, and due care has been taken to ensure the integrity of the work. Neither the entire paper nor any part of its content has been published or has been accepted elsewhere. It is not being submitted to any other journal.

We believe the paper may be of particular interest to the readers of your journal as it ....

Correspondence should be addressed to Shengli Ren at the following address, phone and fax number, and email address:

… …

Thank you very much for your attention to our paper.

Sincerely yours,

Shengli Ren (签名)

Ronald Rousseau (签名)

简析: 该类投稿信适用于对投稿没有具体要求或规定的期刊, 因而其内容比较简单, 主要作用有: (1) 声明稿件内容不曾公开发表; (2) 提供作者的通信地址、电话、传真、E-mail信箱等.

一、投稿信
1. Dear Dr. Defendi ML:
I am sending a manuscript entitled “” by – which I should like to submit for possible publication in the journal of - .
Yours sincerely

2. Dear Dr. A:
Enclosed is a manuscript entitled “” by sb, which we are submitting for publication in the journal of - . We have chosen this journal because it deals with - . We believe that sth would be of interest to the journal’s readers.

3. Dear Dr. A:
Please find enclosed for your review an original research article, “” by sb. All authors have read and approve this version of the article, and due care has been taken to ensure the integrity of the work. No part of this paper has published or submitted elsewhere. No conflict of interest exits in the submission of this manuscript, and we have attached to this letter the signed letter granting us permission to use Figure 1 from another source.

We appreciate your consideration of our manuscript, and we look forward to receiving comments from the reviewers.

二、询问有无收到稿件
Dear Editors,

We dispatched our manuscript to your journal on 3 August 2006 but have not, as yet, receive acknowledgement of their safe arrival. We fear that may have been lost and should be grateful if you would let us know whether or not you have received them. If not, we will send our manuscript again. Thank you in advance for your help.

三、询问论文审查回音
Dear Editors，
It is more than 12 weeks since I submitted our manuscript (No: ) for possible publication in your journal. I have not yet received a reply and am wondering whether you have reached a decision. I should appreciated your letting me know what you have decided as soon as possible.

四、关于论文的总体审查意见
1. This is a carefully done study and the findings are of considerable interest. A few minor revision are list below.
2. This is a well-written paper containing interesting results which merit publication. For the benefit of the reader, however, a number of points need clarifying and certain statements require further justification. There are given below.
3. Although these observation are interesting, they are rather limited and do not advance our knowledge of the subject sufficiently to warrant publication in PNAS. We suggest that the authors try submitting their findings to specialist journal such as –
4. Although this paper is good, it would be ever better if some extra data were added.
5. This manuscript is not suitable for publication in the journal of – because the main observation it describe was reported 3 years ago in a reputable journal of - .
6. Please ask someone familiar with English language to help you rewrite this paper. As you will see, I have made some correction at the beginning of the paper where some syntax is not satisfactory.
7. We feel that this potentially interesting study has been marred by an inability to communicate the finding correctly in English and should like to suggest that the authors seek the advice of someone with a good knowledge of English, preferable native speaker.
8. The wording and style of some section, particularly those concerning HPLC, need careful editing. Attention should be paid to the wording of those parts of the Discussion of and Summary which have been underlined.
9. Preliminary experiments only have been done and with exception of that summarized in Table 2, none has been repeated. This is clearly unsatisfactory, particularly when there is so much variation between assays.
10. The condition of incubation are poorly defined. What is the temperature? Were antibody used?

五、给编辑的回信
1. In reply to the referee’s main criticism of paper, it is possible to say that –
One minor point raised by the referee concerns of the extra composition of the reaction mixture in Figure 1. This has now been corrected. Further minor changes had been made on page 3, paragraph 1 (line 3-8) and 2 (line 6-11). These do not affect our interpretation of the result.
2. I have read the referee’s comments very carefully and conclude that the paper has been rejected on the sole grounds that it lake toxicity data. I admit that I did not include a toxicity table in my article although perhaps I should have done. This was for the sake of brevity rather than an error or omission.
3. Thank you for your letter of – and for the referee’s comments concerning our manuscript entitled “”. We have studied their comments carefully and have made correction which we hope meet with their approval.
4. I enclosed a revised manuscript which includes a report of additional experiments done at the referee’s suggestion. You will see that our original findings are confirmed.
5. We are sending the revised manuscript according to the comments of the reviewers. Revised portion are underlined in red.
6. We found the referee’s comments most helpful and have revised the manuscript
7. We are pleased to note the favorable comments of reviewers in their opening sentence.
8. Thank you for your letter. I am very pleased to learn that our manuscript is acceptable for publication in Cancer Research with minor revision.
9. We have therefore completed a further series of experiments, the result of which are summarized in Table 5. From this we conclude that intrinsic factor is not account.
10. We deleted the relevant passage since they are not essential to the contents of the paper.
11. I feel that the reviewer’s comments concerning Figures 1 and 2 result from a misinterpretation of the data.
12. We would have include a non-protein inhibitor in our system, as a control, if one had been available.
13. We prefer to retain the use of Table 4 for reasons that it should be clear from the new paragraph inserted at the end of the Results section.
14. Although reviewer does not consider it is important to measure the temperature of the cells, we consider it essential.
15. The running title has been changed to “”.
16. The Materials and Methods section now includes details for measuring uptake of isotope and assaying hexokinase.
17. The concentration of HAT media (page12 paragraph 2) was incorrectly stated in the original manuscript. This has been rectified. The authors are grateful to the referees for pointing out their error.
18. As suggested by both referees, a discussion of the possibility of laser action on chromosome has been included (page16, paragraph 2).
19. We included a new set of photographs with better definition than those originally submitted and to which a scale has been added.
20. Following the suggestion of the referees, we have redraw Figure 3 and 4.
21. Two further papers, published since our original submission, have been added to the text and Reference section. These are:
22. We should like to thank the referees for their helpful comments and hope that we have now produced a more balance and better account of our work. We trust that the revised manuscript is acceptable for publication.
23. I greatly appreciate both your help and that of the referees concerning improvement to this paper. I hope that the revised manuscript is now suitable for publication.
24. I should like to express my appreciation to you and the referees for suggesting how to improve our paper.
25. I apologize for the delay in revising the manuscript. This was due to our doing an additional experiment, as suggested by referees.

Date: ***
Dear Editors:

We would like to submit the manuscript entitled “***”, which we wish to be considered for publication in ***.
We certify that we have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the appropriateness of the study design and method, and the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data.
We have reviewed the final version of the manuscript and approve it for publication. To the best of our knowledge and belief, this manuscript has not been published in whole or in part nor is it being considered for publication elsewhere.

Best Regards.

Yours Sincerely,

Authors : ***,***,***
(Submitting author: ***, ***University. EMAIL: ***;
Corresponding author: ***,*** University. EMAIL: ***)

1、什么是cover letter？
指的是投稿信

2、cover letter的内容主要包括那些？
应该简述所投稿件的核心内容、主要发现和意义，拟投期刊，对稿件处理有无特殊要求等（如“not to review” list）。另外，请附上主要作者的中文姓名、通讯地址、电话、传真和e-mail地址。此外有的杂志要求推荐几位审稿人及其。以及谁已经阅读过该文（当然是牛人）。
我投的那个杂志是要求说明你论文研究的意义，以及与这个杂志的相关性，另外还有的可能要写明你没有一搞多投等。此外临床实验要求写明符合伦理学要求。

3、如何写cover letter？
各个杂志的具体要求是不一样的，在杂志的guide for authors一般会有要求。如果没有具体的要求，大家可按照通用要求处理。

4、常用模板：
（1）
Cover letter
Dear Mr. **
1. The work described has not been submitted elsewhere for publication, in whole or in part, and all the authors listed have approved the manuscript that is enclosed.

2. I have read and have abided by the statement of ethical standards for manuscripts submitted to Neuroscience.

kind regards.
Your sincerely,
通讯作者

（2）
Dear Dr. 主编name:
We submit our manuscript entitled " 文章title" to 杂志名for publication.
接着简单介绍你文章的主要创新点和意义，不易过多，但要突出新意和关键点。
All authors have seen the manuscript and approved to submit to your journal.
Thank you very much for your attention and consideration.

Sincerely yours,
通讯作者

（3）
Dear Dr. 主编name:
We submit our manuscript entitled " 文章title" to 杂志名for publication.
接着简单介绍你文章的主要创新点和意义，不易过多，但要突出新意和关键点。
All authors have seen the manuscript and approved to submit to your journal.
Thank you very much for your attention and consideration.

Sincerely yours,
通讯作者

（4）Dr. ***
Editor-in-Chief, ***
(add address) January 22, 2003

Dear Dr. **,

Enclosed herewith please find 3 copies of a MS by: ‘***. *** and ***’ entitled: “**********”, which we would like to submit for publication in the ‘******'.

Looking forward to your decision,
With kind personal regards,
Sincerely yours,

*****
Professor of ***

Sample Cover Letters

For some of the samples, I made up book titles for imaginary manuscripts. For one of these samples, I used one of my favorite books, the Newbery Medal winner Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. (Mr. Spinelli did not write these letters, I am merely using his book as an example. The book is readily available, so you can check and see if my descriptions are good.) The first letter, the bad example with an imaginary manuscript, has footnotes to the common mistakes, which you may jump to if you wish.

Sample Cover Letter #1
What Not to Do

Dear Harper Brothers,(1)

I began making up stories as an aid to getting my children to bed each night. With the encouragement of my dear family, I finally wrote them down and collected them into a book.(2) Forty-two of their favorites are included in The Awesome Adventures of Anthony Ant, including "Anthony and Arthur Aardvark," and "Anthony Ant's Aunt Annie." (3)

I don't have much publishing experience, and I'm sorry I don't have a list of credits to send to you. I did work on the high school newspaper, but I don't suppose that counts. As soon as I have some, I will send them along.(4) I read the manuscript of my book to my six children and they all loved it. I also took it to my ten-year-old son's class at school and the children there were equally enthusiastic.(5) Even though the main character is a boy, girls liked it too. This book has definite kid appeal!

Kids today face a tough world, and this book will teach them about courage and good manners in a fun way.(6)

Since ants are a big part of this book, there should be good sales potential in elementary schools and libraries, many of which have ant farms, especially if you publish it in a paperback edition as well as hardcover. I have enclosed the address of the National Headquarters of the Ant Farmers' Association of America, since I am sure they will be interested in a book that features so many ants.(7)

My cousin Norbert Finkel is a wonderful illustrator and he is eager to do the cover art for the book. His portrait of Anthony is enclosed. Since he is family, he will give you a good price.(8)

I will call you next Tuesday to discuss the manuscript.(9) Thank you for your consideration. (10)

Sincerely,

A. Writer(11)

Common Mistakes in This Sample:
(1) The company has not been Harper Brothers for decades. If you don't have a contact with a particular editor, addressing the letter to "Dear Editor" is fine. It 's direct and gender neutral. (See sidebar) back

(2) Telling stories to your family is a fine tradition, but not very informative. back

(3) Alliteration should be on the list of the Seven Deadly Sins of Writing for Children. It gets cloying fast. back

(4) If you don't have any publishing history, just don't mention it. Apologies are not necessary. back

(5) Reading the story to children is a good exercise, but not a good indication of publishability. Most children adore the attention of being read to and would love it if you read them the phonebook. It is also difficult to tell if the response is to the story or to your performance. What's important at this stage is how it reads on the page. back

(6) Most editors see this as a red flag. Stories written to teach moral lessons usually end up with the lesson overwhelming the story. back

(7) Publishers are aware of the major markets for the kind of books they publish. Unless you have knowledge of a special opportunity, say if the Ant Farmers' Association is starting a mail order catalog, don't spend too much space on marketing ideas. back

(8) Unless you are an artist, don't send cover art with your manuscript. Publishers are responsible for the production of the book, including the cover art. back

(9) Most editors would be afraid to answer the phone on Tuesday after reading this. The editor probably has not read the manuscript yet, and if it's rejected, there's nothing to discuss. back

(10) Nowhere does this letter say what sort of book this is or what it's about. The opposite of this mistake (but still a mistake) is a letter that tells the entire plot, or in case of a picture book, a synopsis that is as long as the manuscript. back

(11) Always include a self-addressed stamped envelope. back

Sample Cover Letter # 2

Dear Editor:

Harper Collins has a proud history of publishing quality fiction and I am submitting my middle-grade novel, Maniac Magee for your consideration.

The history of a kid is one part fact, two parts legend and three parts snowball. * Maniac Magee performs legendary feats in Two Mills, Pennsylvania, from hitting a home-run bunt on a frog-ball to bringing kids together from both sides of the tracks. But most of all it is the story of boy looking for his true home.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

A. Writer

SASE enclosed.

This cover letter isn't sparkling, but it gives the important points: that the manuscript is a middle grade novel, a hint of the style and some of the themes of the story. It's an introduction, not a pitch letter.

Addressing the Unknown:
The Greeting of a Cover Letter
Even when you have composed the perfect cover letter to send with your manuscript, and you have done your homework and chosen the perfect publisher to submit it to, one tiny problem remains. What do you put in the greeting of your letter? You know, the part that comes after the date and address, and begins with "Dear."

Editors do move around a lot, especially since downsizing has hit the publishing industry too. It's not always possible to find out the name of the person reading submissions at a particular house. How do you address an unknown person who is going to be doing something as personal as reading your work?

There are so many choices:

To Whom It May Concern -- Polite, but it has overtones of "Please take care of my baby left here on your doorstep."

Dear Madam -- This acknowledges that the majority of children's books editors are women, and even still employ mostly women, but the word has unwholesome associations with those naughty shops on 42nd Street.

Dear Sir or Madam -- While admirably including both genders, this one sounds like Jeeves addressing a drag queen who hadn't quite finished hormone therapy.

Dear Terrible and Beneficent Goddess of Publishing -- This may accurately reflect a writer's feelings about the balance of power during the submission process, but might be perceived as groveling.

Dear Money-Grubbing Philistine -- This may also accurately reflect a writer's emotional state after a morning of many rejection letters, but could come across as a little hostile.

And the winner is: Dear Editor.

It's simple, direct, and gender neutral. Even if it is not the correct job title of the person who first reads your manuscript, the reader is performing an editorial function. Omitting the greeting would seem rude, so include what seems polite, and don't waste too much time over it. After all, who remembers the wrapping on the best present

Query Letters 问询函

Many publishers now have writer's guidelines requesting query letters instead of sending unsolicited manuscripts. This is an attempt to cut down on the time processing inappropriate submissions, but it does present another hurdle for new writers. Not only do you have to write a wonderful book, but also a wonderful query letter that will tempt an editor into requesting your manuscript.

Sample Query Letter # 1:
Fiction -- Novel

Dear Editor,

My grandma says time don't run but one way, but that summer was one where at times I wished it wouldn't run at all. Just hold still on Saturday nights when the best thing to do was fly down dark roads in Billy Clodfelter's Lark with the windows rolled down and the music up. Stop on Sunday mornings when Mary Barrier smiled at me over her hymnal. Just stay at the time when things still seemed simple.

Jake Hanson has always helped his dad on his rounds of the juke joints and pool halls of Cap Rock, Georgia, changing the records and collecting the cash. He always thought he would take over the business someday, but now at 14, he's beginning to really listen to some of the people and the music they make. He also begins to question why some customers are treated differently, especially in the black sections of town. When he hears Belinda Triplett singing in a way he's never heard on any record, Jake knows he wants to be something more than just a juke box man.

Set in the early 60s, Juke Joint is a young adult novel of a boy finding his own path in a turbulent time. Jake and Belinda are strong characters whose growing friendship flies in the face of the conventions of their small Southern town. Not just a romance or a problem novel, Juke Joint explores the issues of racism and family loyalty against a setting of church socials and midnight drag racing, gospel and rhythm and blues.

I would be happy to send the manuscript to you for consideration and have enclosed a reply card for your convenience.

Sincerely,

A. Writer

A fiction query letter might be the toughest kind to write. It should be short, but contain enough of the sense of the story and your writing style to catch the attention of an editor. Since so much of fiction is a matter of taste, the letter needs to be targeted carefully. Think about what sort of copy entices you to check out a book by an author you have never read before. Sometimes including an excerpt from the manuscript can be a good approach--for example the beginning paragraph if you have a good hook.

Query letters for fiction are worth a bit of angst and extra polishing. Reading a novel requires a larger investment of time on the editor's part, so the query letter must be targeted very carefully. Don't send a serious issue book to a house that does only series romances.

Sample Query Letter # 2:
Nonfiction

Dear Editor:

Do you know what an Egyptian mummy, a samurai soldier, and your pair of sneakers have in common? The answer can be found in the introduction of my book Sticking Together: A History of Glue. Different kinds of glue affect all parts of our lives, from kid's projects with library paste to the rubber industry to post-it notes. Glue helps hold together our houses, our cars, even our shoes.

Sticking Together combines history, science, and hands-on activities. My opening chapter explores the role of rubber cement in the colonization of the New World and explains the production process from tapping the tree to shipping the bottles to the art supply store. The final chapter includes recipes for homemade glue products and projects. My background in anthropology gives me grounding in exploring the ways that a seemingly small thing like glue can affect an entire culture.

Written for 7 to 10 year-olds, Sticking Together fits in with your series of excellent children's nonfiction "The Way the World Works", with a format similar to Hold Everything: Containers from Pots to Plastic. The proposal includes a complete outline for the book and three sample chapters.

A reply card is enclosed and I hope to hear of your interest in Sticking Together.

Sincerely,

A. Writer

A book on the history of glue might not ring your chimes, but to an editor who has published a book about containers this project would be worth a look.

Cover and query letters are important. They are part of doing your homework, of presenting yourself to a prospective publisher in a professional manner. In the end it is your story that matters the most, your book that has to sell itself. The best letters in the world will not sell a bad book. There is no magic formula for these letters, no secret phrases that will make the editor offer you a contract. The magic has to come from your writing the best book you can write.

Editor's postscript:

For more information and sample letters:

How to Write Irresistible Query Letters: The best of several guides on the market, this focuses on general, not children's publishing.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books: This is a general guide I wrote. It includes more samples of cover and query letters and guidance in writing them.

Query Letters Revisited / Sample Query Letters: A two-part article by Margot Finke with sample query letters.

How to Write a Great Query Letter: An Example That Worked: From Cheryl Klein's blog, this also has a link to a "Query Letter from Hell."

Must Manuscripts Be Submitted with a Cover Letter? A short piece on a surprising question.

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问询信和投稿信Cover Letters and Query Letters

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