As requested, here is the cover letter that got me the role as an Assistant Production Editor at an independent publishing house. I am sharing this because I found cover letter blog posts really useful and I want to help others get their foot in the door. I personally wrote a lot of cover letters during my job search, almost all of which received little to no feedback, but each failed cover letter eventually led to me writing this successful one.
Opening paragraph [the introduction]
I am a proactive, recent BA (Hons) English Language and Literature graduate with [x] years of entry-level experience in the publishing industry. Alongside my degree, I have completed internships at [names of companies]. I have always worked hard to make my goal of working in publishing a reality; I was awarded a place on the [publishing scheme] in [year] and had my place on [publishing short course] sponsored by [name of publishing association]. I have also undertaken a retail marketing internship and worked part-time as the [job role] at [company name]. My work experience has provided me with excellent written and verbal communication skills, good time management, and the ability to produce a high standard of work amidst tight, ongoing deadlines.
This is just a basic introduction — who I am, what I’ve been doing with my life for the past 3 years, and the extracurricular publishing bits that I’ve been involved in. After retrospectively putting my Editor Hat on, I think some of these sentences are a bit clunky and I could’ve been more concise.
Middle paragraph [skills flex]
Since finishing my dissertation a fortnight ago, I have enrolled on the Essential Proofreading and Grammar course run by The Publishing Training Centre and have begun providing freelance editorial services for private clients via my website, [insert link]. I have strong IT skills, especially Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. During my summer internship at [company name], I proofread [brand name] books using InDesign, and during my time as the Marketing Intern at [company name], I used Photoshop to create marketing content for social media and e-newsletters.
I think this paragraph is a bit wilder than the rest — there’s a lot going on! — but in terms of experience, the PTC courses, my freelance portfolio, and my Adobe skills were a huge part of what got me the job. This paragraph reiterates the skills listed on my CV and puts them into context, using two specific examples of how and where I developed them. P.S., the marketing internship was not a publishing role but Adobe skills are easily transferable.
Final paragraph [why this company?]
I really want to work for [your company] because I am tremendously interested in the books that you publish. Throughout my degree, I have taken a few modules in [subject], including having to [do a niche subject-related translation task]. I am also enthusiastic about many of the [publications] you print to supplement authors that I love, such as [author] and [author]. As a [location]-based [location reference] myself, I enjoy visiting [location]— so should I be successful in my application, I would be delighted to relocate a little further [direction].
Showing that you are interested in the books an employer publishes is essential, especially if you coincidentally studied them at university. I was fortunate enough to have taken many fantastic modules at university that educated me about some of the esoteric topics that my employer publishes. I included that end sentence about my link to the publisher’s location (a) to let them know that I am willing to relocate, and (b) because they publish books related to the area, so this shows that I am familiar with the area and its literary significance.
To summarise, I showed that I had the skills and experience needed, I demonstrated it with a few examples, and I explained why the company was the perfect fit for my literary interests. I’m sure that anyone who has taken the time to read this can surely write a better cover letter than me, and I very much encourage you to do so!
If you found this useful, please give me a ‘clap’ or follow me on Medium. If you didn’t find this useful, it’s probably because you already write a brilliant cover letter and just need to keep applying — try independent publishers, publishers outside of London, or roles outside of editorial and marketing, as there is less competition. Remember, it only takes one “yes”!
Revised note, 14 August 2022: At the time of this revision, this article now has over 20,000 views. I am blown away by this and truly hope that my cover letter has helped some people break into publishing. However, it would be disingenuous of me not to mention that I left publishing because I was not paid a living wage. My salary was £18,000 (£15,838 after tax), which was not enough to make ends meet, so I decided to leave publishing before getting myself into debt. Two years later, what with the cost of living crisis and inflation, I know I made the right choice. I now work in law and earn double my publishing salary.
