As promised, we’ll continue to do this once or twice a week as long as we have letters.
Dear [always try for the name of an actual person in Design/Production]:
I am a freelance book designer and page layout artist. My experience goes back almost 15 years, working for book publishers, university presses, associations, book packagers, and a science journal publisher. For the latter I did layout of a slate of thirteen science journals. The publisher was in Florida. I worked from my studio on Long Island in New York.
My most recent work includes page design and layout of an illustrated children’s storybook and layout of my fifth, photo-laden World War II history book in about a year. Other recent projects include children’s math workbooks, The Rett Syndrome Handbook (2nd ed.), Crossbow Hunting, and Snook on a Fly [about fly-fishing]; the latter two are heavily illustrated.
My experience is fairly broad, and it includes years of experience typesetting math and science books and journals with lots of tabular material and instructions, design elements that lend themselves to other projects. Working in both Quark and InDesign and providing cross-platform, printer-ready PDFs at project’s end cover a lot of bases.
My skills, versatility and reliability surely would be assets to your production operation. I am ready to make the journal pages you want: on schedule and at prices that are fair and reasonable to both of us. Additionally, I don’t cost you for benefits such as medical insurance, sick days, annual leave, holiday pay, coffee breaks, or bathroom runs. You pay me for what I do, not my time. You don’t have to maintain my equipment or be concerned with anything but sending me work and receiving my finished, printer-ready files.
Below please find my attached resume. Work samples are on my website, html://withheld. And for a bit more of a sense of who I am and what I do, there is my blog at (withheld).
Thank you.
This writer/designer has an impressive background for sure, but I’m not feeling the love for this letter and I’ll tell you why. While I’m so happy to see a writer telling a potential client how he can benefit the organization, I’m also not thrilled with the laundry list of ways the company can save money by hiring a freelancer. If I was the one who received this letter, I might be inclined to think a couple of things:
1. The writer is insulting my intelligence. I already know I don’t have to pay for overhead and breaks, I don’t need it spelled out for me.
2. I don’t feel it’s necessary to mention things such as coffee breaks or bathroom breaks. As a client I might wonder how many breaks you take every day and how it will effect the work you do for me.
3. By telling me you don’t need me to pay for certain extras, I might not be inclined to make offers for extras. For instance, some clients reimburse for certain supplies. Others offer bonuses and incentives for a job well done. You’re telling me you only need payment for the job and nothing else. Why settle?
I also don’t believe it necessary to inform the reader of a job done in New York for a Florida client. It bears no relevance. A telecommuter is a telecommuter whether he works five miles or five hours from an office has nothing to do with a job well done.
Finally, what exactly are you applying for? You barely mention making journal pages? This may just be a personal preference, but I like it laid out for me in the first paragraph. “I’m writing in reference to…” I don’t want to have to go to the bottom of the page to find out why you’re writing me.
Yes, I felt the paragraph on saving company costs on running to the bathroom, coffee breaks, etc., quite awkward to read. The company has a reason for hiring a freelancer and that reason should be up to the recruiter to determine not the applicant.
It seems the writer has a wealth of experience but really needs to narrow it down to suit the type of opportunity s/he is applying. If you cut out some of the fluff and concentrate on key highlights, then the letter will become more appealing.
Yes, I felt the paragraph on saving company costs by not running to the bathroom, coffee breaks, etc., quite awkward to read. The company has a reason for hiring a freelancer and that reason should be up to the recruiter to determine not the applicant.
If you want to mention you saved on company costs, then use a truthful example that matches the role. May be you saved business XX amount or percentage by introducing a labor saving process or idea, etc.
It appears the writer has a wealth of experience but really needs to narrow it down to suit the type of opportunity s/he is applying. If you cut out some of the fluff and concentrate on key highlights, then the letter will become more appealing.
Three graphs start with “My” — change it up.
The information about bathroom breaks is definitely too much. But more to the point, the letter (in my humble opinion) is confusing and too long. I don’t know what job is being applied for and, truthfully, had to force myself to read beyond the first paragraph. The writer may be highly qualified but didn’t catch my attention.
Far too choppy….too much information, no focus. Fairly pompous sounding…and really sending the client to lots of review on his/her own…provide links on your website to your blog…
Dear [always try for the name of an actual person in Design/Production]:
I am a freelance book designer and page layout artist. My experience goes back almost 15 years, and is fairly broad, including years of experience typesetting math and science books and journals and other design elements that lend themselves to a variety projects. Working in both Quark and InDesign, I am able to provide cross-platform, printer-ready PDFs at project’s end which has proved beneficial for many clients.
My skills, versatility and reliability will be assets to your production operation. I am ready to make the journal pages you want: on schedule and at prices that are fair and reasonable.
Please find my attached resume below, and feel free to see the samples on my website, html://withheld. I look forward to the opportunity to work with you.
Regards…
The letter writer isn’t anonymous (which I thought these were to be) due to the link.
Beyond that, I agree in concept with many of the comments above.
I don’t know that a “cover letter” is the correct forum for selling freelance vs. in-house employee.
That position needs to be taken in a sales letter, which in my mind is different than a cover letter (though sales is an element of a cover letter). The sales letter would be appropriate if looking for eventual work from a publisher (if no current position is offered).
If, on the other hand, the writer is attempting to apply for a position where the hiring authority has indicated that he or she is seeking an employee, then I would handle it by mentioning freelance is what I’m offering.
Personally, I’ve found if someone is pre-determined to hire an employee, a cover letter isn’t going to change the person’s mind.
Also, to expand on what others have mentioned, outsourcing is so common now in so many industries, the breaks, vacation, sick time, etc., don’t need to be mentioned. That’s understood today by virtually anyone in business.
On the plus side, the credentials are indeed impressive.
Kara picked up on what annoyed me – three “my” starts in a row. Whenever I get a query from someone wanting to be a book reviewer and they focus on the same word repeatedly, I find myself wondering if that means they just don’t check over their writing or their vocabulary is limited.