In response to Required’s post. I’ve been a technical writer for 10 years and I’m good at it but I am not comfortable marketing myself so I struggle with cover letters. Just because you can’t write a decent cover letter doesn’t mean you can’t write.

Thanks again for all the very valuable information.

I am learning more about cover letters because of this clinic. While it was getting a bit “boring” only seeing the cover letters, I do hope to see more every several days for a while.

It is impossible to know EVERYTHING, even for the best writers. Some writers are experts in a field, but lack in others (such as marketing themselves), just as every occupation has.

Maybe if Required? spent less time making rude comments on blogs and concentrate on marketing properly then he (or she) might not get “lost in the rush”.

Despite your self-serving attitude, the “‘let’s help everyone’ rubbish” you mention IS actually helping people. I personally agree with you in that there are way too many unqualified writers out there, but I also firmly believe that it’s sometimes impossible to judge someone’s writing skills based solely on his or her cover letter. However, that’s often the way it has to be, and some very talented fiction writers or features writers or creative writers or bloggers or ANY kind of writers, really, have trouble with cover letters. Your thought that a writer who can’t craft a good cover letter also wouldn’t do well on an assignment is akin to thinking that a bestselling romance novelist should be able to do technical writing or grant writing just as successfully. It’s ridiculous. Being “dense” or being brilliant has nothing to do with writing a good cover letter. It’s a skill that needs to be taught and it takes practice, regardless of intelligence level.

Deb has said herself that she’s going to be mixing up the blog content in the near future and posting cover letters at greater intervals, so don’t despair. Your rich intellectual food for thought should be returning soon. In the meantime, though, you might want to pick up a grammar book. Did you know that most questions beginning with “how” end with a question mark?

I liked the letter (I noticed that the author mentioned s/he tailors each letter where possible).

As a new freelancer, I appreciate seeing other, more experienced writers have their query letters critiqued (since I’m not yet brave enough to offer up my own

Agreeing with a previous poster, I too would love to see more information about how to get comfortable with self-marketing (it eventually gets easier, right?).

This clinic is valuable for those writers who are not comfortable with marketing themselves; those of us who stammer through job interviews.

Many writers can produce outstanding content and concise, informative articles and still not be able to write well about themselves.

I write this as a professional writer who has also written for major print publications as well as many, many websites. I like this blog not because of the job postings, but because you Deb, used to have more to say about things. Now it’s all about how the writer should have said more about how they can better serve the company or person they want to write for. Blah blah, move it along. It’s very boring filler.

Please offer some suggestions in future clinics for those of us just starting out.

On the ones you mention, I usually ask for more information (I do give a little of my own), telling them I want to see if it’s a good fit.

If they don’t provide it, they’re likely to be a problem client anyway. Who needs that?

A brief rant of the day on that one – why is it that companies or even individuals think they can expect you to share personal info and yet not provide any info in return to allow you to gauge if theirs is a legitimate biz.

I do agree with adjusting the letter to suit each company’s needs, even if it is only a minor adjustment it shows you have a dynamic approach and are aware of what each company is looking for in a writer/editor.

I did feel it needed livening up a little though, may be by adding a work related accomplishment or a statement proving your ability to meet strict timelines.

May be you have been commended for your timely approach or had an increase in work load due to your strong work ethic. Perhaps you were given an important project to write and edit over other writers… these are just examples.

I have only two minor things to say about it. The first is that the letter seems a little (or maybe more than a little) general; I’d tailor at least a sentence or two to the specific job or company being targeted. Also, I don’t think the writer needs to mention that the work s/he produces is “original.” I know not everyone’s is, but we would all like to at least hope….