About myself in cover letter

DCCooper

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Hi,

I'm currently trying to draft a cover letter for agents in the UK, and I've seen numerous postings and examples advising applicants to include some personal information, but I'm not sure what to include in my case.

I've not been published before, so I can't include anything there. I studied something completely contrary to creative writing in university, so I can't really write anything there. And the novel is in no way relevant to my life, I either did some research or made it up where I needed to, so I can't make any claims there.

But without any of these things any other information I put in looks disjointed and slightly like a bad dating site profile. Other than giving up and writing something completely facetious does anybody have any advice for what to include?

Also, sorry if this is being posted in the wrong forum.
 
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DCCooper

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Hi Siri,

I have read that before, but as I'm going to include a little bit about myself (age and occupation) it looks a little out of place, I suppose I should have asked what else I could add.
 

Aggy B.

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Hi Siri,

I have read that before, but as I'm going to include a little bit about myself (age and occupation) it looks a little out of place, I suppose I should have asked what else I could add.

Perhaps a vague note about where you live.
 

Old Hack

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If you're querying fiction you don't need to talk about where you live or work, or how old you are, in your query. If you're querying non-fiction, you need only mention those things if they're pertinent to your book.
 

DCCooper

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If you're querying fiction you don't need to talk about where you live or work, or how old you are, in your query. If you're querying non-fiction, you need only mention those things if they're pertinent to your book.

Oh I know it's not strictly speaking necessary for fiction, but I've seen agents mention that it's nice to get a little bit about the author and, even if it is a formal business letter, I'd rather not come across as entirely robotic.
 

Verlin

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I agree with the last poster. It's a chance to give an agent a sense of you as a person in a particular circumstance. No one's going to throw out your submission if they find 2 sentences gratuitous, but some might feel more positive about you because of it.
 

Debbie V

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Some suggest including a little about what made you the person to write this book. I believe Marietta Zacker is one of those. It's a section on the company's submission form.

So, why did you write this particular book vs. some other book? Where you live and what you do for a living say very little about you individually. Answering this question will.

That said, some agents will find it superfluous and think you could use those two sentences to better effect by adding to your synopsis, including your marketing plan, or listing comp titles.