Petra Haugen Writer Minneapolis, 55414, United States [email protected] · (612) 555-2264
11 September 2026
Ms. Corin Boatwright Executive Editor Lakeshore Quarterly Duluth, United States
Application for Senior Writer, Lakeshore Quarterly
Dear Ms. Boatwright,
I am applying for the senior writer position at Lakeshore Quarterly. I write long-form reported features and essays, currently as a freelance writer with seven years behind me, three of them on staff at a city magazine. My strongest piece for your desk is "The Waitlist", a six-part series in Mill District Magazine from March 2023 on public housing waitlists, built on 41 interviews and three records requests.
Two more, chosen because they match what you publish. "What a Bus Lane Costs" in Meridian Review, September 2024, a 4,200 word feature where I did the reporting and the writing, is the piece that taught me how to make a municipal budget readable. "Quiet Quarters" is an essay that Northern Anthology reprinted from Meridian Review in October 2024, and it is the closest I have come to the register your back-of-book essays work in. I also carry two retainer clients in health technology, some of it unbylined and some ghostwritten under agreements that allow a reference, which is where I learned to write fast to someone else's brief without losing the sentences.
I have read Lakeshore Quarterly since the water rights series, and what I notice is that you run reporting long and then land it on one person. That is the structure I am best at and worst at resisting. If it is useful, I would come in with a pitch on the county's deferred maintenance backlog, which I have been reading the audits on for a year and have not found a home for.
My clips are at petrahaugen.example.com/clips and every link on the page loads. I can start within four weeks and would welcome the chance to talk. Thank you for reading.
Sincerely, Petra Haugen
Summary
A writer cover letter is the only part of the application where an editor sees you write unprompted. This guide gives you a full adaptable letter, the three-clip structure that carries it, how the letter changes between editorial, content marketing and book work, and current Bureau of Labor Statistics pay and outlook for writers and authors.
Writer cover letter examples by experience level
A writer cover letter is the only document in the application where an editor watches you write without a brief. Everything else is chosen work. This is the sample.
That raises the stakes and simplifies the job at once. You are not arguing that you can write; you are demonstrating it while doing something useful: naming three pieces you would want this editor to read, saying exactly what your role was on each, and showing you know what the outlet publishes.
Guide to a writer cover letter
This guide and the corresponding writer cover letter example will cover:
- How to structure the letter, paragraph by paragraph
- Why three chosen clips beat a link to a portfolio site
- How to handle ghostwritten and unbylined work in a letter
- What changes between editorial, content marketing and book work
- The openings that get a writer's letter read to the end
How to write a writer cover letter
| Paragraph | Its job | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | The post, what you write, and the strongest relevant clip with its outlet and date | 2 to 3 sentences |
| Clips | Two or three pieces, each with your exact role and one reason it fits this outlet | 4 to 5 sentences |
| Fit | One accurate observation about what they publish, and what you would file | 3 to 4 sentences |
| Close | Availability, portfolio link, thank you | 2 sentences |
Three clips chosen for them, not a link to everything
An editor filling a staff slot is reading twenty letters with a portfolio URL in each. Almost nobody chooses, and choosing is the work.
Pick three pieces that match the desk, name them with outlet and date, and say in one clause what each shows. "'The Waitlist', Mill District Magazine, March 2023: a six-part series built on 41 interviews and three records requests, which is the closest thing I have to the civic reporting you run."
Do that and you have spent the letter on the same judgment the job requires.
A writer cover letter example you can adapt
Dear Ms. Boatwright,
I am applying for the senior writer position at Lakeshore Quarterly. I write long-form reported features and essays, currently as a freelance writer with seven years behind me, three of them on staff at a city magazine. My strongest piece for your desk is "The Waitlist", a six-part series in Mill District Magazine from March 2023 on public housing waitlists, built on 41 interviews and three records requests.
Two more, chosen because they match what you publish. "What a Bus Lane Costs" in Meridian Review, September 2024, a 4,200 word feature where I did the reporting and the writing, is the piece that taught me how to make a municipal budget readable. "Quiet Quarters" is an essay that Northern Anthology reprinted from Meridian Review in October 2024, and it is the closest I have come to the register your back-of-book essays work in. I also carry two retainer clients in health technology, some of it unbylined and some ghostwritten under agreements that allow a reference, which is where I learned to write fast to someone else's brief without losing the sentences.
I have read Lakeshore Quarterly since the water rights series, and what I notice is that you run reporting long and then land it on one person. That is the structure I am best at and worst at resisting. If it is useful, I would come in with a pitch on the county's deferred maintenance backlog, which I have been reading the audits on for a year and have not found a home for.
My clips are at petrahaugen.example.com/clips and every link on the page loads. I can start within four weeks and would welcome the chance to talk. Thank you for reading.
Sincerely, Petra Haugen
Openings that work
| Instead of | Use |
|---|---|
| I am a passionate writer with a love of storytelling | I write long-form reported features and essays, seven years in, three of them on staff |
| I am writing to express my interest in the writer position | I am applying for the senior writer post; my strongest piece for your desk is a six-part housing series from March 2023 |
| Please see my portfolio for samples of my work | Three pieces chosen for this desk, with my exact role on each, are named below |
| I would be a great fit for your publication | I have read Lakeshore Quarterly since the water rights series, and you run reporting long then land it on one person |
Naming your role, including the work with no byline
An editor reads a clip list for two things: what the piece is, and what you did on it. The second is where letters go vague, and vagueness there is the fastest way to lose an offer at the reference stage.
| Situation | How to write it |
|---|---|
| You reported and wrote it | Reporter and writer, 41 interviews, three records requests |
| You wrote from someone else's research | Writer, from client research and transcripts |
| You commissioned and edited it | Contributing editor, commissioned and edited the section |
| There was a second name on it | Co-writer, with the reporting split |
| It ran without a byline | Writer, unbylined, 18 piece explainer library, samples under NDA |
| Someone else's name is on it | Ghostwriter, executive byline series, 22 pieces, reference available |
For ghostwritten work, name the category and never the credited person, and never link it; a client reference is worth more than the link would have been. If the work was made for hire, the U.S. Copyright Office's Circular 30, revised August 2024, treats the commissioning party as the author, so the piece is not yours to reprint even though you wrote it (U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 30, retrieved 17 September 2026).
Editorial, content marketing and book work
For editorial, lead with the byline, outlet and date, weight recency, and name one specific thing the publication has run. For content marketing, lead with client category and result, name the CMS and brief format you work from, and write to a budget holder rather than an editor. For book work, lead with the contract, publisher and delivery date, and treat the book as a credential rather than proof of income. In every lane, name your exact role.
Do not send a letter whose only clip evidence is a portfolio URL. Do not link a piece you cannot claim. Do not name the credited author of something you ghostwrote. Do not describe yourself as a wordsmith or a storyteller, since the letter is the demonstration. Do not pitch three ideas; one is confident and three is anxious.
Two thirds of this occupation is self-employed, and the letter does double duty
The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts writers and authors at 140,300 jobs in 2025, with projected employment of 139,900 in 2035, no meaningful change over the decade, and about 11,900 openings a year. Self-employed writers are 65 percent of the occupation, and the median annual wage was $76,910 as of May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, writers and authors, page last modified 27 August 2026).
That distribution changes what the letter is for. Most writing work is bought as a project, so the same letter has to work as a pitch to a client and as an application to an editor. The three-clip structure holds in both cases: a client choosing between freelancers is doing what an editor does, reading three pieces and deciding whether to trust you with a deadline.
Book work is the one lane where the letter should not carry an income argument. The Authors Guild's 2023 Author Income Survey, published 27 September 2023 across 5,699 published authors reporting 2022 income, found median book income of $15,000 for full-time authors in commercial markets and $2,000 across all respondents.
Length, format and sending it
One page, four paragraphs, 300 to 400 words. PDF unless the posting specifies otherwise, named for yourself and the post: petra-haugen-senior-writer-cover-letter.pdf.
Address a named editor. Mastheads are public, and "Dear Hiring Team" on a letter that is otherwise specific about three of their pieces reads as a contradiction.
Keep the clips in the letter the same as those on the resume so the two agree. Our writer resume example uses the published-work index the letter draws on, and the free ATS checker will tell you whether the pair parses cleanly.
Key takeaways
- Name three clips chosen for this desk, with outlet and date.
- Give your exact role on each piece, including the ones with no byline.
- Label ghostwritten work by category, with a reference instead of a link.
- Make one accurate observation about what the outlet actually publishes.
- Offer one pitch, not three.
- Check every link, including the portfolio, the morning you send.
- One page, four paragraphs, addressed to a named editor.
Write your writer cover letter in 10 minutes with our AI cover letter builder.
Writer cover letter questions, answered
How long should a writer cover letter be?
One page, four paragraphs, 300 to 400 words. An editor is reading it as a writing sample, and a letter that cannot hold its own length is making an argument against you.
Should I include a pitch in the cover letter?
One, and only if it is real. A single specific pitch with a sentence of evidence behind it shows that you already read the outlet and think in its terms. Three pitches read as a scattergun and invite the editor to reject all of them at once.
What do I do about ghostwritten and unbylined work in a letter?
Name it by category and volume, not by the credited person, and offer a reference where your agreement permits one. "Ghostwriter, executive byline series, enterprise software client, 22 pieces, reference available" is a normal and respected line. Linking the piece or naming the credited author breaks most agreements.
Is a cover letter still needed if the application takes a portfolio link?
Yes, and it is worth more there than almost anywhere else. The portfolio shows everything; the letter shows which three pieces you chose and why. With self-employed writers at 65 percent of the occupation and most work bought as a project rather than filled as a post (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, writers and authors, 27 August 2026), the ability to choose and argue for a choice is much of what is being hired.
How do I write to an outlet I have not been published in?
Read four recent pieces properly, then write one accurate sentence about what they are doing, not what you admire about them. Editors tell the difference immediately. Pair it with the clip of yours closest in form, and say plainly which part of the form you would have to learn.