Friday, February 27, 2009

Sexual Deviancy in Literary Cover Letters

Every manuscript sent to my bosses office must be accompanied by a cover letter.  Just like any other kind of cover letter, this is the writer's opportunity to show off his writing skills and pitch his story.  Let me tell you, I've worked at this literary agency for 2 months now and I swear, I've read it all.  2 MONTHS!...and I've read things that would give you nightmares.  For instance, here's an example of one pitch in a cover letter we received:

Dear Literary Agent,
When I was in high school, I had a rape fantasy involving Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Ummmmmmm...

Yes, sexual deviancy makes for a good read, but it's not a good idea to make your prospective agent want to rush home and scrub their body raw with a brilo pad with just the cover letter!  


1 comment:

  1. can you send me this person's contact info? we may just become best friends.

    ummmm..... yeah.

    ReplyDelete