Hi, I'll be sending out my teen novel to agents soon.

One agent asks specifically for 'a good covering letter telling us about yourself and your writing career, together with a synopsis of your novel and the first three chapters.'

In interviews, she also again emphasises the importance of a 'great covering letter' without going into details. Now, from what I gather, the consensus is for a straight-forward, brief covering letter. Sure, with a bit of flair and no mistakes but your synopsis and writing sample is meant to do most of the talking.

However, I get the impression from this (fabulous) agent that she wants a bit more than the ordinary covering letter? What do you think? And what kind of info do I include about myself (I'm a trained journalist and therefore, write and edit for a living so can write about that but what else?!).

She may be looking for a covering letter in the style of a Query. Query letters are what the US agents prefer, and, in the US, are sent out before the sample chapters and synopsis in the hope of interesting an agent enough to request them. They are basically the same as a covering letter, but with a paragraph-long synopsis that ends in a hook line. So it doesn't have to include the ending, but does have to pique the agent's interest.
They can be difficult to write - one either has the knack or one hasn't. Nathan Bransford gives a good exampe or two on his blog (Anatomy of a query letter I):
http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/
Also check out Forbe's synopsis in the S&O group, as that is the conciseness and tone you are aiming for.


- NaomiM

Naomi, you're being so helpful ... you're a star, thank you.