: Re: How to write a cover letter for The New Yorker fiction section? What should a cover letter for a short story contain? Do I need to tell what is it about, try to "sell" it? Should I write

Unfortunately, the magazine's website doesn't have anything useful to say. So one would imagine that standard cover letter advice would apply here. (I got some of this information from the links at the end of this answer, but have condensed, and reworded significantly.)

Your name, contact info, and a word count
Follow their cover letter guidelines (where they have them - in this case there are none)
The letter should be to a specific person, when you can do that (for The New Yorker, just "Fiction Editor, The New Yorker")
Mention the magazine, but briefly. (So that it's clear your note isn't a form letter)
Is this a simultaneous submission? Some magazines want to know that. Some don't allow it at all. (Check their guidelines.)
Keep it short. Magazines get a lot of submissions, and a long cover letter is unlikely to be read.

Since the New Yorker doesn't really say what they need, I'd either contact them and ask for clarification or find out what other writers have done. Do they even want a cover letter? Maybe this info should just be in the email? Or maybe they just want an email address and nothing else? Ask, or put together a very brief letter. (A short cover letter is unlikely to be a problem.)

More information:

The Review Review: Your Perfect Cover Letter
6 Tips for Perfect (Professional) Cover Letters for Literary Magazines

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: Re: How to write a cover letter for The New Yorker fiction section? What should a cover letter for a short story contain? Do I need to tell what is it about, try to "sell" it? Should I write

More posts by @Dunderdale623

: Are newlines effective for adding weight to certain phrases? Sometimes I'll write something where there's a few paragraphs of buildup, then a "whammy line" or two. I wrote a quick example, pretend

: Think of everything in the story in terms of "actors". Do they appear near enough to be confusable? Do they appear in contexts where one can be confused with the other? In your case

: What is this 'pretend dialogue' technique called There's a style that is popular on blogs, and takes the form of a dialogue between the reader and the author, where the author provides both

: Use of Building names in Fiction I know that using branded companies names is a no no if shown in a negative light, but what is the "legal" Stance on Buildings that get damaged/blown up/fist

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