Question:
what is a "cover letter"? I found that word in an English/Spanish
dictionary but it's not very clarifying the meaning I found ("carta de
explicacion").
Answer:
-It's a letter explaining why you have sent something else in the same
envelope or parcel. You might return a faulty part with a cover letter
(this would say why you had returned the part). Or you could send your
CV (=US resume) with a cover letter explaining which job you are
applying for.
-And it's seen more in the USA than in Britain, where we say "covering
letter" instead.
-A cover letter is a letter accompanying something else which explains
what the something else and why it is being sent. The something else
might be a literary work, such as an article or short story which is
being sent to a publisher. Or it might be a report or a set of
documents. A cover letter tells the recipient what is being sent,
who is sending it, and why it is being sent.
Books have been written about composing cover letters for literary
works. Editors I have spoken to tell me they don't really care
what the cover letter says, but they want a cover letter that is
very brief. They use the white space on the cover letter to make
notes about the submission and its ultimate disposition.
