Hey there Bonnie,
I love your columns. I took some time a couple months ago to catch up on archives, and I redesigned my website after reading your good website/bad website columns, and I get a lot of compliments on it, thank you!
I know you’ve addressed cover letters in a column or two, but I was wondering if you might be willing to do a column of good cover letter/bad cover letter, à la your columns on headshots and websites. Hopefully, you wouldn’t have the same need for volunteers, because as long as you leave out identifying information, no one will know whose cover letter it is (unlike headshots and websites).
I’ve read a lot of guidelines about cover letters, but they never seem to have examples, and I’m never really sure if what I’m writing is good or bad, or just boring.
I love your writing (I also have a couple of your books, and love them, too…), and thanks for doing what is really a great service for the acting community.
Thanks for the great email! I’m so glad you’re taking advantage of the archives here and I really appreciate the feedback.
While it’s true that I could strip away identifying information and use cover letters that have already been sent to me in order to illustrate the best and worst, I decided back when doing the first Bad Headshots/Good Headshots piece that I would try NOT to use material sent to me by actors looking to get on my radar specifically for casting purposes (as opposed to actors writing to me about my books or columns) in my columns. Sometimes I’ll bend that self-imposed rule, when it’s appropriate. But I figure I should at least give my readers a chance to step up and volunteer some brilliance first.
So, let’s see how creative you can be! Send me your best cover letters… and your worst. If I don’t get the goods, I’ll see about concocting a few really bad cover letters that are based on cover letters I’ve actually received, as well as showcasing some of the best. So, anyone feeling a bit of cover letter inspiration, reach out to me at the email address below. This should be fun!
Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!
Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/000703.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.