The proposal letter should be professional, concise, and brief.  Whatever you can say to the Submissions Editor that makes him or her believe that what you are showing him or her is the greatest thing in the universe is acceptable.  Make sure to sign the letter, and put all contact info at the bottom of the letter.  If you know the Editor's name, it is a good idea to use it on this letter rather than the impersonal "Submissions Editor."

Report folders are cheap, but seem to work nicely for a short sequential proposal.  The report folder is 9X 12, so when you buy envelopes, you will want to get the 10X 13 envelopes.  I put the paperclipped printout pages on the right side, and the submission letter on the left side.  I put the SASE on top of the submission letter.  It obscures the letter, but also shows the submission editor that you are interested in hearing back from him or her.  Notice that the submission letter is over just before the pocket of the report folder.  Also notice the convenient business card display area to put the business card.

The post office runs on a Landscape system.  Your envelope will be ran along the machines of the US postal system much in the way a regular letter envelope will.  Setting up the envelope in this landsacpe style will cut down on the disgruntled postal worker factor.  A large envelope like this ran through USPS systems in the portrait format will cause problems and potentially be lost in the mail.

If this little tutorial was helpful to you, please let me know.  If not, or if you have any suggestions on how to create a better submission proposal, again, let me know.  Good luck to you all.  --Casey

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