Sample Letter to Request Documentation from Authors

Sometimes it may be necessary to contact an author or publisher for documentation purposes. In that case, you'll want to develop a letter like the sample below explaining who you are and why you need this information.

Dear (Author/Publisher),

I am a (student/coach/librarian) from (your high school), in (your city), Texas. I (participate/work with students) in an academic competition sanctioned by the Texas University Interscholastic League of the University of Texas. The nature of the competition is the performance of prose and poetry literature.

For the purposes of this oral reading competition, there are prescribed categories of literature and one of the contest rules is that we must meet documentation requirements for the literature that we are using. This year, we must provide proof that (the literary work has been published in hard copy, etc.)

You may view these requirements at the links below:

(Prose) http://www.uiltexas.org/speech/oral-interp/2017-2018-prose-categories

(Poetry) http://www.uiltexas.org/speech/oral-interp/2017-2018-poetry-categories

Can you confirm that (your literary work has been published in hard copy, etc.) by clicking “reply” directly to this email and including a statement of confirmation?

I appreciate your time and look forward to your future publications.

Kind regards,

(your name)

(your contact signature)