Noticing Newbies

Hi Rebecca,
That is a very interesting question. No, you need not send a cover letter or manuscript to be viewed by a magazine. Cover letters are for resumes, and manuscripts are for Acquisition departments of publishing companies. They ask for manuscripts to view your work and determine if it is appealing for it's readers.
I am a newbie as well. However, I sent in a manuscript to a publishing company recently. Furthermore, I am currently doing intense on-line training to become a freelance writer and blogger.
In some of those courses I learnt that a writer has to write a query letter to a magazine to get the gig.