Great questions. I’ve asked Kineta Booker to answer these seeing as she’s an editor. (She’s still getting used to Medium so I’ve pasted her answer in for you).

“Thanks so much for your question, M.K. I definitely prefer someone to let me know their experience near the top of the email. It keeps me interested and reading more, as I want to know that they’re experienced in the subject or as a writer. There’s no need to include clips of your work in the first email, because I’ll ask for it if I want to know more. Feel free to ask us any more questions!” Kineta Booker