We are down to the final stretch in the election. Letters to the editor in support of President Obama and in opposition to Governor Romney are needed, especially in swing states.
So if you think you may want to write a letter to the editor but are not sure how to start, here is some advice/things to consider
1) Which paper should you send your letter to?
I would suggest that you pick a local paper. Newspapers are more interested in the views of members of the community (and other than large papers with a national readership like the New York Times) are not likely to publish letters written by those who do not live in the community.
If you have a choice of several papers, pick the smaller more local paper.
While larger papers get more readership, they also get more letters, so you have less of a chance of getting published. You are more likely to get published if you pick a smaller paper.
Now that you have the newspaper selected, you need to know
2) what requirements does the paper have for letters to the editor?
You can normally find this information in the website or in the paper itself. If you can't, you may want to call to ask. You should make sure that you know the following information: 1) what is the paper's deadline for receipt of the letter (since you want to make sure it is published before the election); 2) are there any limits on the size of the letters or other formatting information; 3) what information must you include with your letter (i.e. name, phone number etc. . . ); 4) whether there is a period of time you must wait before another letter written by you is published since the paper will not print a letter from you if you already had a letter published by them during this period; 5) whether the paper accepts letters by snail mail, fax or e-mail (and if e-mail the format); and 6) what manner (if any) will the paper use to verify the letter prior to publication
Now that you have this information, the next question is:
3) What should I write about?
Think about your target audience. What issues are important to them? Pick a topic that interests both you and your target audience.
Another alternative is to write a response to a letter in this week's paper written by someone opposing President Obama.
Next we then have the letter itself
4) What should I include in the letter?
That is up to you. However, I would recommend that you keep your letter fairly short, since they may not print a long letter and if they do, they might shorten it. I would also recommend that you address only a single topic in your letter. Again, keep in mind your goal is to persuade the readers of your letter (members of your local community). I would make sure that the information in your letter is factually accurate.
If you are responding to another letter to the editor in this week's paper, make sure you indicate in your letter that you are responding to the letter written by x published on y date.
Now that you are done with the letter,
5) What do you need to do to submit the letter?
Make sure that you have included your name and that you have included any other information required by the paper such as a phone number or e-mail. You should then mail, e-mail or fax the letter (however they will accept it). If by mail, you should allow enough time for the U.S. Postal Service to deliver the letter. If the paper verifies letter, you should make sure to check your messages and/or e-mail frequently in case the paper tries to verify the letter. Remember, they will not wait a long time for you to respond and will probably just move on to the next letter if they don't hear back from you fairly quickly (remember they have a deadline)
Any other comments/suggestions/tips please comment below.