As a blogger, you know the power of passionate expression and insightful analysis. Don't you wish you saw more of that on the op-ed pages (print and online) of major magazines and newspapers? Would you like to place your own op-eds in widely read publications that expand your outreach?
Like blog posts, well-written and timely opinion pieces help you create visibility for a cause and steer public discourse by offering a clear viewpoint on important and controversial issues.
But few know how to plan, pitch and publish op-eds. So getting that well-written op-ed into a chosen news outlet can be a mind-numbing, nail-biting, wall-hitting process.
How to Minimize the Pain and Maximize the Results
If you'd like to know more about how to advance your issues and publicize your positions through op-eds, read on. And if you have some of your own hard-won wisdom to share, please tell us your tips in the comments thread.
Here are some tips how to minimize the pain and maximize the results. This is the collective wisdom of the Communications team where I work at Physicians for Human Rights.*
Dos
• Give editors at least a week’s lead time so they can make room for the op-ed. Since op-eds aren’t breaking news stories, editors often plan them in advance.
• Track the news and jump at opportunities – if an issue is dominating the news, then that’s what readers want to read and op-ed publishers want to publish. Make your op-ed timely or unique. Is the op-ed hooked to a piece of legislation, the release of a report, a significant anniversary date, an upcoming speaking event or any other noteworthy event?
• Write an outline of the op-ed first. An outline gives you direction and focus. Prepare a four-sentence sample of the op-ed, which will be sent to the editor during the pre-pitch period. Pre-pitching is when you approach an editor with a proposal and outline for an op-ed. If the editor gives you the go-ahead, she or he will most likely work with you throughout the writing process.
• Limit the piece to 750 words – shorter is better and newspapers and websites have limited space. Editors generally don’t have the time to cut down a longer piece.
• Make a single point – well. You can’t solve the world’s problems in 750 words. Make a single point clearly and persuasively. If you can’t explain your message in a sentence or two, you trying to cover too much.
• Have a clear editorial viewpoint. Come down hard on one side and use clear, powerful and direct language.
• Put your main point at the top. Hook your reader in the first paragraph and tell them why they should care. Start with your conclusion and then support it with information and analysis.
• Contextualize and humanize your op-ed. Put anecdotes, real life stories and personal dramas in it. An op-ed is an expression of opinion.
• Offer specific recommendations – an op-ed is not a news story; it is your opinion about how to improve matters. Don’t be satisfied with mere analysis – you need to offer recommendations.
• Make your ending a winner and include a call to action if appropriate. Near the end, clearly re-state your position and issue a call to action. This is one of the easiest ways to engage readers and generate advocacy support.
• Build a working relationship with an op-ed person at the targeted publication. Get to know someone who works in the Op-Ed Department. This is important for pre-pitching.
• Have a concrete date in mind for when you want this op-ed to appear. This helps everyone involved plan the pre-pitching, writing and editing schedule.
• Solicit and accept the editorial advice of others. The writing process can be collaborative. Your lead and closing sentences are the two most important parts of an op-ed. Ask your colleagues to help you make them as effective as possible.
• Consider pitching your op-ed to a local or regional newspaper. You have a much better chance of getting published in a local newspaper than a national or international paper. Members of Congress and other influential people do read their local newspapers and magazines. Besides, all local newspapers are picked up on Google News, so everyone can find your op-ed online.
• Consider co-authoring with a leader from a local organization to get the local angle to your op-ed (especially if your target publication is a regional paper in that area). A local organization might have connections to editors at the paper and can help generate community support.
• Include a brief bio – along with your e-mailing address and mailing address at the bottom.
• Submit your op-ed exclusively to your publication of choice, give them some time to respond, and then follow up with a polite call to ask if they're interested or if you are free to place your op-ed elsewhere.
Don'ts
• Don't fill up the op-ed with jargon, statistics and bureaucratese. Newspapers are concerned with reaching out to Average Joe and Jane America, which is why they rarely exceed a grade 9 reading level. Express your ideas in language everyone can understand.
• Don't be too disappointed if your piece doesn’t run after all. Determining what gets published in a newspaper is a series of compromises and even the best pieces can die at an editorial meeting. Retool it, pitch it to another publication or post it as your personal blog.
Example of a Strong Op-Ed
Here's an example of an effective op-ed ("Burma's Rising Toll: The Junta Widens a War on Ethnic Groups") which ran September 3, 2009, in the Washington Post. It was co-authored by Chris Beyrer, director of Johns Hopkins University's Center for Public Health and Human Rights; and Richard Sollom, who leads the Burma Project at Physicians for Human Rights.
This opinion piece begins with several strong news hooks, ends with specific recommendations, and uses compelling quotes and anecdotes to build a case for the international community to "stop the campaign of bloodshed against Burma's ethnic peoples."
Do you have any practical advice on how to plan, pitch, and place op-eds? Please share.
* Special thanks to Josephine Lee and Cathy Robinson who helped in editing these tips. NB: I left Physicians for Human Rights in January 2010 to take a new position.