How to Submit an Editorial

The op-ed is one of the most effective and influential ways to share your opinion on a controversial topic. It can reach millions of readers, sway hearts and change minds, and reshape public policy.

Opinion pieces are most effective when they have a clear, persuasive and well-argued call to action. They should advocate for a specific course of action that will benefit the reader and the greater good.

1. Know Your Audience

To write an effective editorial, you need to know your audience. This will help you develop content that resonates with them and creates a loyal base of readers.

You can learn more about your audience by researching any existing data and analytics you have about them. This includes anything you’ve collected about their interactions with your product or service, customer support, and marketing efforts.

Once you have a clear understanding of your audience, choose a topic that you feel strongly about. Whether you want to make a case for protecting your state’s environment, advocating for a change in foreign policy or calling for parents to choose healthier foods for their kids, your opinion piece will be more persuasive and believable if it comes from your heart.

Next, craft an opening paragraph that hooks the reader. This can be a bold statement, an interesting observation or even a question. Then, write an informative body that objectively explains your point of view and supports it with facts and quotations from credible sources. Finally, conclude your piece with a call to action that encourages the reader to take the next step.

2. Know Your Topic

Before you start researching and writing, it’s important to know your topic. This will help you focus your research and create a well-researched, informative editorial.

When choosing a topic, begin by brainstorming the issues and aspects that initially piqued your interest in the subject area. This can be done by looking online, reading in the library or speaking with friends and family.

Once you have a few ideas, narrow them down and select one topic that is relevant to your audience. Your topic should be a subject matter you are familiar with or have strong personal connections to, but it also needs to be something that you can write about with passion and persuasively advocate for.

Depending on your outlet, it’s often more effective to submit your piece after a news event occurs, because this will allow you to tie your topic to the latest happenings in the world of media and politics. Try to submit your op-ed within 36 hours of a big news event and look ahead to holidays and events that might offer fresh opportunities.

3. Know Yourself

When it comes to submitting an editorial, knowing yourself is key. You need to know your strengths and weaknesses so that you can write something that will resonate with your target audience.

A good editorial should be a combination of facts, statistics, anecdotes and experiences, but it must also make an argument. It should be able to convince readers to believe in your cause or change their mind about a controversial topic.

The best way to do this is by reading a lot, listening to podcasts and other audio content. It’s also a good idea to read a variety of newspapers and magazines so that you can get a feel for their style and tone.

Finally, be sure to research the types of op-ed pieces that are most likely to be published at your target outlets. This will help you choose a topic and writing style that will be most appealing to their editorial staff. This will result in a piece that will stand out from the crowd. It will be a clear winner and you’ll be proud to have had a hand in it.

4. Know Your Opponents

A great op-ed can be an effective way to build support for an issue, as well as to derail opposing views. It should also be a compelling call to action for readers.

Op-eds should be based in fact and provide current information, as well as clear explanations of what your opinion is about. They shouldn’t be loaded with jargon or acronyms, as this may turn off readers.

An op-ed should not be a long essay; most are limited to less than 1,000 words. Be sure to follow publication requirements, as this may determine whether your piece will be published or retracted.

It is also important to know your opponents and their tactics. Having a list of them will allow you to understand their strategies and defuse their threats.

Once you’ve identified your opponents, fill out a table identifying each group and how they might lose (and gain) if you win. This will help you recognize their strategies, such as deflecting, tying up the issue, and passing the buck to lower officials.

5. Know Yourself as a Writer

One of the best ways to know your writerly self is to write. This is the kind of practice that Julia Cameron teaches in her Morning Pages or Natalie Goldberg suggests in her freewriting exercises. The practice of writing can bring you new insights about yourself, your life, and your writing, and it can help you become a happier writer by introducing fresh perspective to every project.

When submitting an editorial, start by getting in touch with your target editors and finding out what they are looking for. They are usually in need of opinion essays, letters to the editor or op-eds from people with special expertise on the topic. You can also find out what their publication guidelines are, and how long the pieces typically run (usually 550-750 words) to get an idea of your chances of being published there.

Send your ideas by email and include a short note in the body of the email explaining what the piece gets at and why you’re the person to do it. Then include your contact info and a 3-5 sentence bio. You can follow up with a phone call or letter a few days after submitting to ask if the editor has received your submission and made a decision.

6. Know Yourself as a Communicator

Whether you’re writing a letter to the editor or submitting an op-ed, it pays to know yourself as a communicator. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses may also help you to spot opportunities for growth.

One of the best ways to do that is to ask people around you how they perceive your communication skills. Others will be able to point out areas that need improvement, as well as strengths you may not have thought about.

You might even consider asking for feedback from your supervisor. They might be able to tell you what the most effective communication technique is for a certain situation.

Once you have this information, it’s time to put it into practice. When you’re drafting an op-ed or writing a letter to the editor, follow the outlet’s guidelines for submissions and make sure your piece is the best that it can be. The most important aspect of a good piece of writing is that it communicates a clear message. It should be a concise and persuasive statement of your opinion, with a well-thought-out call to action.

7. Know Yourself as a Thinker

Whether you’re writing an editorial or any other type of communication, knowing your self as a thinker is essential. Being aware of your automatic thoughts, for example, is an important way to challenge irrational thought patterns.

In order to be able to do this, you need to identify your core values and beliefs. Then, you can use those beliefs as a guideline when writing your content.

When you know your own thinking patterns, you’ll be better able to write an editorial that resonates with your readers. This will help them connect with your message and take action.

Editorials usually address a current news issue and aim to persuade the reader to adopt a certain perspective. They also refute the opposing viewpoint and provide evidence to support their argument.

Good editorials are brief and clear, presenting a strong argument that gets readers to think about the topic. They use facts, details, figures, and quotations to back up their claims.

8. Know Yourself as a Communicator

Knowing yourself and how others view you is a surefire way to improve your communication skills. This includes knowing your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your personal style.

If you’re considering writing an op-ed piece, there are plenty of resources out there to help you. For starters, most outlets now post guidelines about how they prefer to receive op-ed submissions. In general, they provide an email address where you can submit your piece electronically.

The op-ed lingo is pretty straight forward: write an article that gets at the heart of your topic while offering up a few entertaining zingers for the reader to chew on. A good way to do this is to include a few examples from your own life that illustrate how your point of view has changed.

Finally, be sure to do a bit of research on your own before you send off your submission. A quick web search will usually produce a list of the top op-ed sites in your area. Almost all will have a catchy title for their main page and an op-ed page where you can get more information on the ins and outs of the process.