Write Your Letter to the Editor

1. Use e-mail whenever possible. Hard-copies of letters have to be hand-typed into the newspaper's production system, and many papers have limited staff to do this drudge work. But e-mail letters can be automatically transferred into the newspaper's production system, thus saving much work.

2. Know the submission rules. Some newspapers won't accept e-mail attachments because of the chance of viruses. It's best to type your letters directly into the e-mail message.

3. Get to the point in the very first sentence. You're not writing a speech and you're not writing a report. Most readers won't go past the first or second sentence if they don't grasp what your point is.

4. Keep your letter short. 200 words is best. 400 words is maximum. You should be able to print out your letter on one sheet of paper - double-spaced.

5. Include your full name, address, e-mail address and daytime telephone number. The newspaper will not publish your street address or phone number, but editors often call letter writers to verify authorship.

6. Improve your chance of being selected for publication by referring to a specific news story or editorial published in the paper. Letters that respond to something that was in the paper often get first priority.

7. Do not respond to something you saw on TV or heard on the radio. Just as newspapers like to promote themselves in letters to the editor, they rarely will promote competitors.

8. Read your letter aloud to a family member before you send it. If your listener can't understand it, then your readers won't understand it, either.

9. Keep trying. Most newspapers have a 30-day rule, or a 45-day rule on frequent contributors.

10. When you see a great letter in print (maybe even your own), let us know. Send a message to newsroom@indgop.org. We want to recognize the best Indiana letters on our Bravo Bravo! Page.