Helpful Hints for Writing a Letter to the Editor

Submission guidelines

1. Keep your letter short. Most newspapers have word limits for published letters to the editor – usually 250 or less. You can usually find a newspaper’s LTE guidelines in its online opinion section. Letters will not be published if you exceed the paper’s recommended length.
2. Submit the LTE correctly. Most papers require that the text of an LTE by copied and pasted into the body of an email when sent electronically. Submissions that are sent as attachments are usually discarded without consideration.
3. Make sure to include all required information when sending your letter in. Newspapers generally require your contact information to publish your letter. Find out exactly what they need (usually in the opinion section) and include all the information with your submission.

Content guidelines

1. Write only on ONE topic. Letters that try to cover more than one topic are rarely published (and hard to write in less than 250 words). In this case, you are writing on the IMPACT Act, so that should help keep you focused.
2. Tell a personal story whenever possible. Try to find a personal connection to the issue. Doing so makes your letter much more powerful. For example, your letter will be more compelling if your perspective is that of a laid-off manufacturing worker who is excited about the opportunity to go back to work making parts for wind turbines. Or maybe you know a relative, a member of your church, or a neighbor who is unemployed—and to whom an investment in clean energy manufacturing could make the difference in them getting back to work.
3. Include a local angle whenever possible. Do you live near a recently shuttered automobile factory or parts supplier? Referencing the potential for clean energy manufacturing to put people back to work at the local factory in your community makes your letter more compelling.
4. Let us know! Please let us know (you can blind copy us via email) when you send a letter AND when it is printed!