Submission
Once your piece is ready, the next hurdle is getting it published. This section provides some guidance on landing your piece at a great publication.
Last updated
Was this helpful?
Once your piece is ready, the next hurdle is getting it published. This section provides some guidance on landing your piece at a great publication.
Last updated
Was this helpful?
Choose the right publication. Identify media outlets that align with your target audience and the topic of your piece by reviewing what types of things they typically publish. Look through their recent opinion pieces to avoid redundancy.
Craft a strong . Send a concise and engaging message to the editor when submitting your piece.
Write a compelling headline. The editor may end up changing it before publication, but it’s a good way to capture their attention and summarize your angle.
Submit a polished piece. It should be free of any errors, read smoothly, and rely on credible sources.
Have some backups. It’s common for op-eds to be rejected before finding the right fit. Keep refining your writing and targeting other publications.
When your piece is edited and polished, you can work with PAF Press Lead, to begin submitting it to news outlets for placement by following the instructions below.
Review submission guidelines for the publication that you’re targeting. You can usually find instructions for submission on their website. Closely follow the instructions.
Include your piece in the body of your email. If the publication requires you to email your piece rather than filling out a submission form, make sure to include it directly in the body of your email rather than as an attachment.
Make an outreach plan. Submit your piece to your preferred publication, then follow up to give that editor a deadline by which you’ll begin submitting to other outlets.
Follow up! Be sure to reach back out to editors if you don’t hear from them to make sure that your submission wasn’t missed. For an op-ed, you should follow up after about a week. For an LTE or time-sensitive piece, you could follow up after about 24-48 hours.
Reach out to other outlets. If the first outlet doesn’t respond, don’t be discouraged. Repeat the process for the second most ideal outlet, and line up a few other backups. Even the best pieces can see multiple rejections before an editor accepts them, but do take a look at your piece before you submit it again in case you see anything to improve.
In order to get your piece published at an outlet, you need to pitch it to the editor in your submission email. Write a short pitch to explain why your piece is of interest to the publication’s readership, as well as any connection you have to the issue. It can also be helpful to explain why you’re specifically interested in being published at that outlet.
Here’s an example of an email pitch sent to The Denver Gazette with an op-ed responding to a recent news story they published. This op-ed was published by the Gazette.
Hi Gazette editorial team,
Given the Gazette's commitment to fairness, I wanted to offer a response op-ed that addresses these flaws and provides voters with a more comprehensive perspective on the ban's potential impacts. As the Gazette ran the original story, I'd like to offer it exclusively to you all first, if interested. Let me know!
Below is a draft of the response. Thank you!
News outlets get buried in emails every day, and may need a nudge to make sure they see your email and consider your piece. It's good practice to provide a deadline so that you can begin pitching elsewhere if you don't get a response. As LTEs are often time sensitive, you'll want to bump them after a day or two. For op-eds, it's best practice to give them about a week unless there are specific time constraints. Below is an example of a follow-up email:
Hi Megan,
Hope you're having a great week! Just checking in once more to see if you are planning to pick up Justin's piece as our second "pro" op-ed on the slaughterhouse measure to align with the two guest "con" op-eds.
Can you let me know if you plan to publish it by EOD Friday so I can begin pitching elsewhere if needed?
Thank you!
I'm reaching out regarding the Gazette's recent on a CSU report which claims that Denver's proposed slaughterhouse ban could cost Colorado's economy $861 million. I lead communications for the proposed measure, and had the study reviewed by several experts who found it to be quite flawed.