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HOW TO SUBMIT AN OPINION COLUMNThe Seattle Times receives dozens of unsolicited guest commentaries every week and only has spots for a few. Ken Rosenthal, our Desk Editor, has put together the guide below to help prospective writers increase their odds of getting published as a "Special to The Seattle Times." Do's and Don'ts for Op-ed WritersDO have an opinion and state it forcefully. Many opinion pieces submitted are explanations of an issue rather than knowledgeable arguments about an issue. DO present the case from the top down. It's usually better to begin with the premise of your opinion rather than assembling the facts and presenting a conclusion at the end. DO read the paper. You should at least know some of the basics: the space available daily and Sunday for op-ed material and the general format and tone of the op-eds used. DO be timely. Editorial pages prefer articles about events that are in the news today, rather than last year. DO be patient. Typically, an author will say, "I've worked on this piece for the past month ...can you get it in the paper in the next couple of days?" DO be willing to submit simple graphs and charts. They help explain the issue and often enhance the visual presentation. DO write tight. Ideally, an op-ed is between 700 and 800 words, although up to 1,000 words is possible for the right topic. A tightly written piece of 750 words often has greater impact because it is more likely to be read. DON'T use footnotes or cite references. Attribution to other authors may be done in the body of the text, but without the formalities of academic writing. DON'T demand review of editing or headlines. Titles on articles submitted are rarely used because of the nature of type size and formatting used by the paper. Most editors are willing to discuss editing changes for brevity or clarity but are seldom patient with nitpicks. Headlines are usually written by someone who specializes in that skill. DON'T submit the same piece to different papers at the same time. Editors hate to see a piece on their desk appear in a nearby paper. As a general rule, ride one horse at a time. DON'T use specialized jargon. Use common English. Where to SendAddress submissions to Lee Moriwaki Because of the volume of material we receive, we can't always respond promptly to inquiries about the status of a submission. |
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 Editorial & Opinion The Seattle Times |
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