Thank you for writing to us with your valuable question. There are techniques you can use in contacting an editor, and you can find some of them in different sections of the Community Tool Box. We would especially recommend taking a look at Chapter 6, Section 6, on Preparing Guest Columns and Editorials, and also at Chapter 33, Sections 1 and 2, on Writing letters to the Editor and Writing Letters to Elected Officials. In addition, Chapter 6, Section 2, on Persuasion, provides some good general background.
You can find each of these sections by accessing the Tool Box Table of Contents. To summarize them in a sentence, it will help if in your communication you are both friendly, clear, and specific in your request and in asking for a reply.
In addition, there are some other questions you would want to consider. First, you want to be sure that you are communicating with the right editor. If your target is a large publication, as you indicate, there are likely to be a number of editors. Do you have the right one?
Once that has been established, what can you learn about that editor, so you can use that information in your communication?
Has the publication published reader-generated content similar to yours before? If so, you can cite that precedent as well.
And how does that editor prefer to be contacted? Is it by e-mail, as you suggest, or might it be by text, or phone call, or some other way? We probably don’t know yet until we inquire. Publications and policies vary, and you want to know the procedures that apply to your publication.
A possible strategy for you here might be to first contact not the editor, but rather an editorial assistant, who works with the editor. Then you could describe your situation, and ask directly how best to contact the actual editor and send in your materials. In other words, you can get helpful advice before you begin -- though this of course will take a little research.
We hope some of these thoughts may be helpful to you. Thanks again for being in touch, and best wishes with your news story and your important cause.
