Which Do Newspaper Editors Prefer-- E-mail or Snail-mail?

GENERAL QUESTIONS

·	What is a “Syndicated Newspaper Column?“

·	How is an “Article” different than a “Column?”

·	How does one get syndicated?

·	Should I “syndicate” or “self-syndicate?”

·	How does Market2Editors work?

·	Which do editors prefer - e-mail or snail-mail?

·	How will my syndicated newspaper column be presented to editors?

·	Does Market2Editors send to ALL newspaper editors?

·	Are there any Newspaper Columns Market2Editors turns down?

·	How can I be sure my syndicated newspaper column isn’t seen as spam?

·	How will newspaper editors contact me?

·	What are my chances of getting published?

·	Does Market2Editors guarantee you will sell your newspaper column?

MONEY MATTERS

·	How much money does a syndicated columnist make?

·	How much should I charge for my syndicated newspaper column?

·	What are the benefits of writing a syndicated newspaper column?

·	How else can writing a syndicated newspaper column change my life?

WRITING YOUR COLUMN

·	How do I craft my syndicated newspaper column?

·	Is my column’s topic of interest to newspaper editors?

·	Do you need to be an expert to write a newspaper column?

·	Should my newspaper column be daily, weekly or monthly?

·	How many words should my newspaper column be?

·	Any tips for editing my own writing?

·	How important is my newspaper column’s title?

·	How do I write a compelling query letter?

MANAGING YOUR NEW CAREER

·	Do you have a sample contract for newspaper columnists?

·	How do I bill editors for my syndicated newspaper column?

SUBMITTING YOUR WORK

·	How many columns do I need to write to get started?

·	What are the prices and how do I order?

Wouldn’t newspaper editors be more impressed with a slicker package; folder, multiple copies, actual clips, SASE, etc.?

As newspaper readers, we are impressed with the published product. But these guys are professionals. They know what it will look like in print. They are just interested in your writing.

No matter how compelling your writing, you will find far more newspaper editors who can't use it than can. Bottom line: a newspaper column has a better chance of being published if it goes to a thousand newspaper editors than to ten. Sure it is important that a newspaper column be well-written, make use of proper grammar, is spell-checked and is presented in a professional manner. It's NOT important that it arrive in a glossy package editors know their readers won't ever see.

Wouldn’t it be easier for a newspaper editor to reject me by e-mail?

Yes. But then, publishing your article will be easier too. And I doubt there's a newspaper editor alive who'd choose a bad newspaper column over a good one simply because the bad one came in a glossy folder. In the end, your writing will have to stand on its own.

If editors prefer e-mail as you claim, why is it syndicates like King Features ask that you send hard copies of your writing?

Short answer: Because, unlike newspaper editors, syndicates ONLY consider columns for syndication. That is their only job. If they were to get email submissions, they would have to print them all out and then organize them - a lot of work.

But for editors, considering columns for inclusion in their newspaper is just a small part of their daily chores. Virtually everything else they do is done by computer - writing articles, editing them, payroll, etc. To stop and open the mail, throw it away, file it for later, or make a copy to send to various other editors is a whole lot of work. They will probably end up hating whatever it is before it even gets off their desk. Do you want that to be you?

Take me, for example. About 98 percent of what I get from potential clients comes via email. Most times I get back to them within the day, sometimes within minutes. That email stays in my InBox until I respond in some manner.

When I receive sample columns by mail, however, it gets opened on the dining room table. It sits there until I clean the table and take it - along with bills, etc. - back to my office. Then it roams around on my desk reminding me I have wrok to do. I hate to admit it but I usually don’t get around to responding until the author contacts me via email. Then if they decide to go ahead with the submission process, I have to ask that they submit their work electronically anyway.

Presenting your syndicated newspaper column to editors

The cost of syndicating your column

Recouping your investment

No doubt about it, sending a slick folder is flashier. In fact, statistics show that editors’ children possess far more shiny folders than the other kids at school. But seriously, is that what you intended for your folder?

E-mail is the method most editors prefer when receiving newspaper columns--both from their own columnists and from those submitting their newspaper column. Just like the rest of us, email makes ife easier. And M2E “desktop publishes” your submission so it makes a professional presentation.

Should you choose the U.S. mail, budget at least $2 per editor--given the cost of postage, folders, printing, SASEs, etc. Lets say you were to mail to M2E’s list of all 2,500 newspaper editors, you should budget about $5,000 for a one-time submission.

With Market2Editors, you can send to 2,500 editors for just $488. One-tenth the cost

So now you’ve spent $5,000 and have received back however many SASEs showing interest by editors. But say you want to give those editors not so enlightened another chance to buy your newspaper column. You must send them ANOTHER package, of course. At another $2 each.

With Market2Editors, you still have three more submissions.

By mailing your newspaper column & query letter, you are already $5,000 in the hole. And you will have to continue to finance your marketing at $2 a pop. You would have to be wildly successful to even begin to recoup your investment.

Were you to make $5,000, you would yield about $4500 profit vs. just breaking even were you to choose the mailing option.

Imagine having to open hundreds of envelopes per day, reading query letters and columns, and then penning a kind “no thank you” for each one. Even with a SASE enclosed, this is a lot of work -- especially considering most of what a newspaper editor receives, they simply can't use.

Like the rest of us, newspaper editors are busy people. And like us, e-mail makes their life easier.

E-mail, hands down. And for the same reasons you do.