Even in today’s social media world, the letters to the editor columns are among the best-read sections of any newspaper, whether it is the Smalltown News or USA Today.  It is your link to the public.  But major newspapers get hundreds of letters each week and most run only a few letters a day.

The rules for getting your letter in the paper or being posted online:

• Be timely.  If your letter is about news that’s three weeks old, nobody cares what you have to say
• Be brief.  Keep it short, simple and to the point, under 200 words.
• Have an angle.  Make sure your letter is different than the hundreds of others the newspaper receives.  Have a reason for them to run it.
• Be sure it is well-written and typed.
• Try to make reference to something that has been in the newspaper, especially in another letter to the editor.