Getting Letters Published
in Newspapers

Tired of seeing the newspapers filled with right wing drivel? Want to fight back and help get rid of the Republicans? You can make a difference. You can be a hero and save the country from the evil right wingers! And here's how you do it.

Over the last 4 years I've sent over 125,000 faxes to Congress and my list of 1100 newspapers and magazines. I've been published in hundreds of newspapers reaching millions of people. So far as I know, I am the only one who's doing what I'm doing to this extent. And it's been somewhat expensive. But times are changing and you can do what I'm doing for little or no money.

To read my recient letters to the editor, click here.

First, you will need a computer, fax modem, and software capable of faxing to a list of people. You will also need to know how to write the kind of letter that gets published. And you will need to know how to beat the long distance rates. When you do this, you will be able to reach millions of people with your message and change the world.

I'll start with the phone rates. Sprint is offering a deal where if you sign up your business with them, (I don't know the rules on home rates, but call to find out) that you get all calls made of Fridays free. That right! I said FRIDAYS FREE. Up to $1,000 per month, for one year. If you had one computer dialing fax numbers 24 hours from midnight Thursday to midnight Friday at 15 cents a minute, that $216 a week. Just under $1000 a month. And at about 1 minute per fax, that's 1440 faxes a week. And this is all for free.

This Sprint offer was supposed to end on February 15th but as of March 9th I see Sprint is still running the Free Friday's ad. But you need to sign up soon in order to get your $12,000 in free phone calls. Don't delay or you could miss out. Sprint's number is 1-800-859-3404. This offer is for BUSINESS ONLY. So you need to have a business or a friend who has a business to get this to work.

The way I see it, Sprint just made a $12,000 donation to the Clinton campaign. And it could be a lot more than that if a lot of other people besides my got involved. I'm no fan of Sprint, but free is a good price!

As you can see, if you write a good letter you can really get them pissed off. The way I see it, better they are pissed off reading my letters than me pissed off reading their letters. On thing you'll notice about the right wingers is that they are cowards. They'll send you mail, but they will never sign their name to it. This was the reaction I got from someone who read the above article in the Kansas City Star and mailed it to me.

There are a lot of good fax software packages and all of them do bulk faxing. If you call me I'll give you my list of numbers in comma delimited ascii format. When you set up your fax software, set it up to not send a cover page. This saves time and fax paper on the other end. When you prepare your document, just include the cover page information in the top half of the page you are sending and put your letter in the bottom half. That way it all fits on one sheet. If your letter is too long to fit on the bottom half, it's too long to get published.

Now that faxing is affordable, the next thing to do is start writing letters. There are several tips you need to learn to get your letter published. The most important factor is to keep it short. The shorter it is, the more likely it will fit into the limited space the paper allocates for letters to the editor. You may want to write a book on the subject, but I promise you that if it's longer that half a page you will never see it in print. Three short paragraphs is a good size letter.

As an example, here's a letter I wrote that was published in the Dallas Morning News. Not a liberal paper.


                  ==> The Three Biggest Lies of 1993 <==

   In looking back at last year, the three biggest lies of 1993 are:

    1) The check is in the mail.
    2) Of course I'll respect you in the morning.
    3) We Republicans want to see President Clinton succeed.

Here's another short letter that was published in The New York Daily News:

                     ==> Something or Nothing <==

   President Clinton in his State of the Union Address gave one of his
   typical speeches. He had a little something for everyone. However,
   when Bob Dole gave the Republican response I was surprised that he
   didn't have anything for anyone. Seems to me that something is better
   than nothing.
And here's some more real short letters:

                   ==> All Things to all People <==

   Bill Clinton is often accused by Republicans of trying to be all
   things to all people. So to distinguish himself from President
   Clinton, Bob Dole showed that he wasn't going to be anything to
   anybody. That Bob Dole -- he sure is smart!


             ==> Abolish the Department of Education? <==

   There is a reason the Republicans want to abolish the Department of
   Education. It's part of their long term strategy. The less educated
   people are, the more likely they are to vote Republican.
The next thing you want to do is to be "to the point". You have a message that you want to get across and want to focus (like a laser beam) on that message. You want the reader to know exactly what you are saying in as few words as possible. Use simple language and word your thoughts so that any idiot can understand what you are saying. Do not try to impress the reader with your command of the English language. The important thing is to get the message out.

In the following example, the first paragraph introduces the question. What it is we are talking about here. The next two paragraphs speak to the heart of the matter, and then the last paragraph is the conclusion. It is good to end with something catchy like, "Everyone is equal, but some of us are more equal than others." (Animal Farm) If you hear a cute phrase, steal it.


               ==> Why the Government is Really Shut Down <==

   People seem confused about what this government shutdown is all
   about. It is about balancing the budget in seven years? Do we use CBO
   numbers? Is that what this is REALLY all about? Not Hardly!

   What the government shutdown is about is that the super-rich want a
   massive tax cut and shift the cost of government to the working
   class. They own the Republican party, and they own the news media.
   They have stolen our country from us and are holding us hostage.

   In the 1980s they did the same thing and put us in debt, and now
   they're back to rob us a second time. These people are nothing short
   of a pack of thieves, and they do not care about your children and
   your grandchildren. That's just their slogan.

   To the Republican party, the most important thing is sincerity. Once
   you learn how to fake that, you have it made. The sun is rising, and
   it's time to wake up.
Another important factor in getting your letter published is to write about issues that are currently in the news. If the government is shut down and that's the lead story, write about that. If someone blows up an abortion clinic or a federal building, write about that. It is always better to write letters about the lead stories because editors want to print letters dealing with current issues.

When faxing letters, it is important to add this statement.

   Dear Editor: I'm sending this by fax modem so I can't sign it. If you
   need confirmation of this letter, feel free to call my voice number.
This lets them know that you are a real person and that you can be contacted. It is very important to put your real name, address, phone number, and email address in the header of your letter. If you are anonymous, you're wasting your time.

Many papers publish letters without calling you. For example, the only way I knew that I made it into the San Francisco Chronicle was that I have friends in that area that told me they saw it. You will find that you will get a lot more letters published than you know about.

You also need to be aware that some papers only publish local letters. If a paper calls you and asks to be removed from your list, just do it. Don't let it discourage you. Some papers also have a limit of one letter per month. So even though they like what you wrote, if they already published a letter from you, it might not get in.

You may be asking yourself, "How am I going to get a letter published in a big paper who must receive thousands of letters." You'd be surprised how few letters these papers get. I just got the above letter printed in the Kansas City Star. I talked to the person verifying my letter and asked her how many letters a day she gets. She said she gets about 30 a day, and they publish 8. She also said that half of them are unacceptable because they are too long or too strange. So if you write the KC Star, you have about a 50/50 chance of getting published!

I have also faxed Congress. I get a ton of form letters from them every week. I also have a number of personal letters. In 1993, the Clinton budget, moving the tax burden from the working class to the super-rich, passed the House and Senate by one vote each. During this time I faxed 5000 letters to Congress, (500 members times 10 letters), supporting the Clinton budget. Did one of my 5000 letters get that one vote? I will never know. But when Senator Kerrey crossed the line and put Clinton over the top, the reason he gave was one of the reasons I outlined in one of my letters. (If you don't know what to do, don't do what your enemies want you to do.)

Anyhow, now you know how it's done. Are you going to do it? Or are you going to be ruled by the Republicans? You can be a hero. You can make a difference. the future of the planet might depend on you. It's your choice. Go for it!

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