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Wowsers Kris! When we take pen in hand (or keyboard) and attempt to reach out with a few simple truths to share with our brothers or sisters still in bondage, it shows both serious commitment to your own beliefs and a genuine concern for our nicotine dependent neighbors. It has me smiling ; )
Although it can be done, getting a letter to the editor published that contains a URL (internet address) is not as easy as it sounds. Editors clearly don't have time to fully investigate the content of each letter and with so many hoaxes on the internet, they have to be very careful about allowing internet addresses to get through. Using the word "free" can help a bit but only goes so far in the Editor's mind.
Just rough guesses but after being successful at having more than one hundred cessation education letters to the editor published while having possibly a thousand or so rejected (they never send denials but your letter just doesn't get published) I've developed a few thoughts on how best to get the cessation message out.
1. The shorter your letter to the editor the better chance it has of being pimageublished. Each online or print newspaper usually has a specific limitation on the number of words that they'll allow and with hundreds or thousands of letters arriving they just don't have the time to see how each would read if edited and shortened. As a rule of thumb, the bigger the newspaper's circulation the fewer words you'll be allowed and the smaller the paper, the more flexibility they have in letting readers go over the limit just a wee bit.
If you compose a letter in Word Perfect or Word you can click on File, then Properties, then Information to see the number of words. It isn't easy to keep your message under 250, 200, or even 150 words but it can be fun trying. For a good chance of getting published I recommend 50 words less than their limit. The are always space fillers to round things out, so if you can keep your message 100 or more words under their word limit you have an excellent chance of getting your few thoughts shared.
2. URL's - If you are writing to your hometown or area newspaper it is far far easier to have a URL published than doing so in letters to another area. Keep in mind that the paper caters to local readership and they truly do want to make a difference in local community. With a few exceptions (the big big papers) they do NOT want the paper becoming a sounding board for non-residents of the area.
I recommend that you NOT use the full URL but only "WhyQuit" as it will get them here. In the minds of many editors .com (a commercial site) means $$$$ and someone seeking to profit while .org (an organization) means a not for profit organization. Both internet addresses WhyQuit.org and WhyQuit.com tie into WhyQuit.com so simply saying "WhyQuit" will do the trick and not seem as threatening to editors as a full http://www.WhyQuit.com
When composing a letter to the local paper describing us can be just as effective as including a URL. If a reader types "cold turkey quit smoking support group" into their favorite search engine I'm pretty confident we'll pop-up near the top of the page and it will dramatically increase the odds of your letter being published. Describing the resources and tools available to them online will give them more info than the possibly need to find us.
3. Answering Letter to Editor Cries for Help - If you read a story about a smoker struggling to quit, editors LOVE having follow-up letters to the editor that offer meaningful insights, even if the come from the other side of the planet. With these you might even get away with including a URL in the last 50 words but make sure the paragraph containing the URL can be easily deleted (edited out) without your entire letter losing its core message or theme.
4. Quitting Tip Articles - The editors of almost all newspapers imagewithin your state, province, shire or territory would love to print an entire quitting tips article (news story) containing effective advice, or possibly even a story on how you quit. Again, the small the paper the more likely it is to get accepted for publication. Here in S.C. I've been successful in getting scores and scores of quitting tips type articles published in small and large newspapers across our state.
Congratulations Kris on your obvious commitment to living life as "you!" Sharing what we've learned with others is fantastic but what's more important is in each and every one of us remaining nicotine free today and to do so is as simple as ... Never Take Another Puff!
Breathe deep, hug hard, live long! John (Gold)