Writing isn't communicating. Publishing is communicating.
I've spent almost 25 years involved in the global fight to end tuberculosis. The TB field has a mantra: a decision to test is a decision to treat. In other words, any person who receives a TB diagnosis must then get access to treatment. You never tell someone she has tuberculosis and then leave her hanging.
At Etalia, we apply the same principle to working with clients on Op-Ed articles: a decision to write is a decision to publish.
When we sign up to help you write an Op-Ed, we're going to see it published — not just on your blog or LinkedIn, or as a paid article placement the way many PR firms these days convince their clients to do, but in a media outlet that commands attention and respect.
A decision to write is a decision to publish.
That's why we put so much thought into designing a system of Op-Ed writing, part of a broader strategic science communication practice, that eliminates risk of failure at every point in the process — from coming up with ideas to pitching them for publication. Having a bullet-proof pitching strategy is just as important as writing a great article, because it's the act of pitching that transforms an Op-Ed from a draft into a publication.
Here are five approaches we follow that have allowed our team to consistently publish health and science Op-Eds over the last 15 years.
Build (but don't depend on) relationships with opinion editors
Understanding how opinion media differs from traditional journalism is the first key to getting an Op-Ed published.
The PR industry trades on relationships with journalists. You pay a PR agency or consultant in part for quick access to the reporters in their network — which makes some sense, since most journalists cover specific beats and depend on trusted sources within them. Journalists also get flooded with pitches that have nothing to do with their beat, so they constantly ignore submissions from people they don't know or trust. When you hire PR experts, part of what you're paying for is the trust they've already built with those journalists.
Clients often come to us assuming what they're paying for is our relationships with opinion editors — the people at media outlets who decide what Op-Eds run. We do maintain relationships with key editors, and it may mean some open our pitch sooner than they otherwise would. But no self-respecting opinion editor is going to publish an Op-Ed just because they know the person who submitted it. Op-Eds were designed to be submitted by anyone.
What matters more than an editor relationship is a compelling point of view, driven by an effective pitching strategy. Ask yourself:
Is your pitch incredibly timely — is it about something people care about right now?
Is it clear you have experience that puts you in the middle of the issue?
Do you have a point of view that will genuinely change how others understand the issue?
Did you package the Op-Ed and pitch note the way that specific outlet requires?
Write a subject line that opinion editors open
Op-Ed pitching happens by email, with a small handful of exceptions (the Washington Post, for instance, uses an online submission portal). So before anything else, you need your email opened.
It helps to think about what won't get it opened. If you're an opinion editor at the New York Times fielding roughly a thousand unsolicited submissions a week, you're not opening every one — you have an algorithm for eliminating most of them by subject line alone. The first step is to not get immediately eliminated.
We keep these out of every subject line:
Exclamation points
ALL CAPS
Scientific jargon
Clichés
Sensational language
Forgettable or bland language
Our rule of thumb: be pithy, state an opinion, and stick to truth in advertising. We often use the Op-Ed's own headline right in the subject line, since it gives a clear, honest through-line to the pitch. If an editor passes, it's because they're not interested in that opinion — which is fine, since we're already pitching the next outlet.
Subject lines from pitches that have been accepted for publication:
Submission: New Lancet study holds keys to countering health misinformation
Submission: Why every country needs a public health agency
Submission: Africa must chart a new path to malaria eradication
Submission: The key to global health? Radical listening
Submission: Stop punishing the clinicians who would make healthcare cheaper
We include the word "Submission" to immediately signal we're not spamming them — we're submitting an Op-Ed.
Write a pitch email that keeps editors reading
Clients often ask whether they need to pitch the full Op-Ed or send a shorter pitch first. In the vast majority of cases, editors want the full draft. But that doesn't mean they open the email and dive straight into the article — the pitch note comes first.
The pitch note is the short message at the top of the email that stokes an editor's interest in reading further. It answers three questions: What's the Op-Ed about? Why does it matter right now? Why is the author a credible voice on the issue? That's it. Our job is to make it as easy as possible for the editor to decide to keep reading.
Pitch persistently
We regularly hear from potential clients who wrote an Op-Ed, sent it to the New York Times, got no response, and gave up. We build robust lists of outlets in range for each piece — the more outlets we can pitch, the greater our odds of publication.
These lists typically mix major national outlets (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Guardian), state-level outlets that publish health and science coverage (Chicago Tribune, NY Daily News, Dallas Morning News), and outlets of record in health and science specifically (STAT, Health Affairs Forefront, Undark). Then we follow up consistently with every editor. Like hockey players working to maximize shots on goal, we target as many outlets as it takes to see the piece published.
Continually adapt the Op-Ed to keep it relevant
We never limit ourselves to a single version. As we pitch down the target list, we fine-tune every draft and every pitch email as needed — sometimes shortening or lengthening it to match an outlet's word count, sometimes tweaking the opening to hook it to breaking news, sometimes incorporating a new study or poll to strengthen the evidence base while making it more current.
Adapting this way keeps every pitch fresh and shows how the opinion is relevant to what's happening in the real world — exactly what an Op-Ed needs to be.
Taking the long view
Following this approach, every science and health Op-Ed we've worked with clients to develop over the last decade has been published.
In assisting clients with their opinion media strategy, our goal is to support experts and executives in health and science to become visible, trustworthy voices on the most important scientific issues facing society today.
Want the complete playbook? Download Etalia's guide, How to Turn Your Research Insights Into Op-Eds, and start turning your research into published pieces that reach the people who need to hear them.
