While it's harder to get published in some LTE columns than others, here are ways you can improve your odds. (Getting published in the New York Times is remarkably difficult, but also remarkably rewarding.)
You should remember that getting published is not the only value of LTEs. Honest papers print about the same proportion of LTEs on each side of the issue that they get. So if you send a letter on an issue that is not printed, then it might have prompted them to print another LTE taking a similar stand.
1) Write in response to an article.
2) Write promptly.
3) Be brief.
4) Deal with one point.
5) Use correct grammar and spelling.
6) Be reasonably courteous towards opposing views.
7) Don't copy bulk ideas.
I'll expand these rules after the jump.
1) Write in response to an article, or an editorial or a column. The LTE column isn't seen by the paper as a place to start discussion, but as a place to continue them. Besides, they want you to read their paper. Then, too, even unpublished LTEs are likely to go to the guy who wrote the original story; if you raise an issue that he hadn't covered, he's likelier to cover that issue in his next story.
2) Write promptly. These guys have short attention spans. They want something responding to the last issue before their minds are turned to the next issue. (Which gives e-mail an advantage.) The sooner you write, the more you look like a guy who reads their paper regularly. Three days later, you look like a guy who has an opinion he wants to share and found that paper in which to share it.
3) Be brief. Readers, and even editors, get impatient. The fewer words you use to make your point, the likelier you are to make it, and the much more likely your LTE is to get published.
4) Deal with one point. You're not writing an editorial or a column. Make one point and stop, even if there are 5 other points which could be made about that story or event. (If you have some friends so inclined, you can each write a LTE making a different point.)
This will make it easier to be brief, too,
5) Use correct grammar and spelling. The guys deciding whether to put your letter in their column care about those rules and what their papers look like.
6) Be reasonably courteous towards opposing views. It's fine to say "Ryan is a complete idiot" on dKos. In your LTE, you should simply point out one hole in his plan. Your intent is to persuade, not to vent. I said above that you shouldn't make more than one point, but you shouldn't make fewer than one, either. "Republicans are selfish" isn't a point. "The Republican plan finances tax cuts for the rich by leaving future seniors at the mercy of insurance companies" is a point.
7) Don't copy bulk ideas. When some campaign sends out a mailer with points you can make to your local paper, the guys who run LTE columns can tell just from their in boxes. And they hate it.
A note from hey mister:
Letters to the Editor is focused on encouraging Kossacks to complement their online activism efforts with an offline effort to engage their local community by writing letters to the editor (LTE) of local and national newspapers. DailyKos and its myriad diarists can be a great source of news, as well as offer insight into how to counter conservative arguments with progressive framing.
Let's use this resource to strengthen the progressive message and narrative as it exists in our printed media. The group will act as a resource for gathering talking points, discussion on how to best frame issues to meet the tight word count of an LTE, as well as collect LTEs that members submit.
It is not a requirement to post your LTEs to the group: since LTE's are signed with your real name, it may be your preference to not have your online identity associated with your offline identity.
Many thanks Frank for your contributions.