Ever wonder why papers devote a page or more to letters to the editor? Because subscribers love to read them!

Letters to the editor are among a papers most popular features, so getting your name underneath a letter can be even more valuable that being quoted in a news article.

Letters to the editor can't just be about anythingthey have to be related to the news. The ones most likely to get published bring a personal perspective to a topic of national or intense local interest. Anytime one of your topics is even vaguely in the news, try writing a letter about it.

Letters to the editor should be shortno more than 200 wordsso they shouldn't take long to write. Type it up on your computer and e-mail it over to the editor. Look for your letter in the newspaper in the next few weeks, and if it appears, let your clients and colleagues know about it.

There are some newspapers that now put letters to the editor that didn't make the newspaper on their web sites. Soon, a letter to the editor may be guaranteed publicity.

Longer, signed articles called op-eds run on the same page and are spectacular showcases. Try one.