Opinion

Tips for writing Guest Columns

The Star encourages readers to submit Guest Columns on topics in which they have special interest or special knowledge. The guidelines are as follows:

• The commentary must be an argument, as opposed to an essay written to inform or to educate. Essays that primarily inform or educate have a proper place, but that place is not the Opinion page.
• Maximum length is 500 words. We can stretch that limit somewhat in either direction, but only somewhat.
• We strongly prefer Guest Columns on local or state issues.
• We discourage commentaries that refute point-by-point a previous Guest Column or syndicated column. The goal should not be to counter a previous argument, but to put forth your own vision of the issue.
• If you are responding to a commentary published earlier, your best vehicle is a letter to the editor, not a Guest Column.
• It is not necessary to call or e-mail beforehand to gain approval of your proposed Guest Column. Just write it and send it. Most Guest Columns come to us this way. If you wish to check beforehand anyway, call Martin Rosales at 573-4236, or e-mail him at letters@azstarnet.com
• We use several criteria in choosing which Guest Columns to publish:
  — Does it appear to add to the public debate?
  — Is it an important issue?
  — Will it be interesting to our readers?
  — Does the writer appear to be a credible voice on the topic?
  — Is it clear and focused?
  — Is it timely?
  — Is it written for a general audience?
  — Can it be understood by somebody without a special background or expertise?
  — Is the writer local? We generally reject submissions from outside the Tucson area.
  — Does it libel anybody? If so, we won't publish it.
• We discourage the use of special formats, such as Question and Answer, tongue-in-cheek submissions, or long lists. We much prefer straightforward arguments of your point of view.
• We accept submissions by e-mail or postal mail, but we much prefer e-mail submissions. We suggest using the e-mail address for letters to the editor because it replies with an automatic response that lets the sender know his or her letter has been received. With that said, here are the addresses:
  E-mail: letters@azstarnet.com
  Mail: Guest Columns, P.O. Box 26807, Tucson, AZ 85726-6807
• Be sure to annotate all facts and figures.
• Be sure to put a one-sentence description of yourself at the end of the Guest Column.
• Be sure to include your name, address and phone number, so that we can contact you.
• We do not accept Guest Columns that are simultaneously submitted to other newspapers that circulate within the Tucson area.
• We discourage submissions by national interest groups. We almost never publish a commentary written by somebody outside our market area.
• Free-lancers and professional writers especially will be interested in knowing that we do not pay for Guest Columns.
• There is no set schedule for publishing Guest Columns. We publish them on every day of the week. Some months we publish many; other months few. That depends on their availability and suitability.
• Please be aware that we receive more Guest Columns than we can publish. Unfortunately, we cannot acknowledge those that we decide not to publish.