Writing an article or press release is one thing; winning an editor's favorable opinion is something else -- and far more important. Editors are gatekeepers: If your message doesn't resonate with them, it'll never reach their readers.

Put yourself in the editor's shoes.
The economics aren't complex. The more readers, the more ad revenue; the greater the ad revenue, the greater the likelihood the editor will keep her job. She needs to fulfill her periodical's promise to provide meaningful, relevant content to her readers. You want to be in her pages? Help her with her mission.

"Why is this important to my readers?"
That's the key question asked of every release and article that comes over the transom. Your job is to answer it. So skip the hyperbole about your company's importance, the significance of your vision or the "excitement" surrounding your new product. Instead, go straight for the why: Why does your message matter to readers?

In press releases:
Be sure to articulate the significance of your announcement by the standards that matter -- those of your audience. Suppose you're announcing a new software release. What does it offer, or what need does it fulfill, that hasn't been offered or fulfilled before? Announcing an event? Then articulate the value of attending: What will participants get by coming?

In your query letters:
When you submit an article for an editor's consideration, be sure your cover note connects your article's message to the readers' interests. There's no need to extensively summarize the article beyond a sentence or two. Instead, articulate the article's significance. Perhaps it addresses an emerging trend. Or offers a contrary perspective to conventional wisdom. Or helps readers do something practical, like save money on taxes or lower cholesterol levels. Whatever your subject, your cover note must complete this thought: "Readers will appreciate my article because..."

The greater the relevance, the greater the reward.
Look, editors are overwhelmed with writers who want space in their pages. But they don't have enough who understand their needs. Be one of the few who really get it -- who understand who the editor's readers are and what they want -- and you stand a good chance not just of making that one-shot hit, but of being a favored source for future publications.

Jonathan Kranz

Today, I enjoy the confidence of numerous marketing and advertising agencies, but unlike most independent copywriters, my career didn't begin with them. Instead, I had stints as a follow-spot operator in a regional theater, a park ranger on an allegedly haunted island in Boston Harbor, and as a summarizer of documents in large-scale litigations (think: Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener).

After completing my MFA in Creative Writing in 1995 (and publishing a number of short stories in literary journals such as the Missouri Review and the Green Mountains Review), I leap-frogged agency life and jumped into freelancing with both feet. Since then, I've written a huge stack of advertising, direct marketing, and public relations materials for consumer and B2B clients in financial services, banking, insurance, high-tech, healthcare, education, and other industries. I don't enter award shows myself, but my clients have submitted material, with my copy, that has won a number of honors, including the 2004 New England Direct Marketing Association's Awards for Creative Excellence “Best of Show” gold medal.

On the side, I've written columns for local newspapers and have been a guest essayist on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. I've taught writing courses at Harvard University Extension School, Emerson College and Northeastern University, and I'm currently president of the Southern New England Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archeology.

I live in Melrose, Massachusetts with my wife, Eileen; two daughters, Rebecca and Anastasia; and a vast collection of LP records.