An Idea You Wish To Get Published

So, you want to write an article? That’s good marketing. Lucky for you, there’s still an enormous number of business, trade and legal outlets that want to hear from you. So, put pen to paper and starting writing.

Sometimes it’s that getting going step that halts your masterpiece from finding its way to your target audience. So, to get you going and off to a good start, here are a few simple suggestions to help you find newsworthy topics that are important to your audience, get you over the hurdle and on you’re way to reaching potential clients.

Where do you go to find ideas in the first place?

• Talk to people. Talk to clients, attorneys, judges, and reporters in your industry for what’s trending.

• Data mine. Every day we receive conference agendas. Don’t toss them away. Looking at conference agendas is a good way to see what others are interested in hearing about. It’s a gold mine of great ideas.

• Reading the daily newspapers can be very useful in finding current legal issues. News-oriented magazines may also help you spot significant legal topics. Read online, Google headlines should provide a good list of topics that are trending. Trade publications will also be full of ideas that you can pen with a legal point of view.

• Review recent court decisions. Are any Supreme Court decisions from the last term you might want to write on? Ant situations where the circuit split? A conflict in circuits makes the topic a good one to write from both perspectives and even just one if you have a strong opinion and are willing to write about it.

• Blogs. Consider the blogs for current news issues. There are endless numbers of them. Some examples are the SCOTUSblog and WSJ Blogs/Law Blog but there are blogs for everything these days from energy to construction.

What publication do I target?

• Target publications that your clients read. If you don’t know what those are, ask them. Ask yourself, what do I read for information? What publications do you subscribe to and which do you see in your client’s office? What are the publications of the organizations you are a member. Perhaps your clients have an internal newsletter, which you can co-author an article in?

• Before you write a novel, find out if the publication takes bylined articles? Perhaps the magazine has a legal column and if they don’t perhaps they would be interested in one? Run the topic past the editor to be sure it will interest the readers or it may be one that has already been covered? Answering these questions before you write will save you time and we know how important your time is!

• Review writer guidelines before writing. Often, articles that exceed the word count will have to be edited and, footnotes and endnotes might not be welcome. Before you begin, get a hold of the outlets editorial guidelines and write within those parameters. This will give you the best chance of getting published in an outlet important to you.


Write Well
Good writing is often hard to come by. Writing skills are like muscles that grow strong through repetition. Don’t let yourself get writing skills atrophy. Keep yourself polished. Write often.
Clear and concise writing is an essential part of capturing anyone’s attention. We’ll blow through this list quickly but trust me, the reminders listed here are important!
• Keep it simple. Short sentences are better than long ones.
• The passive voice should be avoided, always.
• Do not try to write like a court. Never use exaggerated legalisms
• Do not sell too hard. Persuade.
• Never, never, never use "etc."
• Do not ask for last-minute extensions. A deadline is a deadline.

Avoid at All Cost

Keep in mind that your writing shouldn’t difficult for laymen to read and understand. Avoid was has been come to be known as Legalese, writing which is less comprehensible to the general public. Avoid long sentences, modifying clauses and complex vocabulary.

Writing is an Art

The art of writing is fundamental to getting your message out. Writing is a valuable way to communicate with your target audience so it is put it up high up on your to-do list. Good writing can make an impression, raise awareness of your expertise and sometimes it’s the difference between being taken seriously and being dismissed.

Elizabeth Lampert is President of Elizabeth Lampert PR can be found on Linkedin, Facebook and you can email her @ Lampert@elizabethlampertpr.