Self-Syndication: Choosing Your Column Topic

If you are currently writing a newspaper column for a local paper, you know what your topic will be. If you want to self-syndicate an existing column, first ensure that you have the right to do so. Review the contract you signed with the paper to make sure that you have not sold exclusive or first rights. Otherwise, you will have to self-syndicate a new column. If you have never written a newspaper column before, your choice of topic is wide open. Here are some issues to consider when choosing a topic for your column:

1. Choose a topic that you know well.

One of the main goals of self-syndicating your newspaper column is to present yourself as an expert in your field. However, it is best to not start from scratch. Choose a topic that you are already experienced in and know well. Readers can spot a phony every time. The details you include or leave out of your column will tell them whether you know what you are talking about or not.

Another reason for choosing a topic you already know is that you will be contracted by newspapers to write about it potentially for several years. Writing on deadline on a topic that you don't really care about can drag your morale down quickly.

2. Ensure your topic has wide appeal.

This is important especially if you are transforming a local column into a national one. If you write on topics that are only relevant in your region, it will not translate well to a national audience. For example, if you write a gardening column for your coastal zone 9 home in Florida, a newspaper (and its readers) in Michigan will not be interested in it. Make sure that your topic is relevant to readers all over the country.

3. Develop a unique angle on your topic.

While your column has to have wide appeal (for example, parenting or car repair), it is important to find a unique angle for your national column (such as parenting special needs children or repairing vintage Fords). At a national level, there are dozens if not hundreds of other columnists writing about these topics. Find your niche and stick with it. It's better to be the most-read columnist in a small niche than to be the 200th columnist writing about pet care.

4. Pick a topic that lends itself to many years of columns.

One caveat about developing a unique angle on your topic as discussed above is to not make your topic choice so narrow as to limit the amount you can write about it. Your column may last several years so think about how many weekly columns you could potentially write about your topic. Take a blank piece of paper and write your potential topic at the top. Begin listing sub-topics below that might turn into individual columns. If you get stuck after four or five, consider changing the focus of your topic or find a new one.