Get featured in The Des Moines Register
Iowa stories, written to the Register's standard
We write a custom feature about you and manage the placement. You approve every word before it goes live.
- You approve every word
- Unlimited revisions
- Reply within 24 hours
How do I get featured in The Des Moines Register?
We develop your story, write the feature to editorial standard, and manage the placement. You approve every word before anything goes live.
About The Des Moines Register
The Des Moines Register is the daily newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa's capital and largest city, and is owned by Gannett as part of the USA TODAY Network. It covers Iowa news, politics, business, sports, opinion and things to do.
Why a feature here matters
The Register is the paper Iowans turn to for news about their state, so a feature there carries weight with Iowa customers, employers, partners and civic leaders.
Best for: Iowa founders and business owners, agriculture and food businesses, physicians, lawyers, nonprofit and civic leaders, and experts with a genuine Iowa angle.
How coverage happens at The Des Moines Register
There are two ways in. You can approach the Register yourself: send news to the reporter who covers your subject, using the contact details on stories and on the paper's contact page, or submit a letter or guest opinion piece through the route its opinion section lists on the site. That route is free, but it is slow, and what runs is the editor's decision. The second way is to work with DNA. We develop the angle with you, write the feature to the Register's standard, and manage the placement. You approve every word before it goes live, so nothing appears that you have not signed off.
The kind of story that lands
The Register is an Iowa paper first, so the story needs a real stake in the state. Its business coverage suits a founder or executive explaining a change that affects Iowa employers, farmers, customers or jobs. Agriculture, food and rural economy stories have natural homes here, as do health and education stories rooted in Iowa communities. Its opinion pages suit an expert making a clear argument about a state issue rather than promoting an organisation. Things-to-do coverage fits venues, restaurants and cultural organisations in central Iowa with something genuinely new. Strong pieces name real people and places and give a clear reason an Iowa reader should care now. National commentary with an Iowa name added on top rarely fits.
How to Get Featured in The Des Moines Register
To get featured in The Des Moines Register, you either give its reporters an Iowa story they want to cover, submit a letter or guest opinion piece through its opinion section, or have a feature developed and placed with professional help. Every route starts with the same test: does the story matter to people in Iowa?
The do-it-yourself routes are free, but the Register's editors decide what runs and when. DNA offers another way in: we develop the story with you, write it to the Register's standard, manage the placement, and you approve every word before it goes live.
What The Des Moines Register is
The Des Moines Register is the daily newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa's capital and largest city. It is owned by Gannett and is part of the USA TODAY Network, which links local titles across the country with USA Today. The paper has a long record in political reporting and has been closely watched by national media during presidential caucus seasons, when candidates spend weeks travelling the state.
What the Register covers
Coverage is organised around news, politics, business, sports, opinion, things to do and obituaries. Local news follows Des Moines and its suburbs as well as communities across the state. Politics coverage follows the statehouse, Iowa's representatives in Washington and the caucuses. The sports pages give heavy attention to the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Iowa State Cyclones and high school sport, and agriculture and the rural economy run through the news and business pages.
How to get featured in The Des Moines Register
For news coverage, the practical route is the reporter who covers your subject. Read what they have written recently, then send a short, specific note with the facts, the people involved and a clear reason an Iowa reader should care. The paper lists contact details for its newsroom on its contact page, and reporters' details usually appear with their stories. A business story about jobs in Ankeny or West Des Moines, a health story about rural hospitals, or a farm business adapting to a new market all have a natural home. A national announcement with no Iowa connection does not.
How to submit an op-ed to The Des Moines Register
The Register's opinion section runs guest essays alongside its own editorials and letters from readers. The opinion desk accepts submissions through the route listed on its site, and that page sets out what it needs from writers. In general terms, a strong guest essay should:
- Make one clear argument about an issue that matters in Iowa.
- Come from someone with real expertise in, or direct experience of, the subject.
- Be written for the Register rather than recycled from another outlet.
- Avoid promoting your own organisation, product or campaign.
Check the current guidelines on the Register's site first, because the paper sets its own requirements and they can change.
How to submit a letter to the editor
Letters to the editor are shorter responses, usually to something the Register has published or to a live local issue. The paper explains how to send a letter on its opinion pages, and letters are generally expected to carry the writer's real name and hometown. It is not a route for introducing a business or announcing news.
How to submit a press release
A newspaper like the Register treats a press release as a starting point for a reporter rather than finished copy. Send it to the journalist who covers the subject, with a short note explaining why it matters to Iowa readers now. Check the contact page for the right desk rather than sending the same release to everyone.
What makes a strong piece for the Register
Local relevance is the first test, followed by specifics. Name the people, the town and the change, and explain the effect on Iowans. An agriculture technology founder explaining what a new approach means for growers, a physician on access to care in small towns, or an employer on hiring in central Iowa all fit. Pieces that read like marketing, or national commentary with Iowa mentioned once, do not.
How the process works
With DNA, the work runs in four steps. We check whether your story has a genuine Iowa angle and tell you plainly if it does not. You share the substance: the facts, the people and what has changed. We draft the feature to the Register's standard and revise it with you. Once you approve every word, we manage the placement and send you the live link.
How long it takes
Expect weeks rather than days for a feature, allowing time to agree the angle, draft and revise it, complete your review and manage the placement. Opinion pieces and letters you submit yourself depend entirely on the opinion desk, and many submissions are not used.
How we get you in The Des Moines Register
Questions about The Des Moines Register
Is the The Des Moines Register coverage a real, published feature?
Yes. It is a genuine article published on the outlet, written about you and your work — not an ad you design yourself.
How long does it take?
Most placements take weeks rather than days. We give you a realistic timeline for The Des Moines Register before we start, and never promise a date we cannot control.
What if I am not happy with the draft?
You review and revise until it is right. Nothing publishes without your approval.
How do I submit an op-ed to The Des Moines Register?
Follow the guest opinion route listed in the Register's opinion section, which sets out its current requirements. Send a finished piece making one clear argument on an Iowa issue, written by someone with real expertise or experience.
Can I submit a press release to The Des Moines Register?
You can send one, but treat it as a starting point for a reporter. Send it to the journalist who covers your subject with a short note explaining why it matters to Iowa readers. The contact page lists the newsroom's contact details.
How do I submit a letter to the editor of the Des Moines Register?
Use the letters route set out on the Register's opinion pages. Keep it short, respond to something timely or to the paper's own coverage, and include your real name and hometown.