I can remember as an editor, getting letters to the editor. Sometimes, that was the first time I heard about a major story. I would give the letter to the editor to a reporter and assign the reporter the story and have them contact the letter writer. We would run both the reporter's story as well as the letter to the editor. Something as simple as a little letter can give you mountains and mountains of publicity and start building on itself. Keep in mind that the reason the editorial pages are so valuable in terms of getting publicity is because in every other part of the paper, the news editors drive the content. And in every other part of the magazine, it's the magazine editors that drive the content. On much of the editorial and op-ed pages, it's the readers who drive the content.

You can find more great information like this in How to Use Newspaper and Magazine Editorial Pages.