Writing a White Paper

White papers serve a very practical function in business communications. They are often written by individuals or companies trying to gather attention toward a potential trend, project, or new innovation. In many cases, they play a role in attracting attention for investment purposes. They are meant to provide evidence of expertise in an area by the writer. White papers generally have less of an editorial process in their publications, and this gives authors a lot of freedom and flexibility in their actual writing. They are generally very focused on a specific issue, product, or development, offering insight into the practical implications of the topic in a business environment.

A good white paper generally has the following characteristics:

• A document containing narrative text
• At least 5-6 pages long (2,500+ words)
• Portrait format (landscape tends to be for e-books)
• Educational, practical, useful information, not a sales pitch
• Used before not after a sale (info after a sale is documentation)
• Provides facts not just opinion
• Includes an introduction or executive summary at the start
• Includes a call-to-action (CTA) at the end

- From Gordon Graham an expert on white paper writing and formatting.