Sfchronicle Obits Honoring Lives Preserving Stories Through Legacy Death Notices

Writing for the SF Chronicle Obituaries Section

If you are looking to submit or place an obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle, the process is not as straightforward as just emailing the editor. I have dealt with enough of these to know where people typically mess up, so here is what actually happens when you try to work through Sfchronicle Obits Honoring Lives Preserving Stories Through Legacy Death Notices. The SF Chronicle operates on a pay-to-publish model for death notices and obituaries, which is standard for major metropolitan papers. Death notices are shorter, factual announcements usually paid for by the funeral home. Obituaries are longer narrative pieces that can be submitted by family members or written by staff, but the paper has tight word limits and specific editorial standards. When I was handling these submissions regularly, one of the first things people get wrong is the distinction between a death notice and an obituary. A death notice might read something like "John Smith, 72, died on March 3rd. Service at St. Mary's. Survived by wife and two children." An obituary actually tells the story. It covers career, hobbies, community involvement, personality quirks. The Chronicle editors will reject a flat death notice if it is being submitted as an obituary, and they will flag obituaries that read like press releases.

There is no single download link or centralized portal for submitting. You either work through a funeral home that handles the placement directly with the Chronicle's advertising department, or you submit through their classifieds and display advertising page. The online form for obituaries requires basic biographical information, and they often ask for a recent photograph. That photograph needs to meet their resolution requirements, which typically means at least 300 DPI and a minimum file size. I have had submissions bounce back because someone attached a phone screenshot instead of an actual portrait. One edge case that caught me off guard: if the person died recently and the family wants the obituary published quickly, the standard turnaround is about 24 to 48 hours from acceptance to print. Rush placement is possible but costs significantly more and usually requires calling the advertising desk directly rather than using the online form. I once had a family submit online on a Thursday afternoon for a Friday publication, and by Friday morning they were panicked because the submission had not appeared. The status was stuck in review because the photo needed a caption edit that the online form did not prompt for. The workaround was to call the obituary editor directly, who expedited the caption fix and got it placed by the Friday edition. If you need fast publication, skip the online form and pick up the phone. Another thing nobody tells you is that the Chronicle will often edit your obituary without clear notification. They will trim it to fit column width, change the tone slightly, or remove certain details they deem irrelevant. This is standard practice, but it is frustrating if you do not expect it. I learned to write the full version first, then trim it down myself before submitting, which gave us more control over what actually made it to print. The difference between a 500-word draft and a 300-word final was always somewhere in the middle details like the exact names of surviving siblings' spouses or the full title of a professional certification.

The cost structure is another area where people get surprised. As of recent rates, a death notice runs roughly $200 to $400 depending on length and placement, while a full obituary with a photo can range from $400 to $900 or more, especially if you pay for extra days of online retention after the print edition. Funeral homes often bundle this into their packages, but if you are doing it directly, make sure you understand what is included. Some packages only include one day of online presence. The Chronicle keeps obituaries on their website indefinitely, but that is not always the default setting and you may need to request it separately. If you are dealing with an unusually complex situation, such as a public figure, a controversial death, or a situation where the family is fractured, the Chronicle may decline to publish an obituary or impose additional restrictions. This happened with a client of mine whose subject had a highly publicized legal case. The newspaper agreed to run a death notice but would not do a full obituary without legal review. It was not worth the fight, so we went with a paid tribute through a different outlet instead. Not every publication is the right fit for every situation, and the Chronicle is no exception. The practical takeaway is that the process works if you plan ahead, write thoroughly before submitting, and call the advertising desk for anything time sensitive. The system is bureaucratic but functional. Just do not treat it like a simple form and expect everything to go smoothly on the first attempt.