Re: Doing a newsletter?

Subject: Re: Doing a newsletter?
From: "Jennifer O Neill" <jennifer -dot- oneill -at- village -dot- uunet -dot- be>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 20:15:56 +0200

I'd like to thank everyone for giving me advice on doing my first
newsletter. I should have mentioned it when I asked the question: e will be
releasing the newsleter as pdf only. No paper. The voluntary organisation
for whom I'm doing the newsletter wants to cut costs and nearly everyone on
the mailing list has email.

However, where I work (not doing newsletters) our newsletter is 6 pages
folded. Don't know the impact it has cost. But considering the number of
colours and paper weight, cost may not be an issue.

Cheers,

Jennifer

----- Original Message -----
From: Hart, Geoff <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>
To: Techwr-L (E-mail) <TECHWR-L -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>; 'Jennifer O Neill'
<jennifer -dot- oneill -at- village -dot- uunet -dot- be>
Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2001 5:20 PM
Subject: Doing a newsletter?


> Jennifer O Neill wonders: <<I'm looking at an empty template of a brand
new
> newsletter which will be 6 pages.>>
>
> As others have noted, 6 pages is an awkward length unless you're printing
> individual pages and either stapling them at the top left corner, or
binding
> them with plastic comb binding. If you're doing saddle stitching (staple
> down the spine), production becomes a bit awkward because this process
works
> best with pages produced in multiples of 4 pages, which can be folder
around
> each other: with 6 pages, you must either "tip in" the sixth page (by
adding
> a tiny stub that folds into the center and holds the staple) or use a
> foldout page that folds into the center of the newsletter. Both add to the
> cost and increase the risk of production errors. Sometimes going to 8
pages
> makes more sense despite the additional cost; among other things, it lets
> you create a wraparound cover that protects the insides from damage during
> mailing and may even eliminate the need for an envelope. (Talk to your
local
> post office for details; the savings in envelope and postage costs may
> easily cover the additional cost of the added pages.) Covers also protect
> publications upon arrival; for example, many libraries apply a sticker or
> stamp to the first page, and it can cover up important text. Moreover, the
> cover of a report is often torn off during repeated handling of the
> publication, which is one reason why all well-designed books repeat the
> title and other publishing information on the first page inside the cover.
>
> <<Besides putting the editorial and President's Letter on the front page
and
> the list of the board members on the back, anything can go anywhere.>>
>
> The front page is the position of greatest influence, since it's what
people
> see first; unless the president's message is particularly compelling,
> readers get the impression "more boring corporate flak", and don't bother
> opening the newsletter. Adding a short table of contents to the front
page
> can sometimes compensate, but that's not guaranteed to overcome a bad
first
> impression; if you use a cover, you can splash teaser headlines (e.g.,
> "President Bill spills his guts") to persuade people to open it. The back
> page is less important, but because a newsletter may arrive face down
(i.e.,
> with the back showing), you'll definitely want to put something attractive
> there. Put the Board on the inside back cover if you use a cover. Don't
> forget a masthead (contact information and staff names) inside the
> newsletter so readers can contact you easily.
>
> <<How do people plan what goes where?>>
>
> By examining both the interest level of each article (most interesting
> first) and the available space (some articles might not fit in a
particular
> position because of layout constraints). But you also have to avoid
> unfortunate juxtapositions, such as the president's "don't worry!" message
> right next to an article about layoffs: conflicting messages! Conversely,
> some things are related, and belong together. One trick newspapers use is
to
> put a wide variety of incomplete articles on the first page, so as to
> increase the chance that at least one article will inspire someone
skimming
> that page to actually keep reading. If you're selling advertising,
breaking
> articles up also forces readers to flip past many more ads. As a reader,
I'm
> not a fan of this approach: I really hate having to flip multiple pages to
> find the continuation, then return to the starting point to read the next
> article, then go hunting again. But I concede the necessity of this
approach
> in some situations, and all I can say is that if you do this, try to do it
> only on the first page; thereafter, keep the articles together rather than
> scattered throughout the publication.
>
> <<What the text looks like in Word (no formatting, one column) will look
> very different in Quark (3 columns).>>
>
> I'm also not a fan of three-column layouts, because on a typical
letter-size
> page, you don't have enough room to let the columns breathe; the result is
> often unpleasantly short lines with tiny type. You can often--not
always--do
> much better (use white space better and create more readable text) using
two
> columns. Hit the library and gather a collection of magazines and
> newsletters to see what kinds of layouts work well, and develop a similar
> design. Also, don't confuse the "grid" with the number of columns; a grid
> provides markers for consistent placing of text and other elements, but
you
> can often use the grid in different ways; for example, to turn a boring
> 3-column layout into something more interesting by creating occasional
> 2-column-wide text boxes.
>
> --Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
> geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
> "User's advocate" online monthly at
> www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/usersadvocate.html
>
> "Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot; others transform a
> yellow spot into the sun."- -Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)


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