Contribution Guidelines

Space in The Tewksbury Times is always limited. Getting your news out to our readers is important. Ordinarily, each issue has only 8 pages, which is short enough for readers to leaf through The Times as soon as they receive it, noting the stories of interest to them, rather than setting it aside to wade through “later” (which can mean “never”). We attempt to keep all articles short and to the point, while highlighting the most interesting aspects. The maximum length for any item in a print edition is about 350 words — enough to cover the important facts and spark interest. Longer versions of articles can be posted online, so feel free to send more information, just keep in mind that articles for the print edition will be edited for the space available. If you can send a shorter, just-the-facts version, and a longer, in-depth version, we will have options in editing (sometimes there’s an extra line where we could supply a little more detail if we have it). If in doubt, go a little longer, but remember we will edit.

Okay. So what should you include? Here are some guidelines, based on the type of information it is.

Event Notices

Our editorial style is to put things in the third person (they/their, not we/our). Also, remember that this is news, conversational-sounding phrases may evoke a friendly feeling, but they don’t convey information. It’s best to stick to the time-proven formula of giving the Who, What, When, When, Why, and How.

Who – Include the name of the sponsoring organization and the names of any specific people involved.

What – What is the event, or activity being announced? If there is a special name for the event, indicate that with quotation marks. Is this a spaghetti dinner, or is it the annual “Clean-Plate Club Spaghetti Dinner”?

When – On what date, and at what time will the event be held? Are there multiple parts to the overall event? Does the band play at a specific time, although people can come and go throughout the day? Or, if the activity already took place, when was that? The exact date may be less important for reports of events that already took place, but it may be an annual event that you’d like to get people to next year, or important in some other way (National Children’s Book Week).

Where – What is the street address of the location the event will take place? More and more, people want an address (including Town and Zip Code) they can punch into a smart phone map app. This is especially useful for stories we put online, as we can include a link.

Why – It may be obvious, but is this event a fund-raiser for your church, school group, fire company, or other organization? It’s nice to clarify that “proceeds benefit X,” especially if there is more than one sponsoring organization, or if proceeds will benefit a third party.

How – Is it important or interesting for people to know how the event will unfold? For instance, does a mix-and-mingle hour precede dinner, or does an auction or lecture follow dinner? Also, is there an admission fee (or suggested donation)? If so, how much?

Fund-raising Appeal

If your organization is soliciting funds for your annual appeal, just make sure people know who/what your organization is, how to make a contribution (checks payable to . . . ? and where to send them), and whether/how much of donations are tax-deductible. (Of course, you’ve already checked with your legal/accounting professional to determine your particular tax status.) You might also want to consider having The Tewksbury Times do a fund-raising Insert for you, which can include an appeal letter that can be folded for return with a check, or a business-return envelope. Please ask us about what design and PR services we can offer.

Letter to the Editor

See our Letters Policy below for full details. Essentially, Letters are not edited in any way; longer letters are posted online; defamatory letters are rejected in their entirety.

Advertisements

Current advertisement rates are posted online, if you just want an idea of cost. For more details, contact us to request full information. We can work with artwork from most graphics formats; generally, whatever format the ad was created in is the best format to send. An additional .PDF file is helpful, as .PDF tends to be less prone to translation problems from one computer system to another.

We usually recommend that advertisers run the biggest ad they can afford to run for multiple months. In our opinion, a small ad run consistently for six months will make a better impression on readers than a half-page ad run once. People like to do business with local businesses they perceive as stable, and a steady presence in their minds helps establish that stability. Plus, as The Tewksbury Times receives no funding from taxpayers, readers appreciate that our advertising revenue is a large part of the support for our community news and projects.

A Word About Deadlines

The deadline for any issue of The Tewksbury Times is always the 15th of the month before publication — e.g. January 15th for the February issue. This applies to all content, Notices, Letters, Advertisements, Inserts.

Obviously, if something comes in last-minute (especially an ad) it will have less chance of being included. Not so obvious is that sometimes several important notices come in last-minute which requires significant re-editing and changes to layout in an attempt to give every organization the coverage that their event deserves. This can lead to less-than-optimal editing. If we knew in advance that there would be demand for four more ads, three more notices, and a Letter, we could make the decision to add additional pages. Unfortunately, this decision can not be made on the day of deadline — at that point, we simply do not have the time needed to coordinate with potential advertisers who had been turned away, not to mention waiting for ad artwork.

Additionally, when items come in last-minute, there may not be time for us to contact you with questions, or for you to make corrections.

Our aim is to have The Tewksbury Times reach people’s mailboxes by the first day of the month. We have no control over the actions of the US Postal Service, on whom we rely for delivery. For this reason, we stick to our deadlines and do all we can to facilitate production and mailing. Some times, though, delays happen.

We always recommend that if your event will occur in the first week of the month, it is best to send us information for publication in the previous month’s issue. For example, the 4th of July picnic is taking place on Saturday, July 5th, send us a notice about it by May 15th, for publication in the June issue of The Times. Not only will this sidestep any possible delay in delivery of the July issue, but, realistically, anyone who receives notice of an event happening in a few days will likely not have time to plan to attend.

Letters to the Editor

Letters from our readers are encouraged. All Letters to the Editor express the opinions of the writers, and do not represent the views of The Tewksbury Times, or Tewksbury Connect.

Letters are presented as written: The Tewksbury Times believes it is important for readers to see the comments of their neighbors free of editorial changes. For this reason, we ask that writers be as brief as possible. The maximum length for a letter to be printed is 300 words. In the event that we receive a letter or letters of great length, the complete text will be posted on www.TewksburyConnect.org. Send your letter to: our editor.

Rather than being edited, any letter with libelous or defamatory content will be considered unprintable in its entirety. Letters must be submitted with name, address, and phone number; anonymous letters will not be published. –editor