12 Ways to Get a Newspaper or Local Magazine Going Strong Got a digital camera and a computer?

You can start your own small town or community newspaper or regional magazine. Really.

Ok, it takes a little more than that.

But you really can start publishing with little more than a camera and computer. Most of what you need is already inside you. As for equipment and software, you can usually find what you need for very little, at least to start with.

Worried about the existing competition? It may not be as bad as you think.

Even if you have several news and/or "shopper" publications in your area that seem to cover just about everything, you may find there is still room (and a need) in the local marketplace for you and your new publication. Don't give up on the idea without making sure the market is fully covered and properly served.

See more on measuring the competition.

Yes, You Can Start & Operate a Newspaper Finding Yourself & Putting Your Whole Self to Work The central key to business success is to provide a valuable product or service to others. Take a good look at yourself, at your life and abilities. What do you have, or what can you do that is truly valuable to others? If you think you have little or nothing to offer, read on. In the summer of 1994 I started a weekly newspaper that successfully served four communities. I had no previous newspaper experience or training. I had not even graduated from high school. I had never sold ads in my life. I had no money in the bank. I had no special equipment. I had no office. I was new to the area, and a stranger to most of my clients. I didn't even like reading most newspapers. Are you a gifted person? There are lots of ways for gifted people, such as writers, illustrators, and graphic artists, to make a living. You see them advertising their skills all the time especially on the internet. Some of them are smart enough to hire themselves. That is, they create their own profitable business. Creative people (and that's most people, by the way, regardless of the hype) tend to be multi-talented. While you may lack specific experience in this or that area, that doesn't mean you lack talent or real ability that can be applied that field. Skills you've mastered in other fields of endeavor may give you an edge that the "pros" don't have. What it means to be "creative". Think about it. A writer expresses and shapes ideas with words. Is the central ability a gift with words? Maybe and maybe not. He or she may also

be able to share concepts with images, if the need arises. The same basic concept often holds true, in the reverse, for an illustrator, designer or other visual artist. The raw ability is the sharing and shaping of ideas, not necessarily the means. God did not create sheets of paper, paint brushes or computers. God created human beings with creative and/or "organizational" desires and abilities. What we do with what we have is often a matter of circumstance and choice. Whether it remains purely a matter of circumstance is often our choice. You may prefer to exercise one skill or one form of creative expression and yet still have excellent abilities waiting to be tapped through other forms of expression. Ultimately, as I see it, all visual and verbal artistic expression grows from an inner desire to arrange or give order to various elements of our world to our ideas, to words, to physical objects, to our environment. Creativity, then, is simply the willingness to experiment "outside the box", to apply fresh ideas, and to master new skills and/or methods that will have to be learned through trial and error. How does this apply to business? The ideal business for many of us is one that demands the full use of all our talents and then some. And that makes publishing a local paper the perfect choice for some people. To be successful in starting a newspaper one must put to good use a broad assortment of skills and creative abilities. You'll need to be reasonably intelligent. You will need to be curious. You will need to be artistic. You will need to be able to speak well on paper. You must be a fast learner. You should have a good eye when using a camera. On the one hand, you must be very organized (or deadline crunches will kill you). Yet you must be able to jump with every genuine opportunity for a

story, and able to juggle multiple stories that are developing as the day or week progresses. And the list goes on. If you like to write or if you're fairly comfortable with graphic design, illustration or other visual arts, you may have what it takes to start and successfully publish a newspaper. Look around. Lots of men and women publish newspapers with no real talent in these areas. Next Page: Quick List of Basic Steps

Doing the Work: Getting the Story One Reporter's Experience Story by Becky Sutton I had never given a thought to working on a newspaper but when my husband decided to start one in our small Rocky Mountain town I went along with the idea. I didnt know how to interview anyone, take interesting photos, or how to even put a newspaper article together. So, I took my camera and just started carrying it with me everywhere. I went to a childrens hayride one Saturday morning to get some shots of the local kids. I arrived early so I could talk to the adults in charge. I needed to get some information to go with any pictures I took. Getting a Horse Laugh After the kids were seated on the hay and I had plenty of pictures of their smiling faces, and the wagon, I just stopped to chat with a lady who had her horse with her. She planned to ride along side the

wagon and keep an eye on things.

Hating the bit or hogging the camera? While I chatted with her, her horse turned to fully face me and gave me a big horse smile. It opened its mouth wide, showing all of his teeth. We all laughed and I asked the lady to make him do it again so I could get a picture. She said she hadnt made him do it the first time and didnt know how to get him to smile again. I stepped back, positioned my camera, and said to the horse, Smile again for the camera, and he did!! He looked right at the camera and gave me a huge horse grin. I actually got two shots of him and he was willing to keep grinning for the camera. Later on, we published the pictures of the kids and their hayride in the paper but the picture of the horse got most of the attention. I keep that picture in my photo album to this day, and proudly show it off every chance I get. The Bigger Story Another time, I was to interview an elderly lady in town who had just celebrated her 100th birthday. I went to her home and she was told me about her party, who had attended, the children and grandchildren that had been there, and about the gifts shed received.

After I had gotten all the information on this event, I stayed to chat with her and learned that she remembered getting the news about the Titanic being lost at sea. I started asking questions about her reactions to the news, what members of her family had said, and she began to relive the emotions of that day and time. It was so exciting for me that I started writing everything down, and then went on to ask about other events in history that she remembered from her long lifetime. She shared lots of memories with me. I

was able to include that information in my article on her, revealing fascinating bits of local and national history from a little girls point of view. Thrill of the Story After that, I was always ready to go and get the story. I had learned how exciting and rewarding interviews and news photography can be. You may think you know your community pretty well. But wonderful surprises are waiting all around you. Everyone and every age group has something of interest to share. For example, if the younger generation were to interview me about where I was on the day John F. Kennedy was shot and killed, I could tell them. I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news, what my thoughts and feelings were, how it effected the adults around me, and how devastated the entire nation felt. In fact I was actually in Dallas two days later, when Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald. Now that would be an interesting interview and article to write. Another great assignment!

How I Started a Newspaper Business Without Capital How I Started a Newspaper Without Money I was able to start a paper without capital because, like a lot of people, I already had most of the equipment I needed. I had a very small computer that was barely able to run the software I needed to run. I had an inexpensive scanner, a laser printer, and some useful software. I also had a small space in my little house to use as a press room. The missing

equipment was a light table (which you may not even need today, since everything can now be put on a disk, or even sent by email to the print shop. I had no money, so I built my own light table (find out how).

Other expenses for me included: a. cost of printing the paper on a big web press. b. mailing copies of the newspaper to the people in several communities. c. fuel for my vehicle, since I had to drive many miles to visit advertisers, plus another 80 miles (round trip) to take the paper to the printer. When I went out my first week, I had no money for any of the above expenses. I had just quit my job in order to start the newspaper. So as I visited businesses in my area, I sold ideas and space for ads and collected my fee in advance. I collected money for every ad I sold. And then I used that cash to pay all my expenses, and to pay for other needs I had, such as rent and food. I repeated that process every issue. I would spend a couple of days going around to sell ads, and then I would use the money to produce the newspaper. The other days I spent building ads, interviewing people, taking pictures and writing up the stories for the paper. As each issue of the paper was published, people were so pleased with it that selling ads became easier and easier. Soon, businesses from other towns and nearby cities also wanted to place ads in our paper, to reach the readers in our area. (Intelligent business owners always want to increase their sales, which often means reaching out to more and more people.) Bartering works, too.

For some ads I would simply trade the advertising for something I needed, such as a camera or a few nights in a motel room, or for film processing (a big expense for me in those days). You may find it easy to barter for all kinds of things. But be careful to always collect enough money to take care of all expenses.

ANGRY MASTODON GOES BERSERK

Newspapers In History

"There is a terrific disadvantage in not having the abrasive quality of the press applied to you daily. Even though we never like it, and even though we wish they didn't write it, and even though we disapprove, there isn't any doubt that we could not do the job at all in a free society without a very, very active press." John F. Kennedy

America: Strong Words, Strong Convictions The First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights says, in part, "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press..." It was the firm conviction of our Founding Fathers that every American

citizen has the right to be informed, and to inform. Freedom of speech and of the press was and is considered central to every other freedom in our society. George Washington said in 1788, "For my part I entertain a high idea of the utility of periodical publications; insomuch as I could heartily desire that copies of ... magazines, as well as common Gazettes, might be spread through every city, town, and village in the United States. I consider such vehicles of knowledge more happily calculated than any other to preserve the liberty, stimulate the industry, and ameliorate the morals of a free and enlightened people. Only a year earlier Thomas Jefferson had written a letter to Colonel Edward Carrington, saying, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." It's on this generally accepted American conviction, as well as our Constitutional rights, that every newspaper in the United States stands. But we mustn't think that news reporting or even newspapers started with a nation so young and (as yet) inexperienced as the United States. History of the News News stories and especially newspaper stories are not new. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, as early as 59 B.C., Rome had a kind of daily gazette, called the Acta Diurna (Daily Events) that was posted in prominent places around the city and throughout the provinces. This publication featured news and tidbits of interest to the people of the day. Scribes and town criers were the main sources of news in Europe after the Roman Empire dissolved. Even after Gutenberg's press introduced modern printing (with cast metal moveable type) in the mid 1400s, nothing like a

modern newspaper was published right away. The closest thing was the newsbook, pamphlets of various sizes printed on various topics of interest. There were also newsletter, which were real letters sent between political leaders, merchant families, and others who had specific interests in the unfolding of events in certain regions. Traders' newsletters would include information on the price and availability of products, and would also sometimes include other bits of news or gossip thought to be of interest to the recipients. In time, some of these letters gained popularity and importance

beyond the immediate recipients. It's believed that some of these popular commercial newsletters actually evolved into primitive newspapers, at about the beginning of the 17th century. Soon Germany, England, France and Denmark were publishing newspapers, with international news often being carried first on the continent by the Dutch. Sweden passed the first law, in 1766, that guaranteed freedom of the press. Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestick, the first newspaper published in America, was printed by Richard Pierce and edited by Benjamin Harris in Boston on September 25, 1690. It filled only 3 six by ten inch pages of a folded sheet of paper. The journalist stated in his his first (and only) issue that he would issue the newspaper "once a month, or, if any Glut of Occurrences happen, oftener." America's first continuously-published newspaper, the Boston News-Letter, published its first issue in 1704. John Campbell, a bookseller and postmaster of Boston, was the first editor. It originally appeared on a single page, printed on both sides and issued weekly. By the 1820s about 25 daily newspapers and some 400 weeklies were being published across the United States. And from there newspaper publishing

has continued to grow, reaching into every corner of the civilized (and nearly civilized) nation. Newspaper wars in various cities and regions have at times reduced the number of independent papers in America. But new publishers and new papers soon fill the void.

See a quick list of basic startup steps.

Can Cottage Industry Save the American Economy? The American economy and society as a whole just may be saved by a large-scale and wholehearted return to cottage industry. The very conditions that are killing off giant corporations and large-scale manufacturing may be opening the door to profitable home-based careers and family-run businesses to an extent not seen in this country for nearly a century. more...

1. Pet photos - Have a pet lover's column where readers send in photos of their pets. You can have a weekly or monthly contest for the best photo, ugliest pet, cutest animal, etc. Make sure you get a local business or two involved, to award the prize. (Get a newspaper photo of the winner at the business or with representatives of the businesses involved. This photo and the details will make a nice little feature article for the paper.)

2. Fish stories - Just like the above pet photo contest, you can include a special column for fishermen and their sport. They can send a photo of themselves with their prize catch. For local events, you can get your own photos of special fishing events. An interesting alternative is to include photos of readers' fishing boats. Remember to get local businesses involved to donate and award prizes.

3. Politics - Always cover local politics. Get photos, stories and details on every politician and local leader. Cover school board and town meetings. Get comments and info from all participants. Look for some interesting history on important decisions to flesh out the story and to provide better insight. These details not only make your coverage more interesting and newsworthy, they can often lead to other feature and human stories.

4. Landmarks, tourist info - Stay current on the tourist attractions in your area. Know every park, every trail, every attraction. Make your paper an important source of fresh information for tourists and visitors. You may also consider providing a section for tourist related businesses in your area. Give some special attention to the museums and the special efforts of civic clubs in

the area.

5. Graduations, promotions - Preschool, high school, or college graduations are great material for any local paper to cover. Get plenty of photos, and get background on the schools, teachers, and students. Try to include a photo of every graduating student in your paper, even if it takes several issues. be sure (and double sure) to spell the names correctly and to get the right name with the right photos. This is easy journalism, and at the very root of some of the best news coverage for any local paper.

6. Holidays - Never miss a holiday. There's a reason (and a good story) for every holiday of the year. Some holidays are very big productions, worthy of a special issue or two. As well as the traditions specific to your community, dig for historical stories about holidays in decades past. Every family and every town has a great holiday tale to tell. Always include fresh photos of the season, and try for images that help to capture the spirit of the occasion.

7. The unusual and unexpected - Make room every issue for a photo or story that stands out as unusual and out of the ordinary. Along these lines, you can include fillers or even a special little column on words and their meaning, as well as the origins, history and usage through the years (that is, the etymology. The same can be done with automobiles, houses (styles), or any industry or practice specific to your area. (Be sure to see On Assignment: Getting the Story)

8. Sports, Music, Theater - You already know that entertainment is popular. Sports events, from peewee games to high school and college games, theatrical and musical events, both inside and outside at civic parks, and other crowd-pleasing special attractions are both fun to cover and of interest to readers. Rodeos, baseball games, races and runs and walks, all these and other occasions can fill a whole issue of a small paper with photos, stories, historical bits and interviews.

9. Event calendar or page - Conventions, church events, business sales, seminars and promotions, college campus events, and other community efforts and events deserve a push. Provide a section or column that mentions all such special activities and events. Include a photo or two of very special events. Include contact information. Do this without charge, as a public service but keep it brief. Touch base with event organizers/promoters to suggest an ad.

10. Newlyweds, engagements, and newborn babies - Make room in the paper for readers to announce their happy times. Be sure to get connected with hospitals and stay up with marriage licenses, etc. so you can publish notices of upcoming weddings, even if family members forget. Provide concise details free of charge and offer to run a small photo for a low price to cover the cost of the space. A number of businesses will want to advertise in this section of the paper.

11. New stuff - You may want to include news of new home construction, new business permits, and other such signs of commercial growth in your

area. Obviously, you will want to run stories on new businesses in town, and to cover existing businesses whenever they have some significant new product or service to offer. Big expansions at a local mall or shopping center, new locations/ownership for long-time businesses and even seasonal changes to hours are worthy of some mention.

12. News stories galore - Whenever you get a bit of information for one of the columns of features listed above, always be looking for the bigger story.

Many of the most ordinary and recurring events and stories gathered in dayto-day newspaper publishing provide the seedlings for bigger stories, or even a whole series of stories in your newspaper.

When you get wind of a local crafts fair, you may not have to dig much to gather some great stories on local artists. And then there is the "where are they now?" stories to run on some of the high school and college grads you mentioned a couple of years ago.

The more you get to know the men, women and children, the people-behindthe events and celebrations, the more in touch you will be with your community, and the more you will be able to tell about what is good and growing and positive about your area. Next: Small Newspapers are Big Business

Build a Light Box They say that necessity is the mother of invention. I'm sure that countless others built their own light boxes before I did. In fact, I've seen custom-built light tables in shops that do thousands of dollars in business a day. But there's nothing like need to spur on the creative juices and the determination to figure out a way... When I first started a weekly tabloid-sized newspaper, I needed a light-box, but had no extra money to buy one. So I gathered the above materials and built my own table-top light box. I bought 4 1"x8" pine boards (actually one 10 or 12 foot board that I then cut down to the sizes I wanted), and a single pane of 1/4" glass, found an old fluorescent light fixture, and I was in business. Now days, of course, everything is different. Computer power has replaced old paste-ups and mechanicals. Yet even if you produce your paper completely on the computer, there may still be times when you need to do a special paste-up or create a quick graphic where a light box comes in handy. You will be surprised at how often you use it. No need to spend a lot of money on an expensive light table or light box for occasional use. You'll want the light box or table to be large enough to handle a two-page spread, but not too big if you're cramped for space. If you print a tabloidsized paper, then each page will be up to about 11 x 17 inches, so you'll want a minimum of about 20" x 16" for a working space. Go ahead and make it larger than you think you will need. A good size for a small box might be 24 by 36 inches. You can use plywood for a bottom, or fiberboard, or whatever. Don't try to fasten the glass, but attach some small cork or plastic tabs to it, so it won't slip around while you work. You can either buy frosted glass to diffuse the light, or you can tape some clean white paper to the bottom side of clear glass. You want to be able to see your pages and at least one layer of whatever you'll be

pasting down. I used by light box mostly for splicing pages together. If you want a free-standing light table, you can make the box a little larger all around, and then place legs inside the main box, from close to the top. Regular 2 X 4s may work fine for legs. You will want to add braces on the two sides, tying the legs together, and along the back. But don't add a brace in front, unless you place it at a comfortable position as a foot rest. A light table should be always a little higher than a regular table, say about 36 to 38 inches high. Do some measurements to see what working height fits you best. You want to be able to get close to small type on the very tops of pages, but you don't want to be uncomfortably stooped over too low when working. Stack some things on your kitchen table to get an idea of the right height. If you're still not quite sure, then make the legs long, and then cut them down later. That's easier than trying to remove legs.

Page 2 of 3 Ultimately, it will require your life Just so you don't develop a lot of romantic notions about what it's really like to run your own little newspaper (or a big one, either) you need to know the truth. A newspaper can kill you in many different ways. If allowed to, it can do a lot to ruin your social life, your marriage, your enjoyment of writing, your view of local politics, your attitude toward people, your attitude toward public officials, your involvement with local sports, and so on. It can transform you from a witty, self-aware person into a shabby looking, disgruntled transient at local functions, more to be pitied than appreciated. And that's if it doesn't destroy you financially first. So why do it? Well, it has it's own rewards. You get to brag on all the previously unknown people who are really doing something worthwhile. You get to say almost anything you want. You get to provide your readers with truly useful information, a few chuckles, a little

encouragement, maybe even some wisdom. You get to publish pictures of the unknown kids who won math contests or who have survived leukemia right along side of the local football heroes. You get to meet lots and lots and lots of interesting people, and you can become a tiny servant of justice by giving the local, everyday people a voice in their own community. The lasting rewards cannot be compared to any apparent sacrifice. Overcoming Software Costs (and other obstacles): If you don't already own the software listed above, you'll need to buy it. If you don't have much money for such things, don't despair. Be creative. Be determined. Stop and look over the options. In all things be honest. We tend to reap what we sow. First of all, make sure publishing is something you really want to do. If this is for you, then you'll need certain tools and equipment. Don't toss out dreams because they may seem, in any given moment, to be impossible or unreachable. Nothing is impossible or unreachable. Great things happen every day. Excellent software (both new and used) at discounted prices is not that hard to find. First, you don't need to try and buy everything new. You can often buy it used. Adobe, for example, has a program for transferring software registration and license from one owner to another. Ebay can be a great place to shop for software AFTER you've done the homework (research) to know exactly what you want and need. No matter where you buy used or discounted software, make sure you're buying exactly what you need. Shop around. Be patient. Even in times when I had no extra cash, I've been able to buy the good computer equipment and software I needed by applying

a little patience and creative thinking to the problem. Good Dreams are Worth the Effort Take the time to plan, to research, and to build your dreams. Be willing to work for them, to trade for them, to wait for them. And always keep moving toward them, step by step. Without cash and capital? So what? Did Donald Trump give up when he was broke? No. So why should you? Genuine wealth is not what a person has in the bank or in his/her pocket, but what's found in the heart. If you have it inside of you to do something worthwhile in life, you'll always find the way. Not everyone is born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Not everyone has been so fortunate or wise in business as to stash away lots of cash (or build up lots of good credit) for the days when they might begin a new venture. In fact, some of the greatest fortunes ever built were started by guys with nothing at all but a desire. Dream your dreams and take the steps you need to take in order to get there.

Page 3 of 3

Making Money There's the potential for making lots of money in the newspaper business. And some have grown up from almost nothing at all. You want to be very careful about your use of credit, your use of trade-offs or bartering (advertising for goods or services).

For the purposes of advertising potential, you may find it more profitable to mass mail the paper to an entire market. That can save you money on each addressed mailed out, since you would "saturate" each mailing route included in your market area. And it can also allow you to truthfully say that you reach everyone in a given market. What's a market? Well, it can be the town or community you cover, if you're producing a neighborhood or community paper. Or it could be all the businesses in your area, your county, or your state or region, if you are producing a business publication. Or it can target a certain kind of business, profession or other specialized market niche. You may end up with something more like a magazine, featuring coverage on a very specialized interest group. Subscriptions also have their own appeal. For one thing, everyone receiving the paper is paying for it. That can help to at least cover the printing or mailing costs (seldom both). And the fact that you have fewer readers can be a good thing when it comes to paying for printing or mailing. And the fact that people really want your paper is a good advertising edge, since your advertisers will know (because you tell them) that paying subscribers tend to make the time to read your publication. If people are really looking at your paper, that means that people are actually looking at ads. And that is what your advertisers want to know. Where the Money Is As you may have gathered by now, your greatest potential in profit is not the selling of subscriptions. Subscriptions are a useful tool, yes. But the real income for any newspaper is in the selling of business "display" ads. A display ad is a regular ad that usually (but not always) includes graphics or photos of some kind. It may be small or large, but it's always income for the

paper. It may be for a business, a group of businesses, an entire industry, or for a non-profit group of some kind. And you may charge differing amounts depending on the type of customer. I have often given true non-profit organizations free or discounted advertising as the space was available. By "true" non-profit, I mean church, community or charity groups, not commercial industry.

That's a question you will need to answer for yourself before you get too serious about starting a paper. And it's a question that takes more than a few comments from me to answer. You need to have some idea of what the competition or what other similar publications similar markets are really charging. Ask for a rate sheet from a local paper or periodical that's similar in physical size and readership to what you want to produce. That's the first place to look. But it's only the beginning. Getting the Real Story Every industry has its published pricing and then it has another level of pricing for important clients. Newspapers and periodicals are no different. So you may need to do some checking with people who advertise, to get an idea of the real prices being charged for ads. Once you know where the other guys are, then you must determine where you have to be. How many readers can you claim to have? You may claim, for example, that every copy of your paper (every mailing address or each copy sold in a store, for example) has the potential for 3 readers. Some publications, like radio stations, claim astronomical numbers, stretching things well beyond any possibility of reality or fact. If you are wise, you will be conservative. Produce a good publication, and let it sell itself.

Breaking it Down After talking with printers, and deciding which press will run your paper, look at the available space you have to offer. Let's say you decide to run 16 pages (papers usually run in multiples of 8 pages, large sheets folded down to make a paper "signature"). And let's say that each page is exactly 11 inches by 17 inches, and that you will leave a 1/2 inch margin all around (just to make our example easier to follow). That gives you a total space per page of 10 x 16 inches. And if you divide your pages into a default of 4 columns, each separated by a 1/8" gutter, then you have 4 columns (each one about 2.40 inches wide) of 16 "column" inches each. So, then, if a page has four columns of 16 inches each, that gives you 64 column inches per page. And 1,024 column inches in the entire 16-page paper. But not all those inches are for sale. To start with, you have a footer and/or a header for each page. And you must have something of interest on each page (some actual content that will make readers want to pick up and read your paper). One standard for the industry is roughly 50/50. So let's say you go with that standard. In a 16page paper, you won't count the front page, since that should be filled with news and features to draw people into the rest of the paper. Always reserve your front page for news and items of interest. You may also have other pages that you won't sell ads on. But for now, let's figure you have 15 pages, half of which you can sell advertising on. That gives you 64 column inches, divided by half to leave 32 col. inches per page, multiplied by 15, to leave you a total of 480 column inches to sell. That may not sound like much right now. But it'll seem like more when it's

time to go out and sell 480 column inches of ads for the very first time. Then again, once you get busy selling, it'll be fun. It can be one of the best very parts of the publisher's job. Everything else is more serious work. Counting the Costs Let's say you're printing about 5,000 copies in the first issue. And let's also say that you mail them all out at 18 cent each (an arbitrary number, based on Standard rates for the Postal service). The print shop charges you $600.00 and the Post Office charges you $900 for postage. There are other costs to factor in, such as your gasoline, your rent, your own labor and time, any photoprocessing or other related costs, any wages you must pay for help, and so on. But to keep it really simple, let's say your first issue costs you $2000 to produce. That doesn't count any profit, and we must have a profit, so let's factor in 25% for your pocket, a generous but fair amount to start with. Many publishers don't actually take anything for themselves during the first year or so, and others take out much, much more from the very beginning. Take the $2000 and multiply it by 1.25 to reach the amount you want to make on this first issue (some do a reciprocal, dividing $2000 by 75% or .75, to reach a slightly higher figure). $2000 plus $500 (25%) will give you a figure of $2,500 that you really need to make in sales from your first issue. Can you do it? Let's find out.

Small Newspaper Startup Requirements

Ultimately, it will require your life Just so you don't develop a lot of romantic notions about what it's really like to run your own little newspaper (or a big one, either) you need to know the truth. A newspaper can kill you in many different ways. If allowed to, it can do a lot to ruin your social life, your marriage, your enjoyment of writing, your view of local politics, your attitude toward people, your attitude toward public officials, your involvement with local sports, and so on. It can transform you from a witty, self-aware person into a shabby looking, disgruntled transient at local functions, more to be pitied than appreciated. And that's if it doesn't destroy you financially first. So why do it? Well, it has it's own rewards. You get to brag on all the previously unknown people who are really doing something worthwhile. You get to say almost anything you want. You get to provide your readers with truly useful information, a few chuckles, a little encouragement, maybe even some wisdom. You get to publish pictures of the unknown kids who won math contests or who have survived leukemia right along side of the local football heroes. You get to meet lots and lots and lots of interesting people, and you can become a tiny servant of justice by giving the local, everyday people a voice in their own community. The lasting rewards cannot be compared to any apparent sacrifice. Overcoming Software Costs (and other obstacles): If you don't already own the software listed above, you'll need to buy it. If you don't have much money for such things, don't despair. Be creative. Be determined. Stop and look over the options. In all things be honest. We tend to reap what we sow. First of all, make sure publishing is something you really want to do. If this is

for you, then you'll need certain tools and equipment. Don't toss out dreams because they may seem, in any given moment, to be impossible or unreachable. Nothing is impossible or unreachable. Great things happen every day. Excellent software (both new and used) at discounted prices is not that hard to find. First, you don't need to try and buy everything new. You can often buy it used. Adobe, for example, has a program for transferring software registration and license from one owner to another. Ebay can be a great place to shop for software AFTER you've done the homework (research) to know exactly what you want and need. No matter where you buy used or discounted software, make sure you're buying exactly what you need. Shop around. Be patient. Even in times when I had no extra cash, I've been able to buy the good computer equipment and software I needed by applying a little patience and creative thinking to the problem. Good Dreams are Worth the Effort Take the time to plan, to research, and to build your dreams. Be willing to work for them, to trade for them, to wait for them. And always keep moving toward them, step by step. Without cash and capital? So what? Did Donald Trump give up when he was broke? No. So why should you? Genuine wealth is not what a person has in the bank or in his/her pocket, but what's found in the heart. If you have it inside of you to do something worthwhile in life, you'll always find the way. Not everyone is born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Not everyone has

been so fortunate or wise in business as to stash away lots of cash (or build up lots of good credit) for the days when they might begin a new venture. In fact, some of the greatest fortunes ever built were started by guys with nothing at all but a desire. Dream your dreams and take the steps you need to take in order to get there.

Page 2 of 2

Making Money There's the potential for making lots of money in the newspaper business. And some have grown up from almost nothing at all. You want to be very careful about your use of credit, your use of trade-offs or bartering (advertising for goods or services). For the purposes of advertising potential, you may find it more profitable to mass mail the paper to an entire market. That can save you money on each addressed mailed out, since you would "saturate" each mailing route included in your market area. And it can also allow you to truthfully say that you reach everyone in a given market. What's a market? Well, it can be the town or community you cover, if you're producing a neighborhood or community paper. Or it could be all the businesses in your area, your county, or your state or region, if you are producing a business publication. Or it can target a certain kind of business, profession or other specialized market niche. You may end up with something more like a magazine, featuring coverage on a very specialized interest group.

Subscriptions also have their own appeal. For one thing, everyone receiving the paper is paying for it. That can help to at least cover the printing or mailing costs (seldom both). And the fact that you have fewer readers can be a good thing when it comes to paying for printing or mailing. And the fact that people really want your paper is a good advertising edge, since your advertisers will know (because you tell them) that paying subscribers tend to make the time to read your publication. If people are really looking at your paper, that means that people are actually looking at ads. And that is what your advertisers want to know. Where the Money Is As you may have gathered by now, your greatest potential in profit is not the selling of subscriptions. Subscriptions are a useful tool, yes. But the real income for any newspaper is in the selling of business "display" ads. A display ad is a regular ad that usually (but not always) includes graphics or photos of some kind. It may be small or large, but it's always income for the paper. It may be for a business, a group of businesses, an entire industry, or for a non-profit group of some kind. And you may charge differing amounts depending on the type of customer. I have often given true non-profit organizations free or discounted advertising as the space was available. By "true" non-profit, I mean church, community or charity groups, not commercial industry.

That's a question you will need to answer for yourself before you get too serious about starting a paper. And it's a question that takes more than a few comments from me to answer. You need to have some idea of what the competition or what other similar

publications similar markets are really charging. Ask for a rate sheet from a local paper or periodical that's similar in physical size and readership to what you want to produce. That's the first place to look. But it's only the beginning. Getting the Real Story Every industry has its published pricing and then it has another level of pricing for important clients. Newspapers and periodicals are no different. So you may need to do some checking with people who advertise, to get an idea of the real prices being charged for ads. Once you know where the other guys are, then you must determine where you have to be. How many readers can you claim to have? You may claim, for example, that every copy of your paper (every mailing address or each copy sold in a store, for example) has the potential for 3 readers. Some publications, like radio stations, claim astronomical numbers, stretching things well beyond any possibility of reality or fact. If you are wise, you will be conservative. Produce a good publication, and let it sell itself. Breaking it Down After talking with printers, and deciding which press will run your paper, look at the available space you have to offer. Let's say you decide to run 16 pages (papers usually run in multiples of 8 pages, large sheets folded down to make a paper "signature"). And let's say that each page is exactly 11 inches by 17 inches, and that you will leave a 1/2 inch margin all around (just to make our example easier to follow). That gives you a total space per page of 10 x 16 inches. And if you divide your pages into a default of 4 columns, each separated by a 1/8" gutter, then you have 4 columns (each one about 2.40 inches wide) of 16 "column" inches each. So, then, if a page has four columns of 16 inches each, that gives you 64

column inches per page. And 1,024 column inches in the entire 16-page paper. But not all those inches are for sale. To start with, you have a footer and/or a header for each page. And you must have something of interest on each page (some actual content that will make readers want to pick up and read your paper). One standard for the industry is roughly 50/50. So let's say you go with that standard. In a 16page paper, you won't count the front page, since that should be filled with news and features to draw people into the rest of the paper. Always reserve your front page for news and items of interest. You may also have other pages that you won't sell ads on. But for now, let's figure you have 15 pages, half of which you can sell advertising on. That gives you 64 column inches, divided by half to leave 32 col. inches per page, multiplied by 15, to leave you a total of 480 column inches to sell. That may not sound like much right now. But it'll seem like more when it's time to go out and sell 480 column inches of ads for the very first time. Then again, once you get busy selling, it'll be fun. It can be one of the best very parts of the publisher's job. Everything else is more serious work. Counting the Costs Let's say you're printing about 5,000 copies in the first issue. And let's also say that you mail them all out at 18 cent each (an arbitrary number, based on Standard rates for the Postal service). The print shop charges you $600.00 and the Post Office charges you $900 for postage. There are other costs to factor in, such as your gasoline, your rent, your own labor and time, any photoprocessing or other related costs, any wages you must pay for help, and so on.

But to keep it really simple, let's say your first issue costs you $2000 to produce. That doesn't count any profit, and we must have a profit, so let's factor in 25% for your pocket, a generous but fair amount to start with. Many publishers don't actually take anything for themselves during the first year or so, and others take out much, much more from the very beginning. Take the $2000 and multiply it by 1.25 to reach the amount you want to make on this first issue (some do a reciprocal, dividing $2000 by 75% or .75, to reach a slightly higher figure). $2000 plus $500 (25%) will give you a figure of $2,500 that you really need to make in sales from your first issue. Can you do it? Let's find out.

How to Make Money with a Small Newspaper

Making Money There's the potential for making lots of money in the newspaper business. And some have grown up from almost nothing at all. You want to be very careful about your use of credit, your use of trade-offs or bartering (advertising for goods or services). For the purposes of advertising potential, you may find it more profitable to mass mail the paper to an entire market. That can save you money on each addressed mailed out, since you would "saturate" each mailing route included in your market area. And it can also allow you to truthfully say that you reach everyone in a given market.

What's a market? Well, it can be the town or community you cover, if you're producing a neighborhood or community paper. Or it could be all the businesses in your area, your county, or your state or region, if you are producing a business publication. Or it can target a certain kind of business, profession or other specialized market niche. You may end up with something more like a magazine, featuring coverage on a very specialized interest group. Subscriptions also have their own appeal. For one thing, everyone receiving the paper is paying for it. That can help to at least cover the printing or mailing costs (seldom both). And the fact that you have fewer readers can be a good thing when it comes to paying for printing or mailing. And the fact that people really want your paper is a good advertising edge, since your advertisers will know (because you tell them) that paying subscribers tend to make the time to read your publication. If people are really looking at your paper, that means that people are actually looking at ads. And that is what your advertisers want to know. Where the Money Is As you may have gathered by now, your greatest potential in profit is not the selling of subscriptions. Subscriptions are a useful tool, yes. But the real income for any newspaper is in the selling of business "display" ads. A display ad is a regular ad that usually (but not always) includes graphics or photos of some kind. It may be small or large, but it's always income for the paper. It may be for a business, a group of businesses, an entire industry, or for a non-profit group of some kind. And you may charge differing amounts depending on the type of customer. I have often given true non-profit organizations free or discounted advertising as the space was available. By "true" non-profit, I mean church, community or charity groups, not commercial industry.

That's a question you will need to answer for yourself before you get too serious about starting a paper. And it's a question that takes more than a few comments from me to answer. You need to have some idea of what the competition or what other similar publications similar markets are really charging. Ask for a rate sheet from a local paper or periodical that's similar in physical size and readership to what you want to produce. That's the first place to look. But it's only the beginning. Getting the Real Story Every industry has its published pricing and then it has another level of pricing for important clients. Newspapers and periodicals are no different. So you may need to do some checking with people who advertise, to get an idea of the real prices being charged for ads. Once you know where the other guys are, then you must determine where you have to be. How many readers can you claim to have? You may claim, for example, that every copy of your paper (every mailing address or each copy sold in a store, for example) has the potential for 3 readers. Some publications, like radio stations, claim astronomical numbers, stretching things well beyond any possibility of reality or fact. If you are wise, you will be conservative. Produce a good publication, and let it sell itself. Breaking it Down After talking with printers, and deciding which press will run your paper, look at the available space you have to offer. Let's say you decide to run 16 pages (papers usually run in multiples of 8 pages, large sheets folded down to make a paper "signature"). And let's say that each page is exactly 11 inches by

17 inches, and that you will leave a 1/2 inch margin all around (just to make our example easier to follow). That gives you a total space per page of 10 x 16 inches. And if you divide your pages into a default of 4 columns, each separated by a 1/8" gutter, then you have 4 columns (each one about 2.40 inches wide) of 16 "column" inches each. So, then, if a page has four columns of 16 inches each, that gives you 64 column inches per page. And 1,024 column inches in the entire 16-page paper. But not all those inches are for sale. To start with, you have a footer and/or a header for each page. And you must have something of interest on each page (some actual content that will make readers want to pick up and read your paper). One standard for the industry is roughly 50/50. So let's say you go with that standard. In a 16page paper, you won't count the front page, since that should be filled with news and features to draw people into the rest of the paper. Always reserve your front page for news and items of interest. You may also have other pages that you won't sell ads on. But for now, let's figure you have 15 pages, half of which you can sell advertising on. That gives you 64 column inches, divided by half to leave 32 col. inches per page, multiplied by 15, to leave you a total of 480 column inches to sell. That may not sound like much right now. But it'll seem like more when it's time to go out and sell 480 column inches of ads for the very first time. Then again, once you get busy selling, it'll be fun. It can be one of the best very parts of the publisher's job. Everything else is more serious work. Counting the Costs

Let's say you're printing about 5,000 copies in the first issue. And let's also say that you mail them all out at 18 cent each (an arbitrary number, based on Standard rates for the Postal service). The print shop charges you $600.00 and the Post Office charges you $900 for postage. There are other costs to factor in, such as your gasoline, your rent, your own labor and time, any photoprocessing or other related costs, any wages you must pay for help, and so on. But to keep it really simple, let's say your first issue costs you $2000 to produce. That doesn't count any profit, and we must have a profit, so let's factor in 25% for your pocket, a generous but fair amount to start with. Many publishers don't actually take anything for themselves during the first year or so, and others take out much, much more from the very beginning. Take the $2000 and multiply it by 1.25 to reach the amount you want to make on this first issue (some do a reciprocal, dividing $2000 by 75% or .75, to reach a slightly higher figure). $2000 plus $500 (25%) will give you a figure of $2,500 that you really need to make in sales from your first issue. Can you do it? Let's find out.

Pricing & Selling Newspaper Ads Building a Base for Long-term Success As mentioned on the previous page, bigger ads and ads that run for more issues should cost the advertiser less (per column inch) than ads that are tiny or that run just once. It makes good business sense. The advertiser who buys in greater volume or who buys more often will appreciate that consideration. You can control a few of the factors, but not all of them. How you actually price out your ads is your own business. But if you want to stay in business, you must make a reasonable profit. You must also be able to compete in the market. These two facts of business should always be in your thoughts when you price ad space. For example, if you run a beautiful, "full" color (actually called "process" 4 color, 5 color, or 6 color) publication, and your market is mostly upscale businesses and their clients, then you can rightly demand a better price. After all, your costs are greater, and the product you're selling is of a very high quality. If there are enough advertisers who can afford to run ads with you, and if they agree that your publication is worth the extra costs, then you've got an edge on the market. Another edge is the numbers of actual readers, as mentioned before. You

may run a simple, black ink publication, but if it reaches a huge market, then you have that edge in your favor.

The quality of content is the biggest edge of all in print publications, just as it is on the internet. If you provide what readers want to read and see in their paper, then you have the basis for a long lasting publication. But you still have to pay your bills, so be careful how you sell your ads. Make the Numbers Work You cannot afford to undercut yourself for anyone. If you figure that you must have $12 per column inch to cover all the basic costs and some tiny margin of profit, then the very lowest price you can ever afford to give any advertiser is $12 per column inch. Working with that number ($12/column inch), if you have a tabloid paper with 11x17 pages, then you will have about 64 (maximum) column inches to sell. So if an advertiser buys a whole page, you must charge him or her at least $768 for that page. And even if they want to buy the page every issue for a whole year (and pay you for the whole thing up front!), you must still charge them at least $768 per insertion (that is, for each issue). So then, if the local bank wants to buy a full page ad for only 3 issues, you can't get all excited and give away the pages for the same price you'd have charged them for a whole year of the same size ad. You can't allow your gratitude or enthusiasm to make the sale put you out of business. Know your bottom line, and work hard to stay away from it, or at least on the top side of it at all times. You want to build a base for long-term success. On the other hand, be careful not to go to the other extreme. Pricing is by no

means the only important factor, as noted at the beginning of this section. But pricing is where most of us live, both in business and in our personal decisions. So you need to be able to offer a fair price to the guy who only wants to buy a small ad and run it just one time. In fact, lot's of smaller businesses start advertising this way, especially if they're not in the habit of advertising. They'll only see the price of the ad, and it scares them. They want to try it out, but they can't see how they'll ever afford it. So they only commit to one or two ads at a time. If you blow them out of the water with a huge price, you'll probably run them off without ever seeing that first ad. Bonus Help for the Local Businesses One thing you can do to help such advertisers, is to have a business column in your paper that features new advertisers (but you may not want to say that right out loud), and you can offer to feature a new advertiser in your column, or to at least make some mention of the business. I've had business owners contact me and become advertisers in a paper just to get into the business column, without any selling effort on my part at all. A powerful help for new advertisers is a rate sheet that shows them just how much they will save on their ads by committing to 3 or 5 or 6 at a time. Once you figure your bottom price (the price you must never go below) then you can begin to work your way backwards to the one-time-only ad, and also price the smallest ad size. Price Your Way Backwards, by Size & Frequency This will take you some time. Don't try to cheat by taking the rates from another publication. You don't know how they may have arrived at those ridiculous prices. Many publications, for instance, have other charges that

also get added to the final bill for any ad, such as the cost of building the ad, the addition of graphics or photos, and copywriting, etc. Or the guy who figured the pricing may have been drunk, or on some moodaltering medication for all you know. I'm more serious than you may think. Step 1 If you can afford to sell a full page for one whole year at $12 per column inch (that is, if you sold all the available pages in your entire paper for that price and you could still pay all your bills), then you make that figure your rock bottom price for the customer who buys the whole thing. That's your give-away price, where you simply cover your costs. And no one not even your mother should ever get that very special rate. Step 2 What if you can sell only half of your ad space? With that thought in mind, pick an arbitrary figure, a figure for the smallest ad, for a one-time-only buyer. Maybe it will be the price you were quoted when you called the nearest competitor to your market and asked them how much for a 1inch ad for just one issue. Now you need to work within these two numbers the very lowest and the very highest. You'll probably adjust your pricing several times before you finish all the figuring, but you need to have a general idea of where you want to go, and what the guidelines should be. To see an example of a rate sheet, click HERE The easiest way to keep track of what you're doing is to offer a set percentage discount for each increase in both size and frequency of appearance. But it cannot be some huge amount, or you will run out of room before you reach the end. You may want to set specific levels, such as all ads from 1 col. inch up to 5 col.

inches will be $18 per col. inch. And then the ads from 5.5 col. inches up to 8 col. inches will be $17 per col. inch, ad so on. Keep it simple as possible, but make sure it works. Feel Lost? It'll Pass Even if this whole idea is brand new to you, it'll start making sense as you keep working with it. Before long, you'll have a very good idea of what you need to do. And as you face your first customers, you'll be able to make refining adjustments, if needed. But be close before you face anyone, and be firm, because some folks will test your resolve simply because that's how they do business. If you cave in at every challenge, you'll soon be holding an auction to scrap your business. Some papers will sell certain kinds of ads at specific rates in certain sections of the paper, such as trade ads (for plumbers, TV repair, etc) in a "Local Services" section. But be careful. You do want to help out the little guy (why force him to advertise with someone else?), but you do not want business that can afford better ads to hang out in the "economy" section. So be sure to set rules, or better yet, use rewards of some kind to entice the bigger advertisers to do more. Page 2 of 2 Inserts & Classified Ads Inserts and classified ads are other sources of income for newspapers. They can come in handy, but they won't pay any bills, unless you are running a shopper, and then you'd better make sure they do pay your bills. Inserts are usually easy money. You do have to stuff the papers with them (or hire a youngster or two to do it) but otherwise, they are just income. Just be sure the inserts won't add too much weight to the papers you'll be

mailing. Postage can hit you hard, and it can take away all your profit, more than making up for the little income you thought to gain by the inserts. Don't be afraid to try. As a rule, inserts are nice things. You can price them according to size (8 1/2 x 11 or 11 x 17, etc), according to weight or the number of pages, for sales papers, and so on. You may offer a discount for repeated insertions. Think about it... One thing to remember is that you're saving the advertiser money. If he doesn't insert his material in your paper, he must use the Post Office (very expensive, by comparison) or another, usually larger (and therefore more expensive, newspaper.

Not all businesses will be attracted to your paper for inserts. Some will want a much greater coverage of your community or region than you care to offer. But many will like the coverage your paper has. And you can help them out while you make a little more money. Classified ads are a world in themselves. Some shoppers (papers that only have ads of all kinds) make a lot of their money on classified type ads. take the time to see what's not being done, or not being done adequately in your market. You may not even want to charge anything for classifieds. But I believe that even a small, insignificant charge for classified ads is better than nothing. Don't ever give the impression that your paper, no matter how small it may be, is worthless or "cheap" in some way. Always produce a clean, first-class publication, and always let people pay you for what they want.

Make sure businesses pay a commercial rate for their classified ads. You don't want every advertiser trying to use classified ads just to save a buck. There will be times and certain circumstances when you should give a free ad or free coverage of a commercial event. For example, you may give a free classified ad to every display ad buyer.

Newspaper Classifieds & Inserts Inserts & Classified Ads Inserts and classified ads are other sources of income for newspapers. They can come in handy, but they won't pay any bills, unless you are running a shopper, and then you'd better make sure they do pay your bills. Inserts are usually easy money. You do have to stuff the papers with them (or hire a youngster or two to do it) but otherwise, they are just income. Just be sure the inserts won't add too much weight to the papers you'll be mailing. Postage can hit you hard, and it can take away all your profit, more than making up for the little income you thought to gain by the inserts. Don't be afraid to try. As a rule, inserts are nice things. You can price them according to size (8 1/2 x 11 or 11 x 17, etc), according to weight or the number of pages, for sales papers, and so on. You may offer a discount for repeated insertions.

Think about it... One thing to remember is that you're saving the advertiser money. If he doesn't insert his material in your paper, he must use the Post Office (very expensive, by comparison) or another, usually larger (and therefore more expensive, newspaper.

Not all businesses will be attracted to your paper for inserts. Some will want a much greater coverage of your community or region than you care to offer. But many will like the coverage your paper has. And you can help them out while you make a little more money. Classified ads are a world in themselves. Some shoppers (papers that only have ads of all kinds) make a lot of their money on classified type ads. take the time to see what's not being done, or not being done adequately in your market. You may not even want to charge anything for classifieds. But I believe that even a small, insignificant charge for classified ads is better than nothing. Don't ever give the impression that your paper, no matter how small it may be, is worthless or "cheap" in some way. Always produce a clean, first-class publication, and always let people pay you for what they want. Make sure businesses pay a commercial rate for their classified ads. You don't want every advertiser trying to use classified ads just to save a buck. There will be times and certain circumstances when you should give a free ad or free coverage of a commercial event. For example, you may give a free classified ad to every display ad buyer.

Building Newspaper Ads

Building Ads

You will quickly learn how to build effective and attractive ads for your newspaper advertisers. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you start out. There are two kinds of ads in a newspaper. Actually, you can break the ads down into all kinds of sub-categories, but roughly speaking, there are two kinds of ads: 1. display ads, which can be any size, up to a full page ad or double-page spread. 2. text-only ads, most often used in classified & personal ads

Display Ads Display ads most often include graphic art of some kind. The art may be a

photo image, an illustration, a company logo or any combination of the above. If you are especially gifted in the visual arts, then such ads may prove to be a great resource of revenue for your paper. They can also prove to be your downfall, if you try to be a perfectionist to the point of spending hours working on each ad. You must find a happy medium (which sounds like a psychic joke, doesn't it?). Learn to build goodlooking and effective ads, but don't try to make each one the shining crown of your career. Don't worry too much if ads take you a lot of time at first. Learning always takes time. But try to reserve the most time for the advertisers you think will be staying with you. That way, if you labor for an hour to create (or rebuild) a logo, you can at least count it as time well spent, since you'll be able to use it in your publication, issue after issue, with little or no rebuilding. Using the right graphics software is important here. You want to build all company-specific artwork, such logos (including the logo and artwork you'll be using for your own newspaper) in a drawing program, not in a bitmap (raster or pixilated) image files editing program. Sound confusing? If you're unfamiliar with vector or bitmap files, then you'll want to spend some time researching the differences between the two. You can start with the free help offered in the left margin of this page. You will need to know these things when customers want to provide you with artwork files. Art needs to be created so that it will be clearly meaningful at the size you plan to use it in ads. Take time to make the outlines wide enough (but not too wide) and practice with using shades of gray (for ads/pages without color). Make the art appealing and to-the-point. Try to avoid art for the sake of art, since your advertisers want results, not just pretty or "creative" ads. All art

and design must be aimed at drawing the attention of potential customers to your advertiser's services or products not simply drawing everyone's attention to the ad itself. The same goes for type. Use typestyles and colors that pull readers to the message itself, and not simply to a gaudy or colorful box on the page. Everything in the ad should point readers to the customer's name and location, and to the services or products they want to feature.

Keep it Simple... The fewer the words and images in any ad, the easier it will be for readers to get the idea of the message. As a general rule, don't try to pack the whole ad space with information or artwork. Use white space in the ad to help single out the most important word(s) or image(s). Most ads will probably be an eighth of a page or less in size. So try to keep the number of items or points to a bare minimum. Even in your larger ads, the fewer things you try to say in a single ad, the better the chances that readers will actually see and then remember (and act) on what the ad is saying. See a sample ad here. Obviously, there are exceptions to the above rules. You may need to include a lot of details for some products. But even then, try to give "huge" attention to the main point or image and then use small type for the details, separating the two with a generous margin of white space. Be sure to guide your potential advertisers in the use of space, and in how to limit the amount of information they might be tempted to cram in small ads. Listen to them and make sure you understand what they really want the ad to do. Then help them reach their goals.

Always make sure you include whatever contact information is most relevant to the service, product or advertiser. Be sure. Don't assume that readers will automatically know the location, the town, the area code, and so on. Many of us have been very frustrated to see ads that we want very much to respond to, but can't because we're from out of town or whatever. Make every ad an effective selling device for your advertisers. Be careful when building ads to make them look as unique as possible. No page should have ads from different advertisers that all look alike. Make the borders different. Use different type faces (fonts) when building ads. And try to use the same faces (fonts) with the same client, when the ad content is similar. By giving each advertiser their own certain look, you help to give them recognition in the marketplace. On the other hand, it can be a good idea to change that look completely at times, to help draw the attention of readers who've unconsciously "learned" to stop seeing the ads.

Technical specifications and guidelines for creating newspaper ads is available from the Newspaper Association of America. While you may not immediately grasp all the details, the background data will help guide you in the right direction when preparing newsprint ads. Pay special attention to the information on use of color and the sizes and types of fonts used for clarity.

Arranging Newspaper Ads

Positioning the Ads Effective and attractive page design is important to everyone. It's important to you because how the paper looks will have a lot to do with how much work you will have to put into selling the paper and the ads. It's important to your advertisers because they need the best possible placement for their ads. And you want your advertisers to see real results from every issue.

Study the patterns used by successful and appealing publications that you like. Read up on the theories behind ad placement in page design. But do not become a slave to the industry standards. Be creative. Be stubborn. And by all means, be effective. Placing ads along the outside edges of the pages can be a good way to draw attention to the ads. But it can also be a great idea to place them along the fold, inside the page and other content. The same goes for top edge and bottom edge. Don't make every page look alike. You gain nothing by putting everyone to sleep. Above all, you'll want to avoid crowding ads together, so that readers can hardly tell where one ends and another begins. Use white space, border designs, typefaces, and other content to separate ads, and to make each one stand out as much as possible. Think about the ads in the middle and back pages when you're running articles that continue from the front pages of the paper. And think about them when placing content, such as special features throughout the paper. Some ads will be better served by certain kinds of content, such as comics, puzzles, and special stories. Your advertisers pay for the paper, so always have them in mind as you build the paper.

Sectioning off the Newspaper This may seem like a silly idea if you only have a small paper, of say 8 to 16 pages. But even when only half a page (or less) is given to a section, it's a good idea to break up the paper. There are several reasons for this. One good reason is that sections help you to mentally, and then physically, organize the newspaper. Another is that it helps you to give serious thought to the kinds of features and elements you want to include in each issue. I would encourage you to include comics, a puzzle or two, and some health, beauty, family sections, etc. I think it's a great idea to have a church page, and to include short messages from local pastors. Some of the features you can buy inexpensively from sources like King Features (see the Resources page). Sections are also very important when it comes to the placement of your ads. Allow advertisers to choose various sections. And feel free to charge different prices for different sections. The more popular a section, the higher the price, and even then, it will have to be on a first-come-first-served basis unless a client reserves the section in advance. Along these lines, be sure to think who will be looking at which section or page the most. Ads more geared for adults may not be suited for the comics page, for example. Not because adults don't read comics (I sure do). But think about the children who will certainly find the comics page(s) the most interesting section in most newspapers.

Classified Ads Obviously, classified ads are in a class by themselves. I know, that sounds like a silly pun. But it's more than just a pun. While some of the overall

design rules apply to classified ads, you must get into a different box of thinking altogether. I suppose that, above everything else, you should decide to make your classified ads readable. Ads that are legible (without a magnifying glass) will get a lot more attention from readers. And when they get results, you and your paper win a little more respect in the community. In a small newspaper, it seems to be a good idea to place the Classified section toward the back or in the very middle of the paper. Wherever you decide to put the section, make sure to list it on the front page in the index box. You will decide whether or not to sell classified ads with images. Many newspapers find it most effective (and simple) to sell classified ads as pure text ads. Some also use little icons (generic symbols or images) to draw attention to some ads. Whatever works for your community and your paper. I find that using a special type face or font for all classified ads is helpful is setting the section apart from all other content. Readers looking for the "Classifieds" should be able to tell at a glance when they've found them. And you can use a different page layout. If your pages tend to have two or three columns, then the Classified section might have four. This can be especially helpful if you must begin or end your Classified section in the middle of a page that also has other content, such as your news articles that will be continued from page one.

Paying Newspaper Contributors

Contributing Writers are a Great Resource No matter how talented and versatile you may be as a newspaper publisher, you're still only one person. Even you get a spouse involved, and even your children or other family members, you cannot be in all places at all times. More importantly, you cannot see and hear all things. Other gifted people can help to make a small newspaper a truly great publication. I like the term "contributing" writer. I like it because it's accurate. The contributing writer makes an important contribution to your newspaper. He or she adds something to the paper you cannot give it: fresh perspective and fresh talent. A breath of fresh air. Expertise in a given field that you simply don't have. A bit of good labor that you will not need to produce. Another voice and another way of seeing things. Readers in the area(s) you serve may hate what you say and how you say it, yet love the contributing writer who serves with you to produce a good paper. For the reasons mentioned above, and others, you need to value your contributing writers and reward them in every way you can. They're every bit as important to your paper's success as you are, as the advertisers are, as the readers are. So talk them up, encourage them, pay them what they're worth, promote them and their books, newsletters, pet projects and causes. You may not have a lot of cash to hand out, but you can find out what they want and need from you, and do your best to make it happen. Student, Part-time, & Beginning Writers I was recently asked by a new publisher how to go about paying contributing writers. This paper had been approached by a high school student who wanted to submit sports stories from his school. comments: I shared the following

Writers are very often paid by the word, and given a range of the number words accepted for each column or article. For example, if you assign this young man 500 words, and then pay him $.02 a word, that would be the same as giving him about $10 per submission. But newspapers also hire people for certain assignments, or buy columns by the issue, etc. In which case, a flat payment for each piece or photo is fine. As for how much, that's going to be different in every case. You need to decide what the paper can afford, what the material is worth to you (how much time will you or someone else spend editing the article?), and what the writer will need in order to give it his very best. Many new and/or young writers will write for nothing. What they really want and need is to see their work in print and their name on a byline. I've even had local adult and experienced writers work for me just to get their work in the town paper. Some were accomplished, professional writers with best-selling books to their credit. What I would Do... If it were me, and I wanted to encourage a young HS writer along, I'd probably work a deal. I would offer $7 per article submission, to start with, along with a byline (his name in print as the contributing writer). I would promise $10/per after the work has improved to the paper's standards, and proven itself. If the work is very good, I would later raise him to $12 or $15 per article -- after about 6 months -- sitting down with him and telling him exactly why I like his work, and why his contribution to the paper is worth the maximum amount. Make Sure Everyone Wins I've seldom had work submitted that needed no editing or polish. With my first small town newspaper, I had one guy's work that I always had to completely rewrite. He often got lots of praise and pats on the back from the readers for his "great" sports articles. I got all the work of re-writing at 2 AM in the morning. I thought it was funny, but I didn't mind. It worked well for the paper at that time, so I was content.

How did it work well for the newspaper? He was present to gather the actual eye-witness details of games and events that I simply didn't have the time to cover. His writing was not good, but the facts were all there. So I was able to do my part, and we both got the benefit. He got his column each issue and I got what I needed for the paper. The community got the information, the players and coaches got their mention and photos. It was an all-around winwin for everyone.

Local Newspaper as Community Voice

"If we fail to celebrate the good in all people, and the good in every community, we risk losing w society." Jim Sutton

What a Newspaper Talks About

Covering the Weather & More If you publish weekly or every other week, or once a month, you will not be trying to cover the same kinds of daily news and information as the local daily. For example, you won't gain much from trying to devote a lot of space to forecasting the weather. At least where I live, the forecast is never very accurate beyond the next day or so (and sometimes not worth much for the day at hand). On the other hand, you may want to include weather information (or at least helpful links) on the web version of your paper.

DOG FACES CHAIR And its up to you to decide whether you want to list every police call, every warrant, every court case, etc. Some publishers hope to thrive on scandal and such. But most small papers do well to focus on the good things often overlooked by the rest of the media. TV news, for example, tries to alarm people every evening, in the hope that more viewers will tune in more often if they're terrified of what's going on in the land. And some dailies churn out a lot of coverage on murders and rapes and robberies, with the same kind of hope. Smaller, more local papers, however, do better when they show all the great things happening around them, leaving the bad news for truly important issue.

What to Print A newspaper is about information. Some of that information is news, public notices, interesting stories of achievements and updates on the progress or setbacks of the community itself. Not all the information needs to be serious. Some things that you'll want to consider as content in each paper: Headline & Hard News Stories (the serious stuff) Weekly (or as often as you publish) Columns An Editorial Section and/or Letters from Readers Special Interest Features Comics, Mazes, Puzzles

Fillers & Mini Bits Classified Ad Sections A good newspaper allows the community to speak to itself. As a newspaper publisher, you're not trying to tell the community what it should be, so much as you should aim at allowing the community to speak for itself. The people of the community should all have an equal voice in your paper. That means that some of the people who disagree with you should also be allowed to have their say in a fair exchange of ideas and opinions. This does not mean the newspaper can't be used to encourage the best things while downplaying the discouraging. Honesty in the press is essential to a growing and healthy population. But no paper is required to abuse and insult the readership, or to beat known facts into the ground. Scandal and murder and the practice of yellow journalism ("exposing" every fault you can find) is not useful news. Nor does it help to encourage your community in the great things already being accomplished all around you.

Find good things to say about the people of your town. Find good stories of teachers who are doing a good job. Praise the local heroes. Interview the parents and the children who accomplish some good in the community. Give an inside story on what it's like to work at the local plant, or the local school, or the local fast-food restaurant. While you should print the photos and names of high achievers, you should also find reasons to praise the ones who seem completely ordinary. If we fail to celebrate the good in all people, and the good in every community, we may end up losing what we already have.

Good kids don't always get the highest marks in school or win the math awards for excellence. Good parents don't always become firemen or community leaders. Sometimes they just do a good job at work and buy milk for the family instead of a case of beer. And sometimes even the guy who buys a 6-pack every Friday night is a really good guy to have as a neighbor, co-worker and friend.

Take the time to understand your community. If you've not been very involved in the local workings of your community before, you must become involved now that you run a newspaper. But don't try to judge what you don't understand. Every story has at least two sides, and most have several. In order to be fair in reporting the facts, you must be able to listen and learn from all sides especially when there is conflict. Your reporting should be a source of genuine information. If you are overly biased, then your paper will accomplish very little. Even when you are perfectly balanced you will be accused of bias.

Opinions are like noses. Everyone has one. It's okay to print your own opinion, but remember not to print it as news. Place it in an editorial column. And then be sure to give equal space to someone who thinks your opinion stinks. A free community must make choices about many things. And, like it or not, the very best decisions and choices are never based on ignorance. So never try to keep your community in the dark. Give them your opinions, and then actively encourage those who oppose you to voice their own opinions. Both the paper and the community will benefit from such practices.

A Means of Community Communication The best thing you can provide, as a newspaper publisher, is a bulletin board where the people of your community can post their ideas, their accomplishments, their worries and their dreams. Be careful not to try and stifle the voice of your community. You are free to fill the pages of the paper with news and feature articles and tidbits of information as you like (after all, you are the editor, the publisher, the boss!). But be careful to keep the doors and windows of the paper open to other ideas, as well. If you're the only one encouraging the community in good directions, then the readers can easily ignore you. But if you, and the voices from the other side of the spectrum, and those who oppose you both, and still others who think you're all nuts if all of you can agree on some very important things, and all of you are urging the community to go forward in good ways, then you have many voices cheering the community on as it runs the race of life. Maybe I sound like an idealist. But I've seen it work. And I've seen what happens when no one bothers to try and make it work. Our children need the attention. The families and individuals in our community need the encouragement. The struggling artist, the honest businessman, the generous neighbor, the local Bible-teaching pastor, the liberal-minded high school teacher they all need to be encouraged to carry on their work of serving others with their gifts. Community leaders need some help, and occasionally some opposition. The community needs the participation of its people. As a local newspaper, you can be a central part of getting everyone to play a more active role in what happens. I believe its worth all the effort you can give it.

In the Long Run, It's All About Success Ultimately, you want to succeed as a business, and as a good neighbor in the community. You also want to see your neighbors succeed. History shows that good neighbors are sometimes misunderstood. And businesses with even the most sincere ethics and intentions can fail if other important factors are ignored (like good bookkeeping). But as a good general rule, what truly benefits and inspires your readers will work for your business. Work hard to build a reputation as a fair reporter, and your paper will be respected. As your readers grow in their respect for you, public goodwill can enhance sales. Don't get me wrong. Public goodwill is not the same thing as sales or income. You still have to sell ads, work deals, and keep an eye on competition. But if you're accepted as one of the good guys, you have some points in your favor. No matter how remote or how specialized you think your market is, someone will always be looking to take your advertisers away from you. And if they can compete with you on pricing, you'll feel the heat. But never allow those guys to rattle you. Do your job as a publisher, reporter, editor, photographer (janitor, etc.) and hang in there. Seasons come and go. If you have taken care from the beginning to put down good roots, you will last any storm. If you provide the local or regional service no one else is (really) willing to provide, and you keep your nose clean, when it comes to unbiased news reporting, you'll have some pretty good roots going down. There are always imitators, but no one can beat the real thing in any industry or profession. Be the real thing in the newspaper business. Be the newspaper that truly serves the community. Don't look for charity or sympathy, just be there, doing what needs to be done. And you will be around a long time.

Building Small Newspaper Pages

Building the Pages You can build pages for your newspaper in Adobe InDesign, PageMaker (also owned now by Adobe) in QuarkXPress, in MS Publisher, in CorelDraw, and in a handful of other software packages. When deciding what to use, the important thing to keep in mind is that your files must be compatible with the job shop that will actually print your paper. PDF Files are Better Than the The Old Ways Option #1 You can create hardcopy mechanicals of your newspaper pages, producing actual pages (11x17 or whatever size you go with) that will then be photographed by the print shop and transformed into film. You will need a tabloid-sized laser printer, or else you'll have to rotate, tile, and then splice your pages together to create each full-sized page. Option #2 You can set the pages up in the software of your choice, and then save or export them out to PDF files a format commonly accepted by magazine and newspaper printers all over the world. PDF files can be transported by email or by FTP upload, or even by CD, if your prefer. You may still want to output a hard copy for your printer's reference, but it will not need to be full scale or in color. My recommendation is that you try to use the PDF file option. You can easily

proof your own pages in PDF format by downloading the free Adobe Reader from www.adobe.com. In fact, you probably already have this reader, if not the full blown Adobe Acrobat, on your computer.

Page Size is Negotiable As I mentioned before, the actual page size for your newspaper will be determined, in part by the job shop that prints your paper. Some will offer several options, based on the presses they have and the rolls of paper they're willing to stock and run. Regular tabloid size (11x17 page size, run on 17" stock and cut down to 17x34 inch sheets, folded in half to create 11x17 inch pages) is pretty common, but lots of papers are slightly smaller, or at least have different dimensions.

Save a Dime, Lose a Buck Yes, the smaller page sizes are often less expensive to print. But the rest of the story is that you have less space to work with and sell. I'm biased toward the full 11x17 for tabloid papers because I like to have all I can get, and I like to sell all I can sell. The minor difference in printing cost is nothing compared to the added income you can generate with the larger pages. Your printer will tell you what kind of margin works for him. Usually, they will want about half an inch all around. That means you'll have a full inch gutter between pages (at the fold) and half an inch at the outside edge and the top and bottom. With a full 11x17, this will give you a 16x10 working space on each page. (See the example image.) Set up your document in InDesign, PageMaker, MS Publisher, or whatever,

according to the actual page size you plan to print. If your newspaper pages will be 11x17, then create a new document with pages that are 11x17, and set the margins at 1/2 inch, if that is what you plan to work with. Be sure to create the document with 8, 16, or 24 pages, etc., according to the number of pages for this issue.

Columns, Gutters, & Footers You can also set the number of columns you want to use. I often set a default of 3 or 4 columns for the whole document, even though the number of columns will vary from page to page, and even on the same page. Don't forget to create the headers and/or footers, that will carry the name of the newspaper and page number for each page. You can do this manually or use automatic default settings. Of, course you'll want to turn these off for the front page and possibly certain other pages. Leave a healthy gutter between columns, but not too much. You may have a default setting of about .163 or whatever. I usually set mine at about .23 or .25 unless that gives me trouble. You want even the narrow columns to be wide enough to hold 3 to 6 words or more. But you don't want columns so wide that people lose their place from line to line.

Type Size As mentioned elsewhere, a good rule for type size is 10 or 11 point for the bulk of the copy (wording) in your newspaper. Go smaller for very special reasons, and only in a very few places. Lots of people have trouble reading anything below 10 point type (and some of us have difficulty with anything

smaller than 12 point). As for the size of your headlines, that's really up to you. Experiment. Build your page and then look at the whole thing. If it looks off, here or there, modify things and go on.

Don't Build Gray Pages Keep a healthy space between stories. You can use pictures, such as photos or important illustrations top help separate things, and to break up the page. But use some white space, too. Make all your stories easy to find. Use the same size headings and subheadings for most of the smaller stories. Use the bigger type for more important stories. Try to break things up, with one or two "big" stories on a page, and some smaller ones around them or between them. Use big photos here or there that go along with stories and that help to balance the page, visually. For more ideas on page layout and design, look at the newspapers and magazines you like. Pay special attention to the use of space, images, and type. The local newspaper is a formal publication. But it need not be boring. I lean toward a conservative look, because it make the paper easy to understand, easy to navigate and easy to digest for most people. But play around with the elements you have to work with. Have some fun while you produce a professional and functional publication. The more interesting the paper, the better it will be received.

Designing Basics

What should your newspaper pages look like? How large should I make headings and headlines? What about the gutter (vertical spacing) between columns? Do photos and illustrations on a page need to be a certain size? Should I put the name of my newspaper on every page? Should I include page numbers, and if so, where do I place them, at the top or bottom? And how much white space should I leave between headings and blocks of copy? These are some of the questions I wrestled with when I began to prepare the first layout for my first newspaper issue. Since I had no formal education or training in publishing or even in design or desktop publishing, I was especially nervous. I wanted my paper to look professional and clean, and right. Other weekly and daily papers in the region provided me with very little inspiration. I did look at them, to get some basic ideas. But only the big daily paper (in Missoula) was very professional

looking. 12 Ways to Get Your Small Newspaper Going Strong The weeklies from other towns were often just thrown together, and looked like it. The regional underground paper looked as though it had been produced underground and in the dark (part of the visual appeal, I suppose). The shoppers looked like, well, like shoppers. And in those days, I did not use the Internet, and it had very little on it, anyway. The printer who operated the big web press (where my newspaper would actually be printed) told me that I needed to leave 1/2" around the outside edges of each page. And I held to that (see example of basic layout), since I did not want them having to reduce my pages when they made the printing plates. Not that such reductions are a big deal. But they can change the look of your publication. The rest of the newspaper's look was up to me. I used Aldus PageMaker in those days, so I

was able to set up my pages and get at least some idea of how they would look. I could zoom in and out, for a better sense of the page's overall appearance. I noticed how important, for example, the white space is at the tops of pages, especially the front page which carries the newspaper's flag (nameplate). And the size of the paper's own name, along with other information (issue and/or volume number, any slogan, areas covered, address, etc.) is very important. Every paper is different, and yet some constants seem to remain. The Wall Street Journal is different than, say, the New York Times or USA TODAY. The Dallas Morning News will be different than the Houston Chronicle, and the Billings Gazette different than the Abilene Reporter-News. Start by noting the things newspapers (especially the ones you think look good) have in common. Then make a list of elements you really like from this or that particular newspaper. Do you

like, for example, giving a small index of what's inside this issue? Or do you like a particular typeface for the newspaper's name? And what about that name: should you call it a gazette, a journal, a chronicle, a times? (Be sure you don't grab a specific name still in use or owned by another newspaper, such as the New York Times.) Photos Really important photos (such as photo coverage of the end of the world) can spread across the entire page or they can fit inside 2 columns. Other can be made to fit inside one column or less. No photo should be used that is not important to the story. Out of hundreds of photos, usually only one or two is really worth using. Make sure you have paid for them (bartering is ok, such as occasional photos in trade for subscriptions or ads) or that you took them yourself. Headline Subtitle Type Think about all the kinds of

stories you will ever print in your newspaper. What is the very biggest story you might publish? The end of the world, as mentioned above? The election of a US President from your hometown? Now decide what size of type you want to use for that story's headline. No story of lesser importance should have the same size type. Other huge stories should also merit bigger type than the usual news. My point is this: don't start out using the biggest type size you can. Use a nice, clean bold type for all headlines, (such as a Swiss or Helvetica Black Condensed, maybe) but reserve the biggest sizes for really huge stories. Then use a contrasting type for subheadings.

See how all-caps are used to help set off main headline, then caps and lowers in a contrasting typeface are used for subheading. All titles are bolder and larger than regular copy. (By the way, take extra care to avoid spelling errors in

headlines, since they will be read even if nothing else is.) Experiment with different sizes of headlines and subheads. Play with the spacing, adding more white space between heading and copy, and then less. Develop a look that you carry through your paper. But also remember that different sections (and themes) in the paper should be set off some by a different look. Type styles are an important part of the overall look. Gutters Adding space between columns is not an option. But how much space is up to you. Think not only of setting words apart, as when the page is filled with copy, but also ads and other images, where solid lines are up against the gutter. Build dummy pages, if you need to, where you have a mix of words and images. See how much space looks the best, making the page easy to get into and easy to grasp at a glance. Avoid so much clutter on a page that the average reader will avoid the page. As mentioned

before on this site, use ads and photos and white space to help arrange pages so that readers can easily navigate and get the most from your paper. Headers and Footers I believe the newspaper's name should be included on every page. I prefer to see it at the top, along with the date of the issue and a page number. But great looking publications place some or all of the info at the bottom. Page numbers are most helpful at the outside corners of the page (top or bottom). And section names or numbers, if you use them, should be with the page numbers. Make it easy for everyone to find their way. Little things are not always so little. Make sure to always use a contrasting type when continuing an article or story to another page. I prefer to use an italic version of the same typeface being used for the main copy. I also like to set it off some, dropping an extra half a line or moving it over (or both). Use the same basic size and font for

captions to photos and illustrations. Use visually interesting insets of type for repeating important quotes or other comments to help break up large gray blocks of copy. Research and Development At your public library and at larger bookstores you can often find newspapers from around the nation and even from major cities around the world. Sometimes you can also find newspapers at newsstands, if you have one in town. If not, use the Internet to search newspapers and their front pages (one site is http://www.newseum.org/todaysf rontpages/ ). Study the looks of both front pages and inside page layout. List the design elements that make the pages appealing and useful. Then practice adapting the same or similar elements into your own newspaper pages. No matter how busy you become when producing your own newspaper, never stop working to make it better. Avoid

constantly changing some things, like the flag or nameplate's overall appearance (even though minor elements can be changed), but never hesitate to improve page payouts. The best plan, of course, is to work out the basics before you publish your first issue. But sometimes we don't see or realize certain things until later.

The Newspaper Reporter Reporting the Local News

Reporting the News See also On Assignment: Getting the Story See also The Newspaper as a Voice If you plan to publish where you live, you will want to be sure and practice common sense when you say things in print. You also want to make sure that what you say makes sense to the average reader. Some folks make the mistake of thinking that big words and obscure or complex wording in sentences is a sign of real intelligence and good

education. But in all communication, the first objective should be to convey meaningful information, directly and simply. The very best writers do this well. First, make sure that you say what you really mean. Avoid ambiguous statements that could be interpreted in more than one way. Even when you make no errors in writing, there will be readers who misunderstand what you say. But when you make the mistake of using obscure and ambiguous phrases in your reporting of the news, you open the door to confusion and trouble. Also be slow to use terms, words and phrases that you haven't really mastered. Be especially careful in reporting crimes and police reports to make proper use of legal terms and phrases. Don't rely on other news sources or even official documents to give you the right use of such wording. Get out the dictionary, make use of style manuals, and do your research. Make sure you know what you're saying. Make sure it makes sense. (Some quick examples.) Make sure that you distance yourself from observations and allegations made by witnesses, the police, hearsay, and even the most well-meaning sources. Unless you witnessed an event yourself, make it clear that you're quoting someone else. If someone has been accused of a criminal or other improper act, take care to avoid assuming guilt. Report the facts.

The Truth is in the Details Above all things, get your facts straight. Double check the facts given to you. When possible (not just when convenient) check records and other witnesses, etc. to corroborate the stories given in earlier interviews. The more

background information you gather, the more meaningful (and accurate) a story you can deliver to readers of your newspaper. Whatever you do, you don't want to gain a reputation for getting the facts screwed up. Yes, you're very busy. But the news is your business. Do what you do well. Keep notepads handy. Keep small ones in your pockets. Keep extras in your car. Pack some in your camera case. Keep plenty of pens and pencils around. You should make heavy use of a small tape recorder when interviewing anyone and everyone. But also take written notes, for spelling names, etc. Make sure you always carry extra batteries. Build a reputation for getting the facts right in every story. It's not as easy as you may think. But it isn't so difficult once you develop the habits required. Never send anyone out to cover a story without preparing them ahead of time. Train them, as needed, in the use of the tools you use.

A Picture is Worth the Effort Every story worth telling needs a photo. You may not have a photo of an event, but you can get photos of the participants, witnesses, groups, and so on. Always take more photos than you could ever use, and then pick the very best one or two that captures the heart of your story. If you have a good digital camera, you can save lost of time and money on processing. I used to spend a lot of money and time processing film. Digital cameras pay for themselves very quickly. If you run a weekly or monthly publication, the daily paper and possibly the radio and TV stations in your area may have already covered the games and

events you wish to print. If they do, then don't simply repeat what they have already said. Get more inside news, with fresh angles on the story. Make it worth your reader's time to read your paper. Make sure your stories are gold.

Make Good Use of Continuing Education Resources If you join your state and regional newspaper associations, you'll be able to gain help and ideas on news coverage and more. Many colleges and universities also offer classes in journalism. You can even get good help online. And there are always good books on the subject of reporting and news coverage.

Put Your Small Newspaper Online

Developing a Website: An Online version of Your Newspaper There should be no question in your mind that a website will be a great value to you as you get a newspaper going. The website should be something of an online mirror or your newspaper. Keep it simple, and make it easy to navigate. Use it to improve your service to the readership of your newspaper. You can publish some of the same information on your website that you've already produced for your print version. But dont stop

there. You can also publish many additional stories, feature articles as well as local or regional information that will draw people to your site. If people know they can get the names and contact information they need for key city officials, business owners, community information sources, etc. and find helpful maps to recreation or shopping centers, or get listings of other important information on your site, they will tend to return more often. In everything you do as a newspaper publisher you want to serve the community. Make your paper's website a 24-hour-7-days-a-week-365-days-ayear part of that service. Be sure to give opportunity for feedback, so that people can reach you with important information, comments, complaints, and suggestions. Make it easy for advertisers and local sources to reach you by email as well as by phone or FAX. More and more people are using online communication these days. They will appreciate your newspaper more if you give them a way to stay in touch online. The printed version of your newspaper should always contain reminders, throughout, of the existence and the URL, or online address, of your website. And the website version should always point people back to your newspaper, so that even people in other regions and other countries can subscribe to your printed newspaper. Use each version of the paper to promote the overall business of your newspaper. Use each to advertise the other. Use both to serve and to communicate. When selling ads, you can offer online ads as well. Many publications offer to automatically place ads online when a print ad is sold. You may want to charge a small fee for website publication, just to cover the extra expense. This would be especially important if you have to hire someone to do the website for you. Remember, you will need to adjust the sizing of online ads, but keep it simple, so as not to add too much work to your schedule. When building ads for the print version of the newspaper, keep the web version in the back of your mind, so that you can more easily transfer ads to the website. One great advantage of the website version of your newspaper is the ability to

archive everything you want to save. You can easily set up online copies of important articles and features, and keep them for decades. You can also include a daily blog on your website. This is especially valuable if you only go to press with the print version once a week or once a month. A daily blog will give people a reason to check back each day, or at least a few times a week for important bits of news and comments made by you or other contributors to the paper. A primary reason for starting any kind of business is to enjoy your work. No matter what we do in life, there will be plenty of work, difficulty, set backs, and uphill climbs involved. So we may as well choose to do something we really want to do, something we can enjoy. Adding a website presence to your newspaper opens the door for the paper to be more fun for you and for everyone contributing to the publication. You can give advertisers a page to speak. You can give contributors (writers, reporters, photographers, sales help, etc.) a page to play with. Have some fun. Make the paper more fun for readers and workers alike. These are just a few of the ideas. You get the idea. Now take the basics and run with them.

KING Features (comics, etc.) American Copy Editors Society American Press Institute API Tool Box AP Stylebook - Newsroom Guide NUJ (Brit & Ireland) International Federation of Journalists Christian Sources Consumer Action Offices & Info Creative Content Journalist's Guide to the Internet

American Copy Editors Society The American Editor American Journalism Review American Media Columnist Index American Society of Newspaper Editors Assignment Editor.com Associated Press Managing Editors Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication Baseview Publishing Tools Broadcasting & Cable Business Research Guides Center for Community Journalism Christian: Free Images of Jesus Columbia Journalism Review Committee on Open Government Copy Editing for Magazines Copy Editor CyberJournalist Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma Deadline Reporting Guide Department of Defense Link Earth from Space Earthquake Information Center Editor & Publisher Magazine Education Writers Association FACSNET Federal Election Commission The First Amendment Online Handbook

Food Editor.com Glossary of Stock Market Terms: Nasdaq Guide to Electronic and Print Resources for Journalists High School Journalism Homicide in the United States Institute of Newspaper Technology International Newspaper Financial Executives The International Center for Journalists International Marketing Association Investigative Reporters and Editors Journalism Jobs.com Journalism Net Journalist's Toolbox Journalism UK Journalism Resources Journalism Training Macintosh Computer Info Magazine News & Resources Media Associations Media Awards Medialink Media Ownership Who Owns What Media Museums Media Research Center National Archives and Records Administration National Conference of Editorial Writers National Hurricane Center National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting

National Press Photographers Association Newspaper Association of America NewsLink Newspaper Archives Newsroom for Students Pressnet (Japan) Poynter Institute Pulitzer Prizes Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Reporter's Desktop Reporter's Notebook Society of Newspaper Design Society of Professional Journalists Student Press Law Center Technical Business Listings Uniform Code Council U.S. Census Bureau U.S. Copyright Office U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Library of Congress U.S. Postal Service Web Sites for Journalists White House Press Briefings by Date Who's Alive and Who's Dead

Newspaper Organizations & Associations You'll often gain much from local and regional press organizations. While you may not be eligible for membership until your paper meets certain requirements (such as a specific level of circulation), you can still benefit from the public and free resources offered by many newspaper associations. And don't limit yourself to the help & materials available in your own state or region. Take time to learn from newspaper groups in other parts of the country as well.Alaska Newspaper Association PO Box 7900 Ketchikan AK 99901 907-225-3157 907-225-1096 fax

Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington (State) 1110 Capitol Way S., Ste. 300 PO Box 29 Olympia WA 98507-0029 360-943-9960 360-943-9962 fax anewspaper@aol.com

American Court & Commercial Newspapers P.O. Box 5337 Arlington VA 222059990 703-534-5579 703-534-5751 fax NewsBizLaw@aol.com

American Press Institute

11690 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston VA 22091 703-620-3611 703-620-5814 fax api@apireston.org http://www.newspaper.org/api

American Society of Newspaper Editors 11690 B Sunrise Valley Dr. Reston VA 20191-1409 703-453-1122 703-453-1133 fax asne@asne.org http://www.asne.org

Arizona Newspaper Association 1001 N. Central Ave, Suite 670 Phoenix AZ 85004-1947 602-261-7655 602-261-7525 fax j.fearing@ananews.com http://www.ananews.com

Arkansas Press Association, Inc. 411 S Victory Street Little Rock AR 72201-2932 501-374-1500 501-374-7509 fax dschick@arkansaspress.org http://www.arkansaspress.org

California Newspaper Publishers Association 1225 8th Street, Suite 260 Sacramento CA 95814-1811 916-288-6000 916-288-6002 fax jack@cnpa.com http://www.cnpa.com

Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suite 206, 90 Eglinton Avenue Toronto, Ontario M4P CANADA 416-482-1090 416-482-1908 fax info@ccna.ca http://www.communitynews.ca

Canadian Newspaper Association 890 Yonge Street, Suite 200 Toronto, Ontario M4W 3P4 CANADA 416-923-3567 416-923-7206 fax http://www.cna-acj.ca

Colorado Press Association 1336 Glenarm Place Denver CO 80204-2115 303-571-5117 303-571-1803 fax eotte@csn.net http://media.colorado.edu\coloradopress

Florida Press Association 2636 Mitcham Drive Tallahassee FL 32308 850-222-6401 850-222-6012 fax fpa-info@flpress.com http://www.flpress.com

Georgia Press Association 3066 Mercer University Dr., Suite 200 Atlanta GA 30341-4137 770-454-6776 770-454-6778 fax rrhodes@mindspring.com http://www.gapress.org

Hawaii Publishers Association 677 Ala Moana Blvd., #815 Honolulu HI 96813-5416 808-533-6750 808-599-2606 fax publishers@hawaii.rr.com

Hoosier State Press Association One Virginia Avenue, Suite 701 Indianapolis IN 46204 317-803-4772 317-624-4428 fax dstamps@hspa.com http://www.hspa.com

Idaho Newspaper Association 6560 Emerald, Suite 124 Boise ID 83704 208-375-0733 208-375-0914 fax bobchall@aol.com http://www.idahopapers.com

Illinois Press Association 900 Community Drive Springfield IL 62703 217-241-1300 217-241-1301 fax dbennett@il-press.com http://www.il-press.com

Inland Press Association 360 E. Devon Ave. # 3011 Des Plaines IL 60018 847-795-0380 847-795-0385 fax inlander1@aol.com http://www.inlandpress.org

Iowa Newspaper Association 319 East 5th Street Des Moines IA 50309 515-244-2145 515-244-4855 fax bmonroe@inanews.com NAnews.com

Kansas Press Association 5423 SW 7th Street Topeka KS 66606-2330 785-271-5304 785-271-7341 fax jburkhead@kspress.com http://www.kspress.com

Kentucky Press Association 101 Consumer Lane Frankfort KY 40601 502-223-8821 502-226-3867 fax dthompson@kypress.com http://www.kypress.com

Louisiana Press Association 404 Europe Street Baton Rouge LA 70802 225-344-9309 225-336-9921 fax pam@lapress.com http://www.lapress.com

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association 2191 Defense Highway, Suite 300 Crofton MD 21114-2487 410-721-4000 410-721-4557 fax info@mddcpress.com

http://www.mddcpress.com

Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Assn. 70 Washington Street, Suite 21 Salem MA 01970 508-465-7539 508-465-4796 fax plantejr@seacoast.com

Michigan Press Association 827 North Washington Avenue Lansing MI 48906-5199 517-372-2424 517-372-2429 fax mike@michiganpress.org http://www.michiganpress.org

Minnesota Newspaper Association 12 South 6th Street, Suite 1120 Minneapolis MN 55402-1502 612-332-8844 612-342-2958 fax mna@mna.org http://www.mnnewspapernet.org

Mississippi Press Association 371 Edgewood Terrace Jackson MS 39206 601-981-3060 601-981-3676 fax mpa@mspress.org

http://www.mspress.org

Missouri Press Association 802 Locust St Columbia MO 652014888 573-449-4167 573-874-5894 fax crews@socket.net http://www.mopress.com

Montana Newspaper Association Expedition Block 825 Great Northern Blvd., Suite 202 Helena MT 59601 406-443-2850 406-443-2860 fax mtnews@mtnewspapers.com http://www.mtnewspapers.com

National Newspaper Association PO Box 7540 Columbia MO 652057540 573-882-5800 573-884-5490 fax info@nna.org http://www.nna.org

Nebraska Press Association 845 "S" Street Lincoln NE 68508-1226 402-476-2851

402-476-2942 fax nebpress@nebpress.com http://www.nebpress.com

Nevada Press Association 102 N. Curry St. Carson City NV 89703 775-885-0866 775-885-8233 fax nvpress@callatg.com http://www.nevadapress.com

New England Newspaper Association 70 Washington Street Salem MA 01970 978-744-8940 978-744-0333 fax mlp@nenews.org http://www.nenews.org

New Hampshire Press Association P.O. Box 1419 Derry, NH 03038 603-560-3858 info@nhpress.org http://www.nhpress.org

New Jersey Press Association 840 Bear Tavern Road Suite 305 West Trenton NJ 08628-1019 609-406-0600

609-406-0300 fax NJPRESS@NJPA.org http://www.NJPA.org

New Mexico Press Association 2531 Wyoming Blvd.NE Albuquerque NM 87112 505-275-1377 505-275-1449 fax nmpress@earthlink.net http://www.nmpress.org

New York Newspaper Publishers Association 120 Washington Ave. Albany NY 12210 518-449-1667 518-449-5053 fax dianenynpa@aol.com http://www.nynpa.com

Newspaper Association of America 1921 Gallows Road, Ste. 600 Vienna VA 22182-3900 703-902-1600 703-917-0636 fax sturj@naa.org http://www.naa.org

North Dakota Newspaper Association 1435 Interstate Loop Bismarck ND 58503-0567

701-223-6397 701-223-8185 fax bailey@ndna.com http://www.ndna.com

Ohio Newspaper Association 1335 Dublin Road Columbus OH 13215-1000 614-486-6677 614-486-6373 fax fdeaner@ohionews.org http://www.ohionews.org

Oklahoma Press Association 3601 North Lincoln Oklahoma City OK 73105-5499 405-524-4421 405-524-2201 fax mthomas@okpress.com http://www.okpress.com

Ontario Community Newspaper Assn 3050 Harvester Rd., Ste. 103 Burlington,ON Canada L7N3JI 905-639-8720 905-639-6962 fax INFO@ocna.org http://www.ocna.org

Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association 7150 S.W. Hampton St., Suite 111

Portland OR 97223 503-624-6397 503-639-9009 fax onpa@orenews.com http://www.orenews.com

Pennsylvania Newspaper Association 3899 North Front Street Harrisburg PA 17110-1536 717-703-3000 717-703-3001 fax timw@pa-news.org http://www.pa-newspaper.org

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press 1805 NorthFort Meyer Dr. Arlington VA 22209-1817 703-807-2100 703-807-2109 fax rcfp@rcfp.org http://www.rcfp.org

Rhode Island Press Association University of Rhode Island Department of Journalism Kingston RI 02881 401-874-4287 401-874-4450 fax

Society for News Design 1130 Ten Rod Road Suite F 104

North Kingstown RI 028524177 401-294-5233 401-294-5238 fax snd@snd.org http://www.snd.org

South Carolina Press Association PO Box 11429 Columbia SC 29211 803-750-9561 803-551-0903 fax scpress@scpress.org http://www.scpress.org

South Dakota Newspaper Association 527 Main Ave, Suite 202 PO Box 8100 Brookings SD 57006-8100 605-692-4300 605-692-6388 fax sdna@sdna.com http://www.sdna.com

Southern Newspaper Publishers Association PO Box 28875 Atlanta GA 30358 404-256-0444 404-252-9135 fax edward@snpa.org http://www.snpa.org

Suburban Newspapers of America 116 Cass Street Traverse City MI 49685 610-361-9234 610-361-9252 fax nancylanesna@aol.com http://www.suburban-news.org

Tennessee Press Association, Inc. 6915 Office Park Circle Knoxville TN 37909-1162 865-584-5761 865-558-8687 fax rgentile@tnpress.com http://www.tntoday.com

Texas Daily Newspaper Association 3101 Bee Cave Road, Suite 250 Austin TX 78746-5574 512-476-4351 512-476-0515 fax info@tdna.org http://www.tdna.org

Texas Press Association 718 West Fifth Street Austin TX 78701-2799 512-477-6755 512-477-6759 fax mikehodges@texaspress.com http://www.texaspress.com

Utah Press Association 307 W. 200 South, Suite 4006 Salt Lake City UT 84101-1277 801-328-8678 801-328-2226 fax upa@utahpress.com http://www.utahpress.com

Vermont Press Association c/o Journalism Dept., St Michael's College Colchester VT 05439-0284 802-654-2442 802-654-2560 fax mdonoghue@smcvt.edu

Virginia Press Association 11529 Nuckols Road Glen Allen VA 23059 804-521-7570 804-521-7589 fax gingervpa@aol.com http://www.vpa.net

Washington Newspaper Publishers Association 3838 Stone Way North Seattle WA 98103 206-634-3838 206-634-3842 fax wnpa@aol.com http://www.wnpa.com

West Virginia Press Association 3422 Pennsylvania Avenue Charleston WV 25302 304-342-1011 304-343-5879 fax wvpress@earthlink.net http://www.wvpress.org

Wisconsin Newspaper Association 3822 Mineral Point Road Madison WI 53705 608-238-7171 608-238-4771 fax sgeorge@wnanews.com http://www.wnanews.com

World Association of Newspapers 7 Rue Geoffroy St. Hilaire, 75005 Paris, France. Telephone: (33-1) 47 42 85 00 Fax: (33-1) 47 42 49 48 contact_us@wan.asso.fr lkilman@wan.asso.fr

Wyoming Press Association 2121 Evans Ave. Cheyenne WY 82001 307-635-3905 307-635-3912 fax wypress@trib.com

http://www.wyopress.org