Notes for Contributors

The Wayland News is firmly committed to the community and we set out to publish everything submitted to us. Of course, we will not publish inappropriate or abusive material and we must retain the right to refuse to publish any submission without explanation. But, in general, if your piece is legal, decent, honest and truthful then we will print it for you.

Use us to tell everyone about your club or charity; what you do and why. How many of you are there? When and where do you meet? What have you done recently? What are you doing in the future? Very often, people with the same interests do not know about each other. If you have a strong interest in a subject why not start a club of your own? We will do what we can to help and support you.

You do not have to be a literary genius to write an article (the Editor never did pass his "English O Level"! We have found that a piece written by someone who cares, will be read and absorbed by the reader much better than one that would get good marks in an exam but is boring! We will correct basic spelling and other major errors for you, but we will not rewrite your article and risk ruining its style and message in the process. Cultural diversity is a part of the richness of our community and we do not want to destroy that. The differing styles of writing by every author contribute to the variety of the paper and make it much more interesting to read overall.

We will also place small display adverts for your group’s special event, but our experience is that an article interests readers far more than an announcement of an event. Try to explain who you are, why this is a special event - why the reader should attend. Where will the proceeds go and why? Doing this will usually result in a greater attendance. Tell us about your event in an interesting way and we will do our very best to support you by printing your article and, if appropriate and subject to space, construct a display advert as well. Please do not submit a poster and ask us to print it, we know that doesn’t work. Similarly, we regret we are unable to print entry forms of any sort. Any free advertising is limited to an absolute maximum size of 6cm by 9cm and will often be smaller.

If you do advertise an event, think about doing a follow up article. Thanking people and companies for their sponsorship will encourage them to help you and others in the future. Local businesses are often approached for raffle prizes daily, and it is a drain. But, if they are recognised for their support by you, they will be much keener next time.

Pictures
We are very happy to accept your pictures for publication. They should be good clear photographs that illustrate or add something to your article. Digital photographs are prefered BUT PLEASE send the original picture. Do not crop alter or otherwise edit it. Very often doing such things will make the picture unusable for us. When emailing pictures be sure you system does not reduce the size without you knowing! A good digital picture is usually over 250kb in size - if yours is less than this there is probably a problem and it will not reproduce very well.

Deadline
Probably the most important thing for you to remember is the deadline . . .

Deadline is Noon on the 16th of the month before publication for all material. Deadline is the latest date and time that copy will be considered for inclusion. Page space is allocated strictly on a first come, first served basis. Arrival of copy before deadline does not guarantee inclusion, if you wish to be certain your entry gets to print then please make sure it arrives in plenty of time.

We aim to start distribution before the 1st of the month but exceptional circumstances may delay us. If your event is very early in the month you should consider being a month early with the main article and then a reminder

We prefer to receive copy in electronic i.e. email form but if that is not possible, then printed or typewritten. If at all possible avoid hand-written submissions. If there is no other alternative they must be legible.You MUST sign and include your contact details with each written submission (does not apply to emails). If you do not sign and include your contact details with written submissions, the item will not be published.

Although we will take every care to ensure accuracy, we cannot be held responsible for the consequences of any error or omission on our part. We reserve the right not to print any submission without explanation.