Church Newsletter Preflight Checklist Date ______
PLANNING
Does the publication include elements that invite, inform, inspire and uplift?
Does the publication meet your church’s mission statement and act as an ambassador to your church?
Did you establish an effective schedule for completing everything on time?
Is a realistic budget in place?
PAGE LAYOUT
Is the front page inviting and recognizable as your church representative?
Is the nameplate large enough to be easily seen without dominating the page?
Is the number of columns appropriate to your newsletter’s use of text and graphics?
Is column size appropriate to font size?
Are your pages framed with white space?
Does your layout project the purpose of your newsletter?
HEADLINES
Do headlines stand out from body text?
Does the size of the headline font reflect the article’s importance?
Are headlines surrounded by white space?
Are multi-line headlines broken at appropriate points? Can they be shortened?
Are headlines in short sentence format, using active verbs?
Are headlines either staggered to avoid the “tombstone” effect or separated by large margins?
Have headlines or subheads isolated at the bottom of columns been corrected?
Is each headline paired with the correct story?
BODY COPY
Has “church-speak” language that newcomers might not understand been edited out?
Is most of the copy written in reader-friendly sentences of eight to 15 words in length?
Are articles written in a conversational tone?
Are articles complete and correct?
Has every article been read in its entirety to make sure that no text is omitted?
Has white space been used between and around columns and headlines?
Are paragraph and list indents appropriate to the column width?
Have all (editorial) widows and orphans been eliminated?
FONTS AND TYPEFACES
Are fonts limited to two — one sans-serif (for headlines) and one serif (for body copy)?
Is the font chosen for body copy easy to read?
Is font size appropriate to line length and/or column width?
Have underlined words been replaced with bold, italics or small caps?
Have bold and italics been used in moderation?
Does the choice of font for special announcements reflect the intended audience (i.e., young and fun fonts for youth, conventional fonts for adults)?
DATA
Have all names been checked for accuracy and spelling?
Have dates, times, locations, addresses, phone numbers and prices of all events been checked and confirmed?
PUNCTUATION AND GRAMMAR
Has all punctuation (quotation marks, apostrophes, etc.) been replaced with “smart symbols”?
Has unnecessary punctuation been edited out?
Has punctuation that is used in pairs (parentheses, quotation marks) been checked to be sure both characters are present?
Have “which” (begins a non-essential clause) and “that” (begins an essential clause) been used correctly?
Has the spellchecker been run one last time?
Have all spellchecker substitutions been double-checked?
Have common word pairs been checked for accuracy (to, too, two; they’re, their, there)?
Has the entire issue been proofread by two people?
VISUALS
Does the size of each graphic reflect its article’s importance?
Do faces in photographs look into the text, guiding your readers’ eyes inward as well?
Are photographs cropped to exclude unimportant elements?
Are visuals balanced and in harmony so the page layout works together and seems “all of a piece”?
Is there enough visual interest from graphics to break up solid blocks of text and make the pages reader-friendly?
Have graphics and clip-art been used in moderation to avoid a cluttered look?
Has complicated text been replaced with tables, pie charts or other graphs, when possible?
Are all photos, tables, charts or other definitive visuals captioned or titled appropriately and accurately?
COLOR
Have you used a second color for eye appeal and unity?
Has the size or width of color text been increased for readability?
Have photos been printed in black and white instead of color for better clarity?
CONSISTENCY
Is your use of personal titles in the newsletter consistent throughout (Mrs. Richard [Sharon] Jones or Sharon Jones)?
Are paragraphs all indicated the same way — either tab indent or line spacing?
Have you followed your choice of stylebook consistently on matters of punctuation, grammar, etc.?