The Newsletter Newsletter Pitch

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.?