College of Law :: Georgia State University

Newsletter submissions

This system allows you to submit articles for placement in the College of Law newsletter. Ideally, newsletter items should already be on a web site somewhere, such as on the event calendar or a student organization web site. Items on the event calendar are included in the newsletter, so submit events and room reservations to the calendar instead of a newsletter item.

Note: If the newsletter item is elsewhere on the web, you should ensure that location is kept up to date and include a hyperlink to the web address in your newsletter item.

Article titles and introductory summaries should be short and concise. The remainder of the item can be longer, but limit it to the basics of "who, what, when, where and (maybe) why." Additional information is often best placed on a separate page, with a link placed in the article body.  Read the policy and the instructions first before submitting newsletter items.

Submit your newsletter item 

Tips for writing effective newsletter items

• Use a short, meaningful title and summary.
• Break the remainder of your item into small paragraphs and use thoughtful, concise section headers.
• Don't get too concerned about spacing, fonts, word wrap and other formatting. Most e-mail programs won't show it the way it looks here anyway.
• To make section headers, use the form editor "format" drop-down selector and use the smaller "heading" formats ("Heading 3" or "Heading 4")
• Bullet your lists (or  icons).
• Ampersands are not usually a replacement for "and" in most cases.
  "Dinner & a movie" does not work.
  "Alston & Bird" is OK (although they often use "Alston + Bird").
• Use links to further information, maps, etc.
• Have an uninvolved second party proofread your text for clarity and completeness.
• Spell check (Google toolbar works great).
• Get your timing right. Too far ahead and folks won't pay attention. If you wait too late, people may have already committed to other plans.
• There's a link icon   on the editor. It is very easy to use and allows you to hyperlink to another web page with more information about your newsletter item.  

Things to avoid when contributing to the newsletter

• DON'T USE ALL CAPS or lots of exclamations!!!!
• Especially avoid overusing ALL CAPS IN BOLD ITALIC!!!!!
• OAAJ's (Obscure Acronyms, Abbreviations and Jargon). Never use "GSU" or "CoL." 
  When it comes to web pages and e-mail, saving space doesn't always save reading time.
• Long paragraphs of unbroken text that go on and on and on and on.....
• http://long.web.addresses.in.the.middle.of.your.text.com/. 

• Too   much   white    space.
• Or centered text that
  mainly slows
  reading
  comprehension
  vs. left-justified text
  
  
• 

 Other important things to know when submitting a newsletter item

• You can copy and paste into the editor from Word or Word Perfect, however, quirky things *might* happen and markedly different formatting will be "standardized" before posting.
• Use "Shift-Enter" to start a new line without starting a new paragraph (use sparingly).
• Small, effective graphics are welcomed. An upload function will be available soon.