Your E-zine 13 - A Formatting Checklist

While sending out a text e-zine may seem like a piece of cake, there's more to it than you may think. *Good formatting* is the name of the game. Here's a handy checklist I use to make sure each of my issues is in great shape BEFORE I send it out. Please be my guest and use it for yourself!

  1. Are all lines 65 characters or less?
    More than that and your missive may come through looking messy to many subscribers. End each line with a hard return by pressing the "enter" key.


  2. Have you made sure there's no auto-formatting, such as bolding, italics, or underlining?
    These features don't translate well in e-mail and can come out looking mighty strange on the other end. Instead, emphasize words or phrases with *asterisks,* "quotation marks," or ALL CAPS ... sparingly.


  3. Are all sections neatly separated?
    Use underscores (_____), asterisks (******), another nifty symbol ($$$$$, %%%%, @@@@), or a combination thereof (<<==>>) to help define each area and help your readers skim your issue more easily.


  4. Do all Web links include 'http://' before them?
    Some e-mail programs won't automatically hyperlink a URL in your text without this prefix. So don't take a chance