The "Immediate" Family Newsletter
CONTENT
- News--what has taken place since you last saw each other? Did someone win a scholarship? Have your sister and her fiance' finally set the date?
- List birthdays, anniversaries, and any other important dates and their significance.
- Include a section that lists any recent family history research you've done. Have you found a new ancestor? Did you travel to any family places?
- You may wish to devote each issue of your newsletter to a specific ancestor. Include brief outline of their life, followed by a variety of details.
- The possibilities are endless. Here are some other ideas: include a timeline of family events during a certain period (setting your family against more well-known historical events); have a map of your family's hometown or other important place; reproduce genealogy charts--including pedigrees and family group sheets.
- Don't forget to have ask your family members to send you information they'd like to see included in the newsletter.
READERS
- Your readership is almost a given, as this type of newsletter is intended to be for your immediate family and anyone interested in news and history about your immediate family.
DESIGN
- Don't worry about getting a piece of expensive publishing software to design your newsletter. Remember, the content is more important than your design. The most important feature of the design is that it be organized and easy to read.
- It makes a different if the layout is neat, the print clear. Reproduce your newsletter on good quality paper as well.
- Your word processing program should be able to adequately produce your newsletter. Microsoft Word has a newsletter template in its program that is easy to use.
You may be wondering about the cost of producing the family newsletter. If you write it on your own computer using software you already possess, and mail it only to your immediate family, the costs should be negligible. Ideally, this type of newsletter is a labor of love, not one produced for profit. If the costs of printing several copies seems too much for you, you can try asking your family members to pitch in.
I haven't mentioned publishing your newsletter online, though this is certainly an option. However, I don't know of too many people who don't like to get something personal in the mailbox (as opposed to bills and junk mail). And if you are not familiar with setting up a website, etc., doing a traditional hardcopy newsletter may be a quicker way
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