Follow these guidelines to help us get your news in the paper.

Types of submissions we welcome:

News of upcoming events open to the public. This includes also courses, ongoing programs accepting registration, support groups, etc., as well as new programs that will offered on an ongoing basis.

News of individuals/groups that have been recognized with some type of honor or promotion, and individual or collective achievements/milestones. Photos welcome.

Donations and grants received. Thank you letters recognizing and thanking those that supported an event or cause (please limit to 350 words).

Keep in mind that press releases should have some type of news "hook" - something notable, new or different taking place to warrant attention.

Essential information to include in a press release about an upcoming program or event:

Date/day of week

Time of day

Location (town and address - don't assume everyone knows where it is!)

Description of program

Phone number, e-mail, Web address for those seeking more information or to register, if necessary, as well as a way we can get a hold of you if we have additional questions.

General guidelines on composition of a news release:

Get information to us well in advance of the date or deadline. Two weeks in advance (or more) is preferable when announcing an event. If there is an early signup deadline, be sure to stress that in the press release. Keep in mind that press releases usually run on a space-available basis. It is preferable that information be submitted in the form of complete sentences, with key information at the top, and supplemental or background information at the bottom. Flyers, lists, brochures, etc. are less helpful.

Always alert us to the local angle. For instance, if an individual is being honored, tell us what community he or she resides in. It will be of much more interest if the person resides in one of the communities we cover (these communities are: Attleboro, North Attleboro, Mansfield, Norton, Foxboro, Wrentham, Plainville, Norfolk, Rehoboth and Seekonk, and to a limited extent, Franklin. We also have a weekly paper covering Taunton). If you are holding several events and only one is in our coverage area, stress that event. If a donation or grant has been made that benefits the entire region, tell us what organizations in our area will benefit.

Avoid inundating us with large volumes of information and expecting us to figure out what's important. While we can and will edit things down as we see fit, you can help us by being succinct and to the point.

News items should be written in the third person and avoid unattributed subjective statements. Wrong: "We welcome you to our fabulous third anniversary dinner" Right: "The Community Club welcomes the public to its third anniversary dinner"

When sending us names, please make every effort to spell names correctly. In most cases, the editor won't know the individuals in question, so we're counting on the submitter of the release to get it right.

Some guidelines of particular importance to e-mail:

Send information as text, in the body of the e-mail or as an attachment. Microsoft Word is preferred format. In general, Excel and PDF documents are discouraged. Send things to us in a format we can easily copy and paste.

Please do not send us text in all capitals, bold type, colored type, or italics.

Photos should be in jpg format.

In general, try to avoid sending the same e-mail to multiple people at The Sun Chronicle, as this often creates confusion and duplication of effort. If seeking confirmation that an e-mail was received, just ask the recipient to hit "reply."

Some general guidelines on photographs:

If you would like to request a photographer for an event, please call the newsroom and ask for the assignment editor or community news editor. Please give us as much notice you can - last minute requests are difficult. It also helpful to give several possible times or a range of time in which a photographer can show up. Be aware that due to the possibility of breaking news, we cannot guarantee photo coverage of an event.

Submission of photos is encouraged, particularly for non-action events such as check passings or giving of awards. Photos may be e-mailed as jpg files, or prints (black and white or color) and may be sent with press releases or on their own. In each case, please be sure to give us complete identification of those in the picture, with names listed left to right, and double-check to make sure everyone in the photograph is listed.