The New York Times is writing shorter...

... and so should you.

Ask yourself :

• Can you existing written communications be shortened?
• Can you design and write your communications so they'll capture the attention of busy people who skim before they commit to reading?

I thought about this when I attended the annual conference of the American Society of Journalists and Authors this past weekend. A correspondent for the New York Times said that the newspaper has halved the typical length of the articles it has her write. That's because people's attention spans have shrunk.

How to pitch the Wall Street Journal's op-ed page

"Robert Pollock - Editorial Features Editor for The Wall Street Journal" gives you tips on how to pitch op-ed essays to that newspaper.

Pollock is open to a wide variety of topics, but says he takes a special interest in the war and the crisis in healthcare in entitlements.

Essays typically run 900-1,200 words, but occasionally run much longer.

I learned about the article from Erica Dreifus' Practicing Writing blog of April 16.

"Creating Spam-Filter -Friendly E-mails"

"Creating Spam-Filter -Friendly E-mails" includes a handy checklist of words, images and other e-mail characteristics to avoid in your e-mails so they'll reach your targets.

It also includes a list of links to articles with additional advice.

When I send my e-newsletter through Constant Contact, I use Constant Contact's Anti-Spam Check, which is built into its Preview pane.

Happy e-mailing!

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