Insider Guide to Ezine Publishing

Did you know that upto 95% of your ezine subscribers may not read your ezine - unless it is well formatted?

Email clients or programs are much more variable than web browsers in the way they display messages. So getting your ezine to look great on every one of them is a forbidding task.

Far too many ezine publishers simply neglect this critical issue and put together an ezine that looks alright on their email program. By understanding the pitfalls (and by using the valuable lessons in lesson 6 (pg.66) of Ezine Launch) you can work around most of them.

1. Learn all about elements of ezine formatting

The elements of ezine formatting that pose a challenge to you, the ezine publisher, include:

   - Choosing a line length that will not wrap awkwardly

   - Making Website URLs and email links clickable

   - Limiting file size

   - Using special formatting tags

   - Applying different fonts

   - Creating an aesthetically appealing format

   - Publishing in ASCII text as well as HTML or Rich Text formats

2. Create an ezine for the lowest common denominator:

Use a text-only editor like Notepad instead of word processing programs like MS Word or Lotus Notes. Limit line length to 64 characters, and hit the ENTER button at this limit. Don't exceed a file size of 20 KB. Try and avoid any special formatting tags or using different fonts.

Intelligently use white space and text-decorators as section dividers to design a visually attractive newsletter. HTML and Rich text email are becoming popular and have many advantages over plain vanilla text. However there are still many email programs that do not support HTML mail - so you should check whether your readers can handle it before publishing in HTML.

A very useful tool to format your ezine is Ezine Assistant. By setting the line length limits, you can instantly clean up your draft into a pretty ezine. Click here to download a copy - it's free !

3. Check your ezine on multiple email programs.

There isn't a short-cut to this step. View your ezine on many platforms and on different email clients. The most popular are Outlook Express, Eudora, Pegasus, Netscape Messenger and the web-based email services, Hotmail and Yahoo Mail.

4. AOL Woes:

The way AOL handles email gives grey hair to ezine publishers. You need to format links specially for AOL users or send the entire ezine as an email attachment. To see how to create ezines optimized for AOL users read lesson 6.5 of Ezine Launch (pg.72).

5. Publishing in HTML:

Though more appealing and glamorous, creating HTML ezines has many pitfalls and risks. To learn more about creating a HTML ezine, read lesson 6.9.1 to 6.9.15 in Ezine Launch which covers all essential basics on the subject including

   - Why you should never publish in HTML alone, always offer a text version

   - How HTML ezines can outshine their plain vanilla text cousins

   - Finding the pitfalls and dangers of dabbling in rich text

   - How to code your ezine so it shows up in HTML capable clients

   - Discovering the best software packages to help you publish in HTML

   - Saving time and energy by creating cut-and-paste ezine templates

   - Special issues related to distributing HTML ezines

   - Cutting bloated code to trim down files sizes

   - How to ensure maximum compatibility across different programs

   - Things to do; and those to avoid like the plague