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But Am I
Really Qualified?
In a word, Yes.
If you're an intelligent human being,
interested in your community, willing to learn and work
hard, and ready to go the extra mile to do the job right, then you
are well qualified to start and operate a local newspaper.
You should see some of the papers being
published these days. On second thought, maybe you shouldn't. But
with care and attention to detail, you can publish a
clean, professionally designed publication, even if you've never been in publishing
before.
I know you can, because I did it.
I'm
a high school dropout. I'm unorganized. I wear blue jeans
and T-shirts instead of suits and ties. I'm as lazy as the day is
long. I had absolutely no idea what a newspaper was even about when
I started our first publication. In fact, I seldom looked at newspapers
(except for the comics) because most of them were not interesting to me.
Yet our first little paper was the best
looking, cleanest, and most professional weekly in the area. And
people complimented us every week how interesting and helpful it was.
More than that, the newspaper we published made a positive impact
on the communities we served.
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Never
sell yourself short. Don't falsely judge yourself
or base the value of your life on past mistakes.
Every human being makes plenty of mistakes, and plenty
of wrong decisions.
What
matters today is what you choose to do with today, and
with the rest of your life. Start taking steps in
the right direction. When you see that you wander
off course, simply correct your course. Don't give up.
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Think you have no talents? Think
again. Everyone has plenty of talent. Do you have very little
formal
education? Then enter the classroom of real life. Hey, even if
you have no political or philosophical ax to grind, you can become a successful publisher.
All you really need is inspiration.
The greatest "talent" every human is born with is the ability to
think and learn. Even a casual glance at human history shows
that a person can learn how to do anything. We can learn the
skills we need to build furniture, houses, airplanes, bridges, and
giant ships. We can build rockets and spacecraft that will
carry us to the moon. We can not only build computers but
make them small enough to carry around in your hand.
Whatever special ability you really
need to produce a great newspaper for your area, you can pick up
along the way. Take classes, read books, or do as I did, and
learn as you do the job each issue. Education is of
great value, and the greatest education of all is the knowledge
you master on your own. No one else can transform you into a
journalist, a newspaper publisher, or an asset to your community.
Your own heart and mind must decide and accomplish this.
Granted, you need to honestly assess
personal strengths and weaknesses, to keep your newspaper (and readers)
from suffering
needlessly.
But if you have the desire to serve your
community by giving them a truly useful small newspaper, then follow that desire, and
all the rest will
begin to work itself out.
I knew I could do
it.
I have no high school diploma.
When I started our paper, I was weak in spelling, grammar, and
punctuation, and I had no business sense at all. And did I mention
that I had no experience in the newspaper business, that I had no idea
how to price or sell ad space, and that I didn't even like most newspapers?
So I kept my Webster's
Collegiate Dictionary handy, I picked up some style manuals at used book
stores, I read up on basic business economics, and bartered with a local bookkeeper to
keep our books correctly. I worked to make our paper more
interesting and useful than most of the small town papers I'd seen. The
effort proved to
be very rewarding. Honest work always pays off, no matter what you
choose to do in life.
What if I Don't
Like It?
That's a problem you may face with any new
job. But at least you won't have to fill out an application or
interview for the position. If you get into the newspaper business, and
later
decide you'd rather be doing something else, then build up the business
and sell it when you get the chance. You may get quite a lot of
money for it, if you've developed loyal readers and
advertisers. If you show a potential buyer that you're making
money, you can sell any business.
Don't Know How
to Get Started?
That's why you visited this site.
That's what the next few pages are all about. Read on, and you'll soon
know enough to be able to take the next steps. And the great thing
is you don't have to pay anything for this quick course. So if you
decide later that you don't really want to start a newspaper or other
publication, at least you're not out anything.
If you should decide to go ahead with starting
your own newspaper, Gospel publication, or community shopper, you will be wise to
pick up additional information. I recommend looking at books by
publishers such as
John Wiley & Sons or McGraw-Hill rather than the material
offered in privately published books. For example, McGraw-Hill
offers
Newspaper Designer's Handbook, and other texts that
seriously and properly address the
business, technical, and professional aspects of publishing.
And you don't need to buy everything,
either. Your local city or county library should be able to bring
in just about any title you need. Only the buy the books you plan
to keep around for reference.
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