The Town Herald

The netpaper about Elftowners, by Elftowners, for Elftowners.

An Inside view of the Town Herald

by [Chimes]




As a new Heralder, this being my second official issue, the thought of working for the official e-zine of Elftown can be quite daunting. It can even be nerve-wracking for someone interested in joining the Herald Crew unless, of course, you are like me and think that any form of writing will be absolutely brilliant and can't possibly be scary no matter how official it is. This article is here to shed light for those who might be interested in joining the Herald.

It doesn't fit into the current theme but I asked [Mordigen] about this last month (or was it the month before?) and she seems to think it is a good idea, so here it is for your reading pleasure.

You might think that the Herald is terribly hard work - it's not, if you do it right. The issues are sent out bi-monthly so that gives you plenty of time to get your submissions in though sometimes you have trouble coming up with what to write. Have no fear! The other Heralders are always willing to give you a kick-start - a simple word in the right direction can lead to a wonderful piece of writing.

Being a newbie you tend to be given a bit of lee-way depending on when you became a Heralder. When I was accepted it was a few weeks before the deadline of issue seventeen and I was not expected to submit a piece to that issue due to the little time I had left - I did it anyway but it was nice to be given the option. The Heralders are understanding beings and will not bite your head off unless you deserve it.

Mistakes are only natural and in your first few months of being a Heralder you aren't expected to get everything right, normally there is a more experienced Heralder around should you get stuck. Though there is pressure involved the pressure isn't too vast, I, for one, can't see myself panicking too much over my submissions - in the time that we submit our articles the mood tends to be very relaxed, this makes things much easier.

For those of you who want a little more insight into the workings of the Herald:

We have two deadlines: the submitting deadline and the editing deadline. The editing deadline tends to be a few days after the submitting deadline and the editing is done by the fabulous [Mirime] - my articles would probably not look so good were it not for her.

We are always aware of the publish date or the planned publish date, it may change depending on how everything goes. We know our deadlines and our publish date which helps us know how much time we have to do our articles though in the last issue there was a last minute rush - I bring that down to the newbies, like myself.

The theme is chosen from a list of themes that any of us are welcome to contribute to - I'm sure Mordi wouldn't mind if the readers suggested some themes every now and again. We each vote on as many themes as we like and the theme with the most votes is the theme for the next issue. It's as simple as that.

Not only does joining the Herald Crew get you a pretty badge in your badge slot - I can assure you that is not the only basis of its appeal - but you get to feel even more like part of the community, you contribute to Elftown in a way that many would simply not have the motivation to. It feels good, it's fun too. I really enjoy it and can't see myself leaving any time soon.

If you're not willing dedicate time to submitting reviews, articles, interviews and other such things to every issue you can submit a guest article - you don't get an official badge in your badge slot but you do get a contributor badge and it gets you more involved in official Elftown life. Being a Heralder does not get you into the official Elftown crew, to my knowledge, but it does allow you to feel fulfilled if that is what you are aiming for.

All in all it is a wonderful experience and you get to work with some brilliant people even if some of them might be a tad strange. This may not make you want to jump for a place in the Crew but I hope it gives you an insight into what we do, the process of our work and how fun it is - for me anyway, I can't speak for the rest of the Heralders but I am pretty sure they wouldn't be here if they didn't enjoy it. Now, I feel all that is left to say is, I hope you enjoy reading the Herald as much as we enjoy working on it.






Return or Go to:
...The Town Herald - Issue 18 entrance page
...TH Issue 18 Index page
...The Town Herald official wiki page