National Newspaper Association
Protecting, Promoting and Enhancing Community Newspapers Since 1885
News Guru by Kevin Slimp
Kevin Slimp has been a popular speaker and consultant in the newspaper industry since developing the PDF remote printing method in the mid 1990s. He can be reached at kevin@kevinslimp.com
MAKING MORE SPACE — Simple changes invite readers to pick up your paper
I’m thrilled to show the publisher, editors and others on staff the issue with bigger headlines, bigger photos and easier-to-read text. For a moment, I feel like a magician. Unlike any magician ...
Kevin shares ideas to prevent font and photo errors — fixing problems before they appear on the page
Kari’s email caused me to think of other problems that show up on the printed page but not always on the screen in the design process. ... The other most common issue I experience with newspaper ...
Sharing the good news: Everywhere I turn, I see healthy, growing newspapers
Having finished several major redesign projects in June, I’ve recently traveled to speak at several newspaper conventions and visit some newspapers on-site.
How to improve your newspaper
Story ideas came from the groups. Methods of interacting with subscribers were discussed. Before the 30 minutes ended, the group began planning a billboard campaign.
You think I’d have learned this advertising lesson long ago
After so many years leading webinars, you would think I’d know just about all there is to know about the webinar business. It wasn’t until three or four years ago I noticed a significant trend.
Questions posed by New York publishers; Small changes can make a big difference in how readers see your paper
I often found myself involved in conversations with publishers and others who came by my room immediately after a session or approached me during a “meet and greet” to ask for my advice.
Taking control of your time; Kevin shares tools that increase his productivity
Time is my most important commodity. I make a great effort to get the most out of my time. Maybe I can’t control a website host in Eastern Europe or an email server across the country, but there ...
The secret to growing papers is giving the readers what they want
This particular focus group was a little different than most. The paper had gathered 15 seniors — the minimum age requirement was 60 — to spend three hours discussing recent issues of the newspaper ...
It’s not luck — there are definite correlations among growing papers
I’m learning that many locally owned community papers had an excellent year in 2022, prompting them to reinvest in growing their papers.
Kevin’s To-Do List for 2023
As we get set to begin 2023, here are some steps I often recommend when visiting with community papers.
Many newspapers face these same design dilemmas
I worked with the staff of The Marysville Advocate on their new design, which went to the press today. Over the past few months, I’ve worked on redesigns with several newspapers all over the U.S., ...
Even more news about Adobe Type 1 and your newspaper
There’s no need to panic, but you need to prepare for January
Your (Adobe) Type 1 problem
Beginning in January, Adobe users will not be able to create documents using Type 1 fonts. Even more alarming, files created with Type 1 fonts before January will not be editable without replacing the ...
A Tale of Two Publishers — Harry Chapin was right; even in the publishing world, life is one big circle
I’ve worked with so many younger people that I sometimes feel like Yoda (for you Star Wars fans) to a sizable group of up-and-coming publishers in our business.
Want to save time? Kevin hasn’t been this excited about hardware in a long time
These days, I buy software and hardware like anyone else. So if I mention something in a column, you know I liked it well enough to spend my own money on it, which brings me to this column.
GROWING READERSHIP — Kevin shares keys to increase readership, revenue
I had a great time in March when I got out a little more to visit newspapers in multiple states. What I learned inspired, invigorated and reminded me of much that is going well in our industry and some ...
60 Minutes is beginning to try my patience
Tomorrow, I’ll be leading a webinar on Basic InDesign, a topic I must have taught several hundred times over the years. You might be surprised to know there’s a big crowd registered for the ...
UPDATING YOUR PAPER — tips to make your pages attract more readers
Like a lot of you, I stay busy. Most of my workdays begin around 9 a.m. and end between 2 and 4 a.m. During those hours, I’m overseeing my businesses, leading webinars several days most weeks, and ...
FREE TRAINING GRANTS — plus, avoiding and fixing dead hard drive crises
Since then, I’ve worked with papers in several states that have received grants to pay the entire bill for my services to offer on-site training. These grants covered the training and costs related ...
