All Newsletter copy is submitted to the Editor who compiles and edits it, and sends completed articles and columns to the Publisher. For the print Newsletter, the Publisher selects and prepares graphics, lays out everything to fit in the space available, prints it, makes up and attaches address labels and mails it. For the on-line version, she converts everything to web-compatible format, uploads it and then archives the previous month's Newsletter. She is also the Webmaster, keeping everything else on the club website up-to-date and adding material to keep it the best fly fishing club website in Northern California. The Publisher has more than enough to do, and forwards anything sent directly to her back to the Editor for editing.The Newsletter is edited strictly for the benefit of the reader. In addition to the usual editing for spelling, grammar, punctuation, factual and technical errors, it is edited for readability and relevance. Newsletter publication is a significant SCFF expense, and space is limited. You, the reader, should get everything an author tries to convey in a single, casual reading. Effortless comprehension should be the editorial goal. (Exception: this can't really be done for how-to articles. But everyone should be able to follow these, with minimal effort.) Clever literary devices or turns of phrase, unusual word usage or efforts at fine shades of meaning are a waste of space if you, the reader, don't get them at the first look. If an author has a nice point or image to convey, but it wasn't obvious at the first reading, it should be edited so you, the reader, get it at the first look. If material in an article is not relevant to the rest of the article or its continuity, the Editor should put it in an article where it belongs, or remove it. If material is not related to some club member general interest or club activity, the Editor should take it out. If material is meaningful only to a few insiders, it doesn't belong in the Newsletter. Finally, if material could be construed as derogatory to any club member, the Editor should remove or rephrase it to eliminate the implication.

The current Editor has many years of professional experience in technical and instructional material editing and writing, and is very good at editing for readability. He is not all that great a writer himself, and usually has someone else go over what he's written before it is published.

Does this mean that if you're not a great writer, the Editor will scoff at your inadequacy? Not at all. The Editor doesn't try to make anyone's writing better (whatever that means). He just makes sure it's all accurate, relevant, and easy to read and understand. He just needs all the pieces.

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