Well, here we are again. The latest issue of the Elanthian Times, and a stellar one it is.

The Times has undergone a bit of rennovation since the last time that the paper was published; nearly 90% of our staff is new. They have cut the time we used to spend editing by nearly three-quarters.

As things stand now, we could probably put out an issue every month to two months -- the new staff is that fast and that good. But -- unless we get more submissions -- we won't be able to put out an issue more often than every three months. The articles simply aren't there. We can have all the staff people in the world, but without submissions from you, we simply can't generate the volume of submissions we need to create a decent issue of the Times.

So that's the first thing we would ask of you: to submit something to us. Articles on game mechanics -- descriptions of creatures or an area, or guides that explain numbers and statistics relating to hunting, locksmithing, etc., in non-numerical fashion for the non-mathematically oriented player -- are useful. Commentary regarding ways to play a particular race or profession can be very helpful as well--though you should note that if you reveal the solution to a game puzzle in the article, we won't be able to publish that part. The same goes for maps -- they can be drawn, but they cannot reveal a game secret.

Features that deal with a character's IG adventures or misadventures are excellent. Legends about a certain area or god are well-liked too. Poetry, too, is good, but right now we need fiction and fact-based articles more.

We know for a fact that there are many skilled writers in Elanthia. We tell each and every one of you now: we need your help, if we are going to publish this paper more often. Please... submit something. You'll be glad you did.

Provided you do choose to submit an article, a story or a poem, the other thing we would ask of you is please, please use spell-check. Every e-mail program possesses one, so please use that one if your submission is being sent in the body of an e-mail message. If you are using a Word program, kindly utilize the spell-check provided by Word. If you are using a Mac, then use the Mac spell-check.

These statements may seem redundant to you, but we assure you that they are not. We often receive submissions with poor spelling, horrible grammar and appalling punctuation. Folks--the worse the condition of the submission, the more work we have to do to get the article into shape...and the longer it takes for us to put the issue together.

So please... use spell-check on your articles, fiction, and poetry. After that, have a friend or two beta-read your piece, checking for problems that a spell-check might miss, such as words that all exist, but which are being used incorrectly. "There," "their," and "they're." "Your" and "you're." "Its" and "it's." Your friends might also notice holes in a plot or gaps in narrative. There are a lot of things that you yourself might not see in a submission after you had crafted it. That's when it's best to have someone else proof the article or prose or poem, going over your work with a clear and dispassionate eye.

Please don't send us the rough draft of anything. There isn't a writer in the world whose work doesn't benefit from -- at minimum -- one proofreading and one rewrite before it's sent off to the publisher. If this seems too demanding, ask yourself: would you really want us to showcase a poorly spelled, ungrammatical, badly constructed work and then place your character's name on it?

You wouldn't send a first draft off to The New Yorker (or any other magazine, we hope). Please don't send less than your best and most polished work to us. We're much, much more likely to use a well-edited and written article than one that's a good concept, but that's in its first draft.

If you can do these things -- submit a piece of work to us, spell-check it, have a friend or two read it to uncover the flaws you may not have noticed, and rewrite the article, making any needed changes and cuts -- we will be able to get the paper printed and published much more swiftly, the articles will be much more timely and the quality of the contents will shine that much more brightly.