Publication Dates & Editorial Guidelines
It’s time for another fabulous season of our weekly newspaper, Welcome Home Winter Texan! We invite our communities, nonprofits, and schools to submit stories to our weekly paper that will be of interest to our Winter Texans and Valley retirees. We kindly ask that you follow our guidelines and submit your stories below using our online form. Thank you, in advance, for your submissions.
Publication Dates & Deadlines
| ISSUE | PUBLICATION DATES WEDNESDAYS | DEADLINE FRIDAYS |
| 1 | October 16, 2024 | October 8, 2024 |
| 2 | October 23, 2024 | October 15, 2024 |
| 3 | October 30, 2024 | October 22, 2024 |
| 4 | November 6, 2024 | October 29, 2024 |
| 5 | November 13, 2024 | November 5, 2024 |
| 6 | November 20, 2024 | November 12, 2024 |
| 7 | November 27, 2024 | November 19, 2024 |
| 8 | *December 4, 2024 | **November 19, 2024 |
| 9 | December 11, 2024 | December 3, 2024 |
| 10 | December 18, 2024 | December 10, 2024 |
| 11 | *January 1, 2025 | **December 17, 2024 |
| 12 | *January 8, 2025 | **December 17, 2024 |
| 13 | January 15, 2025 | January 7, 2025 |
| 14 | January 22, 2025 | January 14, 2025 |
| 15 | January 29, 2025 | January 21, 2025 |
| 16 | February 5, 2025 | January 28, 2025 |
| 17 | February 12, 2025 | February 4, 2025 |
| 18 | February 19, 2025 | February 11, 2025 |
| 19 | February 26, 2025 | February 18, 2025 |
| 20 | March 5, 2025 | February 25, 2025 |
| 21 | March 12, 2025 | March 4, 2025 |
| 22 | March 19, 2025 | March 11, 2025 |
** Denotes double deadline dates!
Submit your News Release Online Form
Editorial Guidelines
Thank you, in advance, for your submissions. Here are our guidelines:
- Submit editorials to us in WORD format only. Please do not send PDFs.
- PLEASE remember that a flier, without a story, is considered an advertisement, which
comes with advertising fees. You can request our media kit here. - Submit 1-2 pictures with your stories, in jpg format, to make the story even better.
PLEASE send the pictures as separate attachments, not embedded in your story! - PLEASE use Times New Roman with a #12 font and single spacing. The entire
document should be in Times New Roman with a #12 font. - STORY HEADLINES
- All stories you submit should have a headline! Be creative!
- PLEASE DO NOT USE ALL CAPS IN YOUR HEADLINE. Capitalize only the first letter of each word in the headline/title—for example: The Lamb’s Loom Invites You to Make Knitted Knockers
- Please do NOT make the headline bold, underline it, or put it in italics. It
should be in standard format (Times New Roman #12 font), like the rest of the
story or press release.
- If using the name of a month in your editorial, please spell it out—October rather than
Oct. - TIME! The proper way to write time is using a.m. and p.m. rather than am and pm or
AM and PM. Incorrect example: 10 am – 2:30 pm. Also, there should be a space
between the number and the a. or p. CORRECT EXAMPLE: 10 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. - It is NOT necessary to put the current year in editorials. You only need the year if it
is not in the current year—for example, March 18, 2025. - You are welcome to send your submission early to make sure it gets in the paper! (Be
sure to see the final bullet point below!) - And, finally, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let us know the DATE OF THE
PUBLICATION in which you would like your submission to appear! (The dates of
publication are on the deadlines flier.) Place the date of publication in the subject line
of your email and send it to us at news@welcomehomergv.com. - If you would like your event to be in our website calendar, too, you can submit that
yourself by filling out our Event Submission Form.
Tips on Creating a News Release
On press releases, be sure to provide:
- A catchy/creative title. PLEASE do NOT bold the headline, underline it, or put it in italics. It should be in standard format, just like the rest of the story or press release.
- All the event details, including date, time, and location (Who? What? When? Where? Why?)
- Is it a fundraiser? If so, who is it benefitting?
- Background information about your group or park (1-2 sentences)
- Contact information so readers can seek more information. Name, phone number, email address, and/or website. (We do not recommend you send personal phone numbers in press releases.)
- Photos should be emailed in jpg format. We would like at least one photo with each press release, if possible. PLEASE send photos separately—same email but separate attachment.
- You can also submit just a photo with a brief 1-2 sentence caption!
Helpful Tips:
- Keep it short and sweet! Space is limited, so try to keep it between 200 – 250 words. Keep in mind that yours will be one of many submitted to us.
- Emailed releases will almost always receive top priority. Type the release in a Word (NOT pdf) document. PLEASE use Times New Roman with a #12 font and single spacing. The entire document should be in Times New Roman with a #12 font—the headline, the body, etc. Please do NOT use BOLD, underlining, etc. in your stories! We will still accept mailed press releases, but because they will have to be retyped, it will diminish the chances of them being published in a timely manner.
- If using the name of a month in your editorial, please spell it out—October rather than Oct.
- TIME! The proper way to write time is using a.m. and p.m. rather than am and pm or AM and PM. Incorrect example: 10 am – 2 pm CORRECT EXAMPLE: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
- It is NOT necessary to put the current year in editorials. You only need the year if it is not in the current year—for example, October 3, 2024. Please use just the month and day, without “st,” “th,” or “rd.” March 23 (NOT March 23rd ).
Remember that the Welcome Home Winter Texan publication dates are Wednesdays from
mid-October through mid-March. If you want your press release to be published on a certain
date, PLEASE indicate that date in the subject line of your email.
Deadline: Friday at 5 p.m. two weeks prior to publication
How to Submit: Email to news@welcomehomergv.com or mail to Welcome Home RGV, 219 W. Nolana, Suite A, McAllen, Texas 78504
Questions? Call 956-687-5115
