First Things First

First, click on our home page and scroll to bottom of page where you will see the different types of stories and how they appear when published. That’s the end goal, to get your story and its photos into either magazine-style PDF form, or a polished video so the world can enjoy it! Then read below for a general overview of the process.

Process Overview

• Interested person submits story idea or draft of story through the Gloucester400+ website. Photos are also submitted (as individual attachments, not embedded in the story)
• Submitter receives automatic response from website with next steps. Check your spam box if you did not receive an auto-response.
• Stories Project Manager contacts the submitter, usually by email. This may take a few weeks as many stories are arriving at the same time.
• Idea or draft of story is added to list of potential stories.
• Draft or story idea is reviewed by Stories Project Manager.
• Approved drafts will be assigned to a volunteer editor for editing.
• Consent forms are signed and submitted by author if not already received.
• Normally 2-3 rounds of editing occur, with author receiving and approving all edits. Keep in mind that the editing process can be long, depending on how many volunteers we have editing stories.
• Available photos are reviewed by author and Stories Project Manager for placement, captions, and relevance to story.
• Final story is approved.
• Story goes into graphic design; photos and graphics are inserted.
• About 2 more rounds of final edits, making sure captions are correct and all is perfect.
• Consent forms are verified to be on file.
• Final PDF is approved by author and Stories Project Manager.
• The story is published online.
• In the future, the story, or excerpts from the story, will be considered for inclusion in a commemorative book.