I’ll tell you a secret

I’m hoping you have a copy of our latest issue in front of you. Got yours? Good – because I’m about to reveal a secret that only a handful of you have figured out: How to win stuff by writing me a letter. Every issue we have competitions and giveaways in the magazine, which go up online. Some of them are luck of the draw – you gotta be in to win. But there is one in particular I want to remind you about, where you need to follow some instructions to be eligible: The letter to the editor (that’s me).

Here’s the insider info you need to know.

Firstly, for the letter to the editor, you’re talking to me and my team. We get tonnes of letters from readers each issue, but we only publish four – and they’re four really good ones. I read each and every letter to the editor that I receive, and then they go into two folders: 1) Potential to publish, and 2) Lovely but not publishable. The ones which go into the “Potential to publish” have one thing in common – they’re all about something the reader saw in our latest issue which caught their eye, resonated with them, or reminded them of something they learned which they wanted to share. They’re letters other parents will want to read, not just me.

The ones which go into the “Lovely but not publishable” are usually the ones which say “I WOULD LOVE TO WIN THIS PRIZE FOR MY CHILD” all in capital letters which makes my head want to explode, or some variation of “Love your mag! Awesome work!” Those are great to read and make us feel warm and fuzzy, but they aren’t the kind which I’d share with our readers because we’d just be showing off. And because you have to have your letter published in order to win a prize, these kinds of letters will never win. It makes me sad, because I love to give out prizes. I often want to write back to people who wrote these little notes and say “Thank you for taking the time to write to me! Next time please tell me something you learned from the magazine because that’s how you get into the draw to win the prize! Seriously, I know what I’m talking about!”

So please write me a letter. Send it to editor@totstoteens.co.nz and tell me what you liked about the latest issue, and what you found helpful and useful. Tell me IN DETAIL (meaning, at least a paragraph or preferably two or three!). Especially about the articles we publish. The feedback we get on our articles help us to determine what to publish, and what you would find valuable. Plus we love giving you prizes. It’s my chance to be Oprah: YOU get a prize and YOU get a prize and ALL FOUR OF YOU get a prize! Just for writing to me!

Have a great week.
Katherine Granich

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