More bills to make you smile ... and wince

Since my piece on the art of newspaper bill writing and its follow-ups here and here, I have been sent many more examples, some new and some old, but all worth an airing. So here's an update. 

One of the best recent ideas I have come across is tweeting the bills each evening, as The Northern Echo does, to encourage readers to buy the paper and visit its website. A neat transition from old print methods to the digital ways - and a simple and effective method of reaching a new audience.

Another example of creativity comes from the Nottingham Post where the bill was given a new dimension altogether. Singer/songwriter Ronika featured in the paper and online in a Q&A on her eating habits. Rather just bill it, the paper persuaded the singer to sit alongside the poster with a plate of food. The bill as performance art - certainly a new one on me.

It reflects the enthusiasm for bills by consultant editor Alan Geere who tweeted the picture above with the comment 'Still love going out to see the #bills wot I wrote and people buying the @Nottingham_Post.'

There are some good examples of ambiguous bills kicking around and this one from the Standard deserves to join the collection. I wonder if it was deliberate.

I think my favourite of the recent bills, is this from the Bristol Post. It seems like a lenient sentence to me. 

Names, particularly of famous people, will often tease people to buy so a good effort here from the South Wales Evening Post.

Animal stories sell too (just ask the Daily Mail). Here are a few worth a mention. A tortoise called Adolf? Really? Not too sure whether the animal porn story would be to many tastes - but it sounds so shocking it might just tempt someone to pick up a paper.

I can honestly say I have never seen pot-pourri used in a bill before - and in Hull of all places.

Of course the art of the bill is to tease the reader to buy. Here are a couple that might just work. The 'rub a dub dub' bill is from the Cheddar Valley Gazette. What on earth can it mean? Buy the paper to find out. That's the idea.

Sometimes bills can be so surprising and bizarre that they will turn potential readers' heads as they walk past - and that's half the battle.  

That said, I'm not sure this one would shift many papers. 

Sex, something we tend to hold at arm's length in regional newspapers, is a proven seller. These will certainly have aroused curiosity. The last one is from the Leicester Mercury.

The Argus in Brighton which brought us such classics as 'Window cleaner killed by giant pencil' and 'Crow steals golfer's trolley' appears to adopt a novelty approach to its bill writing. Although some of these may be old, they are still worth a look. The last one shows an interesting approach to positioning - a bill about a man choking to death on a kebab outside a kebab shop. 

I am a big fan of bills. Using five words to persuade some-one who wasn't going to buy the paper (or visit the website) to change their mind is a great art. Keep them coming and I'll use them in the next instalment.

Newspaper bills: the good and not so good

Here's an interesting location for this Jessops bill from the Leicester Mercury ... right outside the Jessops store. It certainly reinforces the relevance of the story. This is just one of several examples that have been sent my way following my pieces on the art of newspaper bill writing (here and here). Some are good, some not so. 

This one from the Hackney Gazette perfectly demonstrates the danger in leaving old bills behind the new ones. Unfortunate - not least for the unluckiest man in London.

The sole purpose of the bill is, of course, to make the reader pick up the paper - so you be the judge as to whether these ones work. 

There are certainly some here that would tease the reader to buy. If you have any bills that have worked (or didn't), please let me have them on petersands@mistral.co.uk.

Shocking newspaper bill? Or just a pile of ...

I'm grateful (I think) to old Northern Echo colleague Steve Hughes for drawing my attention to this bill from the Bridlington Free Press. Steve, now editor of The Press in York, says it's the strangest newspaper bill he's seen in a while. Quite so ... but hands up if it makes you want to go out and buy the paper? I can't imagine the good folk of Bridlington tripping over themselves in eagerness to read all about it. Then again, they might think it's a great example of onomatopoeia (geddit?).  

The art of writing newspaper bills ...

I was pleased to see this news bill in Tunbridge Wells recently. It certainly teases the reader and had the Courier flying off the shelves. It was a contrast to another bill I saw in the same town a few years ago that said Door slightly damaged in T. Wells Post Office raid. The use of the word 'slightly' was classic. Bills have been topical on Twitter in the last few weeks, not least because Radio 2's @theJeremyVine asked his followers to send him bizarre examples - and they duly obliged. 

They included this one, which carried the comment 'it's all kicking off in Brecon and Radnor'. So, with so many bad bills around, I thought it would be timely to revisit my guidelines and show some that work and some that don't. 

Bills have been tools for selling newspapers for decades, as this one from the Daily Telegraph shows. They can be hugely effective. What other industry has the opportunity to get several different messages on the streets every day? A few years ago research by Press Ahead showed clearly that people were influenced by bills, particularly those with local news stories. Yet the nationals don't bother any more and I have more bad examples than good ones from the regions, suggesting newspaper staff don't have the knowledge, time or inclination to do them properly. 

So let's start at the beginning ... why we use news bills. The sole purpose is to persuade a casual reader to walk into a newsagents and buy the paper. You won't do that if you simply stick five meaningless or bland words on a poster. Persuading someone to change their routine (a routine of not buying the paper), stop in their tracks, go into the shop and fork out their cash, requires thought, work and time.  So, here are my tips for the bill writers:

 

1. Tease the reader

Always leave one key question unanswered. Give them a reason to want to buy the paper. Tell them it’s a well-known publican who has been up to no good but not which one; tell them it's a big signing but not who. When Ingrid Bergman died I put out an evening newspaper bill that said World's greatest actress dies. It was a quote, so legitimate, and we sold droves. People not only wanted to know who had died ... but who the world's greatest actress was. All three above have sufficient intrigue to arouse a potential reader's curiosity.

2. Understand who the bill is aimed at

There is no point in billing the One Direction poster in an area dominated by pensioners or the luxury cruise offers in the run-down council estates. Know who lives where and what their interests are.

3. Use place names ...

... but don't expect them to work if the rest of the bill is dull. People are fascinated by interesting things that happen where they live. But a place name will not save a boring bill.

4. Boring bills have a detrimental effect

I once saw a bill that said Council discusses pollution policy. If people think that is the best story you have on offer, it will probably make them decide not to buy the paper (even if they had originally intended to). A quality general bill is better.

5. Think bills all the time

They shouldn't be an afterthought at the end of a busy production shift. Every time a journalist is presented with a story, he or she should go through their own checklist ... will it make a story, will it make a headline, does it need a picture, should there be a graphic, will it make someone buy the paper, can I write a bill? The checklist starts with the reporter.

6. Keep them short

Readers can take in about five, maybe six, words at once ... after that you have probably lost them. 

7. Don't forget the non-editorial stuff

Free beer, free tickets to the races, money off Tesco vouchers, 400 jobs today (those were the days) ... may all trigger a sale. Oh, and as the above example shows, just be careful when putting bills next to each other.

8. Keep it fresh

People will not buy a paper on the promise of being told something they already know. Keep up to date ... know what’s been online, on the radio, the TV or in the rival papers.

9. Ask how and why

Why I'm changing sex - Oxford teacher; Why I quit - Keegan; How child killer was caught - can all be effective. 

10. It's OK to ask questions

Is this the biggest crook in Darlington? Are these the worst dressed men in Cambridge? These would work even better on a picture bill.
 

11. Names sell papers

We live in a celebrity culture - and that includes local celebrities. People are essentially interested in people.

12. Use words that build pictures in the reader's mind

Words such as boost, shock, drama, carnage, probe and horror tell us nothing. Use specific words that build pictures.

 

 

13. The promise of a picture can work wonders

Albert Dryden, the full story in pictures helped put thousands of copies on to The Northern Echo in one day. And putting pictures on a bill can be a real attention grabber.

14. Have impact but be legible

Choose a good typeface or a bill writer with good calligraphy skills. A font that fills in or a spidery handwritten scrawl, aren't going to stand out. And don't always opt for caps. Road signs and warnings on cigarette packets are in lower case ... because they are easier to read. 

15. Location, location, location
Where the bill goes is a key factor - make sure people can’t miss it. Go where the crowds are.

16. Don’t give the game away on Page 1
If the bill has teased the reader off the street - then don’t spoil it by telling him what the story is in the splash headline. Keep on teasing.

17. Don’t con the reader
If you have a reputation for over-larding the story, the readers won’t fall for it for long. 

18. Watch out for legals
A bill is a publication. It can be libellous or in contempt on its own, even if the story it refers to is not. And sometimes, if it isn't legally dodgy, it can still cause irritation. I once put a bill out that said 'Jack Ford shot dead'. It referred to the hero, played by James Bolam, of the TV series When the Boat Comes In. It was huge in the North-East. We found out exclusively that Ford was to die in the last episode. I received an irate letter from a reader saying we had made him buy the paper on a false pretence. He said we had confused fact and fiction - that he thought it was the American president - and he was going to complain to the Press Council. I wrote to explain the former president was in fact Gerald Ford and he replied saying: "I will never buy your paper again. The next time I see a placard that says Bloodbath At The Palace I will expect a review of Hamlet.' Ouch. 

19. Watch out for double meanings

Death row doctor can be read two ways and I still have a copy of my favourite  Princess Anne in Bath - pics.

20. Don't leave old bills out there
It confuses the reader and destroys your credibility. Change them every day, or every week if you are a weekly. Date them. Weeklies can pre-bill before the day of publication ... and then put a new bill out when the paper comes out.

21. Please, please watch the spelling

... otherwise your credibility will be tarnished and you will be doing the rounds on Twitter - or on this blog.

22. And, finally...
... do ask yourself if what you are billing really is a story in the first place.