Submit a Story to the Governor's Monthly Letter

What to have ready before you start

• A short write-up of what happenedAt least 30 words. The form suggests 150–400 words is plenty, and the story must stay under 8,000 characters.
• A headlineOne line, up to 160 characters, that says what happened and where.
• Up to 5 photos (optional)JPG, PNG or WebP, each no larger than 10 MB. Clear, well-lit photos of people in action work best.
• Permission from the people in your photosYou must confirm that you may share the story and photos and that the people shown are happy to appear in district publications.
• Photo credits or captions (optional)Who took the photos, and who is in them.
• An email address you checkThe confirmation goes there, and editors use it if they need more details.

Step by step

1. 1

   Open the story form

   1 minute

   Go to the Governor's Monthly Letter page and scroll to the box that reads "Have a story for next month's letter?", then click "Submit a Story". You can also go straight to the form.

   You don't need an account, a password or an email code to use it.

   Governor's Monthly Letter Submit a story

   Mark step as done
2. 2

   Fill in "About you"

   3 minutes

   This section tells the editors who to credit and who to contact. "Your name" and "Email address" are required. "Role (optional)" and "Mobile number (optional)" can be left blank.

   Under "Club", open the list and type to search for your club, for example Rotary Club of Marbel. If the story comes from a district team, committee or partner instead, choose "Not from a club (district team, committee, partner…)".

   • Add a role such as "Club PR Chair" so the editors know how you're connected to the story.
   • You must pick something under "Club". The form won't send until you select a club or "Not from a club".

   Mark step as done
3. 3

   Write "Your story"

   10 minutes

   Under "What kind of story is it?", choose one of: Club project, Member milestone, Service moment, Fellowship or event, Youth & New Generations, or Other. "When did it happen? (optional)" takes the date of the activity.

   Type a "Headline", then paste or write your text in "The story". Cover what happened, who took part and the difference it made. Names and numbers help.

   • A word counter sits under the story box. It turns red while you're below 30 words, the minimum the form accepts.
   • Write the draft in a document first and paste it in. That way you keep a copy, and nothing is lost if your connection drops.

   A headline that names the club and the result, such as "Marbel club plants 5,000 mangroves along the coast", gives the editors a head start.

   Mark step as done
4. 4

   Add photos and credits

   3 minutes

   Click "Choose JPG, PNG or WebP photos" and pick up to 5 images. A thumbnail appears for each one. Click the small X on a thumbnail to remove it, or "Add more" to attach another while you have slots left.

   Use "Photo credits or captions (optional)" to say who took the photos and who is in them, for example "Photos by Maria Santos. Photo 2: President Ana with the volunteers."

   • The form only accepts JPG, PNG and WebP. Convert other formats, such as HEIC from some phones, before you upload.
   • Each photo must be 10 MB or smaller. If a file is too big, the form skips it and asks for a smaller copy.

   Photos of young people, such as Interactors or RYLA participants, need extra care. Check the district's youth protection guidance before you send them.

   Youth protection

   Mark step as done
5. 5

   Confirm permission and send

   1 minute

   Tick the box confirming that you have permission to share the story and photos, that the people shown are happy to appear in district publications, and that the district may edit the story for length and style. The form won't send without it.

   Click "Send my story". The button changes to "Sending…" while your photos upload, so wait for it to finish.

   • If something is missing or wrong, a message pops up naming the problem. Fix it and click "Send my story" again. Your text stays in the form.

   Mark step as done
6. 6

   Check your confirmation and what happens next

   Ongoing

   When the story goes through, the page shows "Story sent. Thank you!" and the site emails a confirmation to the address you entered, with the subject "We received your story" followed by your headline. From there you can click "Submit another story" or "Read the latest letter".

   The district communications team is notified and reads every story. If yours is chosen for an upcoming issue, they may email you for more details or photos. Stories are not posted anywhere on the site automatically.

   No confirmation email? Check your spam folder. If it isn't there, you may have mistyped your email address, so the editors can't reach you either. Send the story again with the correct address.

   Mark step as done

Common questions