We often field questions from readers about how best to reach out to us with possible story ideas.

The answer: a press release. It does not need to be fancy, but it is helpful to cover all the journalism basics: who, what, when, why and how. Like a news story, the most important information should go first, with the less important information further down. If you have related photos, please send them, with caption information and photo credits. They should be high resolution, and not blurry.

If you are so inclined, pitch us story ideas in a longer format — we’re writers, so we love the written word, and seeing your story idea in writing will help us to conceptualize how we might write about it ourselves.

Please keep in mind that some of our arts and calendar editors work just part-time, so providing thorough information — before our deadlines — is extremely important. Arts and calendar deadlines are noon Thursday the week before publication. Send calendar items to Sarah Low at slow@ vashonbeachcomber.com and arts to Elizabeth Shepherd at arts@vashonbeachcomber.com.

We want to hear from you and welcome story ideas large and small. If you are confused about who to send something to, email editor@vashonbeachcomber.com or contact us through our website.

We also want to hear from community members in ways other than stories. Did you take some nice photos of islanders doing something interesting — or of an unusual or beautiful island scene? Send them to us. We might not be able to publish them — but then again, we might. Before Facebook and Instagram came along, we used to get more of those entries; we would like to see them make a resurgence on our pages.

We always welcome letters to the editor. Three hundred words is the limit. We try to print all the letters we receive, but personal attacks are not allowed, and we prefer that disagreements about any issue be kept respectful. For letters, the deadline is noon Friday the week before publication, but we often have space after that. Feel free to send letters over the weekend or on Mondays. If we can get them in, we will. If we can’t, we will hold them and run them the next week. Send letters to editor@vashonbeachcomber.com or head to our website and send them in from there.

Finally, we welcome op-eds and columns about all sorts of topics — every week throughout the year. Those typically run about 750 words. Do you have an idea brewing? Reach out and let’s discuss. We appreciate op-eds about serious issues and more personal or humorous columns about island life. Email editor@vashonbeachcomber.com about those, too.

The newspaper belongs to the community and should reflect the widest swath possible of community life — we count on all of you to help us make sure that happens.