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 | 3 steps to better subject lines Plus: Keep your email out of the sp@m filter! 35% of recipients open emails based solely on the subject line, according to Omnisend. How can you make the most of yours? Sept. 28, 2023 |
 | What are the right words for the web? Show instead of tell, and keep terms short What’s that you say? Short, concrete familiar words are easier to read and understand. Sept. 21, 2023 |
 | Try compression of details for your next lead Steal secrets from these Silver Anvil winners The big squeeze: Make your news release juicy with a compression of details lead. Sept. 14, 2023 |
 | How to increase reading by 520% Use a better webpage structure Fill in the blanks to a good webpage structure. Sept. 07, 2023 |
 | How to get words on the screen faster Get words on the screen faster Watch your fingers fly across the keyboard: Fill the screen with better copy faster with freewriting. Aug. 31, 2023 |
 | Mobile visitors spend 72 seconds with your message Reach readers on the small screen: Mobile web visitors read less of your message. So now what? Aug. 24, 2023 |
 | How to overcome writer’s block Work with, not against, your brain Feel stuck? Maybe you just need a better writing routine. Aug. 17, 2023 |
 | Get your story across in 120 seconds or less 6 steps to telling your story fast Get your story across in one minute or less with a 200-word release. Aug. 10, 2023 |
 | Can a robot really help you find story ideas? Get an assist from your BFF and research assistant: What’s the best way to have a robot create story ideas? Aug. 03, 2023 |
 | Reach readers where their eyes are Put the hot stuff up top with the 1-2-3-4 test Put the hot stuff up top: Visitors focus on the top screens of your webpage — aka ‘above the fold’ in newspaper parlance. The solution? Get to the point faster. July 27, 2023 |
 | Write better, easier & faster with this system Try the 5-step creative process Bright ideas: Need some creative juice? Come up with brilliant solutions to real-life problems when you use a creative process that works with — not against — your brain. July 20, 2023 |
 | 3 ways to get your story covered How to write about your reporter’s readers Want more coverage? Target your reporter’s readers. July 13, 2023 |
 | Templates more effective than brainstorming, free association Template it: Save time and effort by developing flexible, standardized, step-by-step story structures. July 06, 2023 |
 | Put your message where visitors’ eyes are Reach flippers, skimmers and other nonreaders with words Put your message where they look (Hint: It’s not in the paragraphs!) June 29, 2023 |
 | Develop a game plan for your message Prewriting is the 1st and most important step of the writing process Action plan: Before drafting, revising and editing, you must prepare to write. Prewriting gets you ready to freewrite, or produce your rough draft. June 22, 2023 |
 | Ask, who’s doing the verb? To write in the active voice, use the simple sentence structure. June 15, 2023 |
 | Incubation is the 3rd step in the writing process Coffee break? For decades, creative personalities have reported that their thought processes include … doing nothing. June 08, 2023 |
 | Would your piece be twice as good … … if it were half as long? Just a note: The more information we give readers, the less they’re able to use it. June 01, 2023 |
 | 7 sources for sound statistics How to hunt down numerical comparisons Search for the data: Track down numerical comparisons you need to help readers understand your stats. May 26, 2023 |
 | Modifiers give ‘the illusion of meaning without its substance’ Fluffy kittens: yes. Fluffy writing: no. Adjectives and adverbs add bulk without content. Use specific nouns and verbs instead. May 18, 2023 |
 | How much time do people spend reading? And how much will your readers spend on your message? About time: On average, your audience members read 9,600 words a day for work and 3,240 for fun. Does it make sense for you to ask them to spend a third of that on your blog post? May 11, 2023 |
 | ChatGPT wrote this article. (Well, sort of …) How to use AI to Rev Up Readability The robots are coming: ChatGPT helps people write 59% faster and 18% better. What are you waiting for? May 04, 2023 |
 | What can readers do differently with your stuff? Show me the money: Write about what readers can accomplish with your products, services, programs and ideas — not about the products, services, programs and ideas themselves. April 27, 2023 |
 | How to craft reader-focused writing Want readers to read your message? The ultimate selfie: The reader is the reader’s favorite topic. So give the reader what she wants. April 20, 2023 |
 | Quick tip: Start sentences with a conjunction (But don’t tell your 3rd-grade teacher!) The ultimate selfie: The reader is the reader’s favorite topic. So give the reader what she wants. April 19, 2023 |
 | Position your message in the reader’s best interest The reader cares about the reader: Don’t focus on your organization and its stuff. Write about the reader and her needs. April 13, 2023 |
 | Don’t be afraid of fear appeals Why accentuate the negative? Better sorry than safe? Arousing fear can be more effective than promising rewards at moving people to act. April 06, 2023 |
 | How many Instagram hashtags should you include? That depends … Don’t make a hash of hashtags: Include the right number for reach and engagement. March 30, 2023 |
 | 6 steps to step-by-step service stories Easy as 1-2-3: Here’s how to write a how-to story — aka a tipsheet or service story. March 23, 2023 |
 | … Techniques for engaging social posts, that is What can you steal from this guy? Try snatching the writing techniques behind his social channels. March 16, 2023 |
 | Think Like a Friend, Fan, Follower 3 ways to engage your audience on social channels Tell them how to: News and how-tos are the types of social media content most likely to be retweeted. March 09, 2023 |
 | Don’t let zombies eat your readers’ brains How to avoid dead metaphors Zombie attack! Don’t fill your message with dead1 and dead2 metaphors. March 02, 2023 |
 | How to get great stories in an interview To get great stories in an interview, look for the aha! moment. Feb. 23, 2023 |
 | Let people stand for your principles Mission: Accomplished? Let employees illustrate your core competencies. Feb. 16, 2023 |
 | Reverse engineer great writing Take it apart; put it back together Find the template: Boost your writing skills by reading good writing then figuring out how the writer wrote it. Feb. 09, 2023 |
 | 3 steps to crafting clever figures of speech Better than the muse: Want to write great metaphors? Practice these 3 steps for creating vivid analogies. Feb. 02, 2023 |
 | How to make your message 47% more usable Skimmable content boosts understanding, memory, satisfaction Skimmable outperformed dense text in a study by Jakob Nielsen. Jan. 26, 2023 |
 | What’s the best length of a word? The New York Times averages 4.9 characters Short and sweet: Why write employment when you can write jobs? Save your readers processing time by choosing short words. Jan. 19, 2023 |
 | Avoid Yup, Duh and other abstract leads Show in the lead, tell in the nut graph Turn ideas into things: Choose concrete details, not abstract ideas, for your leads. Jan. 12, 2023 |
 | Top organizations use reader-centric approach Average performers just write about themselves Reader first: Top companies 60% more likely to focus on reader needs, twice as likely to engage readers emotionally. Jan. 05, 2023 |
 | New Year’s Writing Resolutions 8 of my favorite tips for 2023 Make the most of 2023 with these writing resolutions. Dec. 29, 2022 |
 | Writing tips and tricks to try now Get opened, get read — and get home early — with these techniques Sharpen up! What writing techniques can you learn from these writing tips and tricks? Dec. 22, 2022 |
 | Try these 8 tips for better writing Get clicked, opened, read and shared — and more Make your message stand out … Check out these techniques to improve your storytelling, blog posts, writing process and more. Dec. 15, 2022 |
 | Why is the writing process important? It helps you Write Better, Easier & Faster Get there faster: A good writing process helps you finish writing sooner and enjoy writing more. Dec. 08, 2022 |
 | How to overcome writer’s block Work with, not against, your brain Feel stuck? Maybe you need a better writing routine. Dec. 01, 2022 |
 | Templates beat brainstorming, free association Think inside the box: Just a handful of techniques accounted for all of the ideas behind 200 top-performing ads, found a team of Israeli researchers. Nov. 23, 2022 |
 | How to ask good interview questions Get delicious details: Develop a more compelling message when you ask more compelling questions. Nov. 17, 2022 |
 | How to develop a tight story angle Write it on a sticky note Make it stick: Keep your story angle short and sweet. Nov. 10, 2022 |
 | Sift through your information for insights and ideas The right connection: Analyzing and organizing information helps you see new connections — and primes your brain for the next step of the creative process. Nov. 03, 2022 |
 | Model the Masters to polish your own writing In the third step of the writing process, you’ll edit, cut clutter, and nail spelling, grammar and punctuation. This is what we used to call writing! Oct. 27, 2022 |
 | 7 steps to Cutting Through the Clutter In the third step of the writing process, you’ll edit, cut clutter, and nail spelling, grammar and punctuation. This is what we used to call writing! Oct. 20, 2022 |
 | What is the best marketing email length? People average 11 seconds with marketing messages How long should your marketing email be? 20 lines? 50 to 125 words? 60 words? Fewer? Oct. 13, 2022 |
 | Should you use emojis in email subject lines? Does grinning face have a place in your marketing emails? Does smiling face have a place in email marketing and email newsletter subject lines? Maybe, say the folks at the Nielsen Norman Group. Oct. 06, 2022 |
 | How to write clever email subject lines Try wordplay, humor, creative techniques Try a little cleverness: Entertainment is the No. 1 reason people share email, according to Chadwick Martin Bailey. Sept. 29, 2022 |
 | Get recipients to open the email envelope It takes 4 elements to boost open rates Beyond the subject line: Your subject line is only one of four elements recipients on your email lists consider before deciding whether to open or delete. Are you ignoring the other 75%? Sept. 22, 2022 |
 | How to write conversational copy Conversation piece: Make sure your message sounds as human as you do. Sept. 15, 2022 |
 | How to write a table of contents Help subscribers find stories without scrolling Table it: When you have 5 or more pieces in a newsletter that covers more than 2 printed pages, add a table of contents. Sept. 08, 2022 |
 | Jargon does NOT make you look smarter ‘If you can’t explain something simply, you don’t understand it well.’ — Einstein Get the blah blah out: Technical jargon and other gobbledygook may suggest that your organization is in a slump. Sept. 01, 2022 |
 | What’s the ideal email length? Short, but not too short How to write short email newsletters: In an effort to reduce the length of your e-zine or email blast, don’t drop the details. Aug. 25, 2022 |
 | 3 ways to streamline sentences Don’t fix fragments … and more! Hit period more often: Stop adding clauses with conjunctions. Aug. 18, 2022 |
 | What’s the best paragraph length? Hit return more often How long is too long? People skip long paragraphs. So keep paragraphs short. Aug. 11, 2022 |
 | How to organize an email invitation Open, don’t close, in the lead Ho, ho, ho: Focus on what people will be able to do at your event, not on the event itself. Aug. 04, 2022 |
 | What’s wrong with press releases? Just 3% to 45% actually get the word out Fewer than 50% of releases get covered. So how can you write media relations pieces that actually get the word out? July 28, 2022 |
 | Measure A.R.T., or average reading time Find the optimal length for your message How long is too long? Readers measure the length of your message in time, not space. If you’re smart, you will too. July 21, 2022 |
 | Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston nails the feature Home, sweet home: Mark Zelermyer turns a stodgy bank report into a friendly, fascinating feature-style story. July 14, 2022 |
 | 3 steps to writing a great pun Twist a phrase with these three steps to better wordplay. July 07, 2022 |
 | Would your story be twice as good if it were half as long? Short story: Master short-form content for today’s attention spans. June 30, 2022 |
 | What goes into a press release boilerplate? Boil your company down with boilerplates About us: Stick to the 5 W’s. And drop the marketing fluff. June 23, 2022 |
 | Try self-deprecating humor You must be joking: Add self-deprecating humor to your message. June 16, 2022 |
 | People understand 48% less on mobile How can you overcome the obstacles of reading on smartphones? Reach readers on the small screen: Mobile web visitors are less likely to act on your message. So now what? June 09, 2022 |
 | How to come up with a brand story 4 ways to find a good narrative Why did my wasband switch cognacs? Brand storytelling made him do it. June 02, 2022 |
 | 5 tips for writing a great deck How to craft the summary blurb under the headline Double decker: Multi-deck headlines get the word out to skimmers and scanners. So don’t drop the deck. May 26, 2022 |
 | People skim and scan text in online news Only 19% read word-by-word Skimming along: Just 19% of participants in a Harris Interactive poll read articles word-by-word. Many more skim mostly headlines or the full article. May 19, 2022 |
 | 5 tips for crafting a good list A list for lists: Take advantage of the last item on the list — and 4 more ways to write readable, engaging lists. May 12, 2022 |
 | Show readers one — not 1,001 Story vs. statistics: People care more about one person they know something about than they do about hundreds or millions of nameless, faceless souls. May 05, 2022 |
 | The easiest way to find product benefits? Write in verbs, not nouns Show what readers can do differently: Write how readers can use your product, service, program or idea — not about the product, service, program or idea itself. April 28, 2022 |
 | They don’t; so make webpages scannable How do people read online? They don’t; they skim. So write skimmable web copy. April 21, 2022 |
 | Answer What’s In It For Me (WIIFM) Position your message in the reader’s best interest The reader cares about the reader: Don’t focus on your organization and its stuff. Write about the reader and her needs. April 14, 2022 |
 | Because your clients are your best salespeople Case in point: Case studies turn your clients into brand ambassadors, showing rather than telling what you can do for your prospects. April 07, 2022 |
 | People understand 48% less on mobile How can you overcome the obstacles of reading on smartphones? Reach readers on the small screen: Mobile web visitors are less likely to act on your message. So now what? March 31, 2022 |
 | ‘Readers’ actually skim blog posts, content marketing pieces They read 3.5% of the words on the page Just say no: Your audience members read an average of 50 words in your article. So how do you reach nonreaders with words? March 24, 2022 |
 | Lead with the problem, follow up with the solution Tap the anxiety advantage: Show your audience members how bad life can get without your product, service or idea. March 17, 2022 |
 | Top 3 characteristics that make posts go viral Put on a happy face: How can you write blog content that gets readers to read your posts? Make messages positive and emotional. March 10, 2022 |
 | How to organize writing projects Structure your message like Wolfe, Faulkner and Nabokov Model the masters: By the time he’d completed his outline, Tom Wolfe’s work was mostly done. March 03, 2022 |
 | How to overcome information overload Hint: Cutting copy is not the solution Simple complexity: It’s not enough just to reduce information. To overcome information overload, you must also make messages more meaningful. February 24, 2022 |
 | Prewriting is Step 1 of the writing process Get to the top of page 1: Research your message, develop your story angle and organize your piece in the prewriting phase of the writing process. February 17, 2022 |
 | Tipsheets get read, shared, used and acted upon Top tips: How-to stories — aka tipsheets and service stories — move people to act. February 10, 2022 |
 | Why is the writing process important? It helps you Write Better, Easier & Faster Get there faster: A good writing process helps you finish writing sooner and enjoy writing more. February 03, 2022 |
 | Increase understanding, memory, satisfaction … Scannable text outperformed dense webpages in one of the earliest studies on web writing, by Jakob Nielsen. January 27, 2022 |
 | 3 steps to Writing Better, Easier & Faster The writing process, step by step: Break your work into three steps: prewriting, freewriting and rewriting. January 20, 2022 |
 | Where web visitors look at your content Get skimmers to read deeper by understanding these 3 eye gaze patterns Readers skim the surface of your page: But you can get them to read deeper with a few smart moves. January 13, 2022 |
 | Save time, effort with fill-in-the-blanks writing templates Template this! Story templates save readers — and writers — time. January 06, 2022 |
 | 8 content writing tips and tricks to try now Write better news releases, webpages and more … Get your point across: Write more persuasive, more readable messages, with these content writing tips and tricks. December 30, 2021 |
| Try these 8 tips for better writing Get clicked, opened, read and shared — and more Make your message stand out … Check out these techniques to improve your storytelling, blog posts, writing process and more. December 23, 2021 |
 | 8 good writing tips for corporate communicators How to tell better stories, write to persuade and more … Point taken! Get your message across with these writing tips for corporate communicators, PR pros and other professional writers. December 16, 2021 |
| Writing tips and tricks to try now Get opened, get read — and get home early — with these techniques Sharpen up! What writing techniques can you learn from these writing tips and tricks? December 09, 2021 |
 | How long should your words be? The New York Times averages 4.9 characters Short and sweet: Why write employment when you can write jobs? Save your readers processing time by choosing short words. December 02, 2021 |
 | Boost readability with the Flesch Reading Ease Index The higher your score, the easier your message is to read Hit the right target: What readability scores to aim for on three top readability tests. November 24, 2021 |
 | How well can readers understand your stats? Fewer than 10% of U.S. adults are good with numbers Count them out: Just one-third of Americans have even intermediate skills at understanding stats. November 18, 2021 |
 | 5 ways to craft email preview panes Get opened by showing recipients a sample of your message Window on your world: The preview pane is one of the top three elements recipients use to decide whether to open an email — or delete without reading. November 11, 2021 |
![Why email marketing works [Statistics!]](https://freewritingtips.wyliecomm.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/why-email-marketing-works-statistics-150.png) | Why email marketing works [Statistics!] It’s the No. 1 sharing channel in the world Inbox is king: “Email may well be your most productive marketing tool,” says HubSpot viral marketing scientist Dan Zarrella. November 04, 2021 |
 | ‘Be a complexity reducer, not an information producer’ Do less, but do it better: It’s not enough just to reduce information. To overcome information overload, you must also make messages more meaningful. October 28, 2021 |
 | How to write catchy email headlines Tell the story, keep them to 1 line, & more Heads up on e-zine headlines: Write email newsletter headlines that are clear, short and don’t get cut off on mobile. October 21, 2021 |
 | How to get paragraphs read on mobile Can you read me now? Readers struggle to read long paragraphs on smartphones. October 14, 2021 |
 | Feature structure outperforms traditional news format What organizing structure would make the best foundation for your message? Not the inverted pyramid. October 07, 2021 |
 | Technical terminology hurts SEO, social, PR Jargon makes your website harder to find, reduces media coverage — even slashes your social-media influence. September 30, 2021 |
 | How to optimize for voice search SEO guidelines for content writers Can you find me now? Some 50% of searches are voice search these days, according to comScore. Here’s how to optimize for voice search. September 23, 2021 |
 | 3 tips for personalizing email What’s in a name? Not much. Go beyond name-calling to tailor your message to your readers’ best interests. September 16, 2021 |
 | They’re ‘the most important thing you can do’ online Piece of cake: Readers go for the frosting — aka the subheads — online. That makes it easier for them to find what they’re looking for. September 09, 2021 |
 | 3 ways to reframe the data Bring numbers to life: Make statistics more emotional by turning them into individuals. September 02, 2021 |
 | Web readability by the numbers People read 20% to 30% slower online In a flash: Attention spans are half as long on mobile devices. Shouldn’t your content be shorter, too? August 26, 2021 |
 | Get opened with brilliant preheader text 24% of recipients consider this element first when deciding whether to open Are you skipping a key element that helps recipients determine whether to open? Preheader text works with the subject line to entice recipients to read your email. August 19, 2021 |
 | Use snappy synthesis, stakeholder benefits & more Web content’s not a newspaper story. So instead of news leads, try these four types of web leads. August 12, 2021 |
 | What’s the average time spent reading [statistics!]? Americans spend 16.2 minutes a day reading for fun Tick tock: People spend 48 minutes a day reading for work, 16 minutes a day reading for fun. How much of that time are they devoting to your message? August 05, 2021 |
 | Get content above the fold on mobile Put the hot stuff up top with the 1-2-3-4 test Four’s a charm: To reach mobile visitors, get the gist of your message across in the first four elements of your web page. July 29, 2021 |
 | Get open, clicked and shared on mobile [statistics!] Email recipients click less often, unsubscribe more often on smartphones Get clicked: When reading emails on mobile, recipients click 40% less often, find it 48% harder to understand content and are more likely to unsubscribe. Now what? July 22, 2021 |
 | How does screen reading affect your readers? Reading online hurts people’s eyes, bodies, brains Is your web content a pain in the neck? Screen reading causes nausea, vision problems and cognitive issues. July 15, 2021 |
 | Focus on outcome, not input We had a party, and you weren’t invited: Don’t tell me about your event. Tell me what I’ll be able to do at your event. Or focus on the outcome of past events. July 08, 2021 |
 | Are your news release headlines really paragraphs? Keep yours short, like The New York Times A head for business: Want to influence editors and journalists? Why not model your headlines after theirs? July 01, 2021 |
 | Journalists spend less than one minute reading releases Gone in 60 seconds: If your release is longer than 200 words, seven out of 10 journalists won’t finish it. June 24, 2021 |
 | Why CEO press release quotes suck Reporters hate PR quotes Say it ain’t so: If it doesn’t sound conversational and substantive, don’t expect journalists to pick it up. June 17, 2021 |
 | Lead with the readers’ needs in news releases ‘I’m not interested in “new and improved”’ — Editor Hit the target: To grab editors’ attention, steal a tip from these Silver Anvil winners. Lead with the readers’ needs — not with your products, services, programs or ideas. June 10, 2021 |
 | Why is PR writing so important? Because fewer than 50% of releases actually get the word out Fewer than 50% of releases get covered. So how can you write media relations pieces that get actually the word out? June 03, 2021 |
 | Go with the flow with freewriting Get words on paper faster in the second step of the writing process Watch your fingers fly across the keyboard: Fill the page with better copy faster when you freewrite. May 25, 2021 |
 | Try WBHA, or writing by hanging around Observational research brings your message to life Just looking: Firsthand observation brings your message to life. So go to the scene and observe. May 20, 2021 |
 | Feature headlines easier to understand, more memorable Readers prefer clever headlines. Feature headlines may convince readers to read stories. May 13, 2021 |
 | Templates more effective than brainstorming, free association Template creativity: Just a handful of techniques accounted for all of the ideas behind 200 top performing ads, found a team of Israeli researchers. May 06, 2021 |
 | Find mentors among your favorite writers Reverse-engineer it: After reading good writing, you can improve your writing by figuring out how the writer wrote it. April 29, 2021 |
 | People learn through metaphor Baby, you can drive my car: Grandpa didn’t know from automobiles; he called this a horseless carriage. Analogies help people understand new ideas by linking them to familiar ones. April 22, 2021 |
 | Master the 5-step creative process Develop more creative ideas with this system Bright ideas: Need some creative juice? Come up with brilliant solutions to real-life problems when you use a creative process that works with — not against — your brain. April 15, 2021 |
 | Excuse me, are those your neurons flashing? Like being there: When you read a vivid story, your brain lights up as if you are performing the character’s actions yourself. April 08, 2021 |
 | 3 ways to polish your traditional heads Break the news: Tell the story, don’t tell about the story, in your news head. April 01, 2021 |
 | Why creative content writing is important Grab attention, keep it longer, communicate better & more EnLightening: Creative material enhances credibility, gets shared, gets people to read longer — even slashes burnout and boosts performance. March 25, 2021 |
 | Why worry about your readability level? Save money, make money and more with readable messages That’s ROI: Get your message read and shared by boosting your readability level. March 18, 2021 |
 | 3 ways to find balance, or parallelism Take a tip from Charles Dickens It was the best of times; it was the worst of times: Repeat and reverse, add and or so and other ways to bring balance to your message. March 11, 2021 |
 | Don’t start with the blah blah blah Background — also known as the blah blah blah — is no way to draw readers into a piece. Instead, leave the definitions, history lessons and broader context for the third paragraph. March 04, 2021 |
 | What’s the best length for a blog post? Are you writing about Brussels sprouts or brain surgery? How long should your blog post be? Experts recommend 1,500 words, 2,000 words, 2,500 words and longer content. The right answer: It depends. Feb. 25, 2021 |
 | How to hunt down numerical comparisons Apples to apples: Find the numerical comparisons you need to help readers understand your stats. Feb. 18, 2021 |
 | How can you get readers to read? Increase expectation of reward; reduce effort required Follow me: How do you catch readers’ attention and persuade readers to read? Tap Wilbur Schramm’s Fraction of Selection model. Feb. 11, 2021 |
 | Invite readers in with the imperative voice Let people know what they can do with your Whatsit Just do it: Imperative voice gets clicked, opened, read and shared. Feb. 04, 2021 |
 | How to use acronyms, abbreviations and initialisms Avoid drowning readers in alphabet soup NNCBTPSNBRTASTSAFW: “Names not commonly before the public should not be reduced to acronyms solely to save a few words.” Jan. 28, 2021 |
 | Focus on the findings in survey stories Don’t lead with study— or the methodology The results are in: The best survey results press releases and blog posts focus on the results, not on the survey itself. Jan. 21, 2021 |
 | Measure readability with STORYToolz Get 33 metrics about your clarity The right readability tool for the job: Input a chunk of copy, click “Check Readability,” and STORYtoolz will run 7 readability tests on your message. Jan. 15, 2021 |
 | 3 email newsletter formats that work Lists, headlines & blurbs, single stories most valuable Format for attention: Choose an email newsletter format that’s short and focused, and stick with it issue after issue. Jan. 07, 2021 |