If they receive an email that is wrapped at 80 characters, and they are set for 65, they will get 65 characters on first line and 15 on next. The entire article will be presented like this - very distracting.

Almost all mail clients (readers) will display 65 characters per line correctly. There is also less eye movement required using shorter line, making it easier to read. If this is case, why would anyone consider using a longer line.

If you do not have a sophisticated word processor, "Word Pad" will serve purpose. First - set your margins using "Page Setup" under "Files" Tab to .25 inches on left and 1.5 inches on right. Select "Courier New (Western)" font with a font size of 12. This will give you exactly 65 characters per line. Other margins and font sizes will work, but be sure you are getting correct number of characters per line.

Now, you can estimate your word count. Figure an average of 9 words per line. There will be short lines and blank lines between paragraphs. If your article is around 80 lines long or less, you should be in ballpark. This article, for example is 56 lines. The actual word count is 506 - close enough? You may vary a bit on actual count, but at least you'll have an idea of length of article and be close to that "magic number".

My adds and drops go to a specific return address. If someone doesn't read instructions to find out how to be removed from list, and sends me a note, I will try to manually remove them. But, if address they are writing from, is not one they are subscribed with, and they don't tell you what address is, it is impossible to remove them.

Don't figure that if they were smart enough to subscribe to your list, they are smart enough to remove themselves from it. You must understand that there are people who won't read instructions, and will simply fire off a nasty note. If they are not immediately removed, they may also fire off complaints to your ISP. If there are remove instructions given, you will most likely be on safe ground if they didn't follow them.

I use several ISP's when sending out my Newsletters. I use one address to handle "bounces" (email addresses which are not valid) and remove requests, and a different one for email to me. This allows for an automatic processing of "bounces" and remove requests, and if a person wishes to write me, they can. If someone writes me and asks to be removed, I will take necessary steps to try to accommodate them, but it may not always be possible if they don't provide proper address.

If you do get a notification from your ISP that a complaint was made, do not ignore it. Tell them how people can subscribe and unsubscribe from your list. Keep records of unsubscribe requests that were made that you could not remove. If it was someone that did ask to be removed with an address that was not subscribed, send your ISP a copy of note you sent them. It is also a good idea to send your ISP a copy of mailing they complained about.

As I said at beginning of this article, "there is no magic formula", but if you exercise reasonable procedures, you should not run into too many problems from "Poop Patrol".