The newspaper you hold in your hands culminates weeks of hard work by our staff to create a Farmville Herald that is easier to hold, simpler to navigate and more interesting to read.

We think you’ll like it. If you don’t, keep an open mind and give it a few weeks to grow on you. We believe it will.

The Opinion page itself perhaps best embodies the new direction of our newspaper. We put a premium on your viewpoints, offering four easy ways to make your voice heard:

• “Your Views” accommodates traditional letters to the editor — submissions of up to 250 words.

• “Your Turn” is for guest columns — longer submissions of up to 600 words that give area writers the chance to go more indepth about local, state and national topics.

• “Your Say” will feature excerpts of comments made by readers on our website, FarmvilleHerald.com, or on our social media pages.

• “Your Pulse” will feature the results of our online reader poll at FarmvilleHerald.com.

The more you participate, the more interesting, diverse and vibrant this page will be. An opinion page, at its best, is a marketplace of ideas, and that’s what we’ve built this page to be.

Letters to the editor must be signed and must include a phone number and mailing address; only the writer’s name and hometown will appear in print.

Your Turn submissions should be accompanied by a photograph of the author and a one- or two-sentence biographical sketch.

We prefer to receive letters and guest columns by email at editor@farmvilleherald.com. Submissions may also be faxed to 434-392-3366, mailed to P.O. Box 307, Farmville, VA 23901, or hand-delivered at our office, 114 North St., Farmville.