Every issue has a shape, and the shape is usually decided by one piece that arrives late and changes everything around it.
This issue opened with [working title of the lead feature], which we had been chasing for [length of time]. It took three attempts to get the access, and the piece that came back was not the piece we commissioned — it was better, and it meant the rest of the issue had to move.
We cut two pieces at the last stage. One was good and simply did not fit the sequence. One was not ready, and running it would have been a favour to the writer rather than a service to the reader. Both writers know which is which, and both will be back.
The photography in this issue is by [photographer's name], who shot on [format] over [number] days. The cover was chosen from [number] options and was not the one anybody expected at the start of the week.
If you want to know what we are working on next, the newsletter is where it surfaces first.