When starting a new bulletin, an editor's main objective is to ensure the bulletin’s quality and usefulness to readers. But very soon a second challenge appears: how to sustain production in the long term. Well-established bulletins have often experienced problems with planning, leading to delayed publication, the need to publish double issues to make up for lost time, or, in the worst case, to send letters of apology to readers.

Like any organization, a bulletin needs short-, medium- and long-term planning. Some basic principles and tools may help.