As a child, my older brother found the urge to “tip” our waiter at restaurants simply irresistible. In addition to the monetary tip left by our parents, he would jot a witty (so he thought) piece of advice on a napkin or receipt to be found by our lucky servitor. “Don’t wear a swimsuit in a snowstorm,” or “Look both ways before crossing the street,” seemed sage advice to a 10-year-old boy.

Now, it seems we are constantly bombarded with tips. From Groupon to Twitter to the nightly news, everyone seems bent on giving us their latest tip. Some advice is pretty ordinary and obvious, like the tips my brother doled out to unsuspecting waitstaff. Some tips, however, are welcome and helpful bits of advice. That is how I hope you find the many and varied tips offered in this issue of FrontMatter.

Our Feature article, “Effective Solutions for Managing a Manuscript Backlog,” contains useful advice for tackling an unwieldy backlog. You’ll find a variety of suggestions for clearing out your excess submissions to keep your issues on track.

If you are looking for guidance in the area of member retention, our Society Membership article “Increasing Member Retention Among New Members” has some useful recommendations. On average, first and second year members are the least likely to renew. Christy Classi, Association Manager for Allen Press, shares some great ideas for reversing that trend.

Of course, not all solutions are appropriate for every situation, but I’m confident you’ll find one or two ideas to try.

Got a tip for us? We’re always interested in your feedback about the newsletter and ideas you have for future articles. Please email comments, suggestions, or ideas to frontmatter@allenpress.com.