To begin your planning process, it is important that you outline the specifications for your yearbook. This will enable your yearbook representative to give you a quote for you and your school.
Determine the approximate number of pages you will need in the book. This information is based on the number of students and staff members, number of grades, extracurricular activities and other pages you might want in the book. If you plan to use portraits from your school photographer, we suggest you contact the photographer at the beginning of the school year. Arrange to have your portraits available as early as possible, as you will need them to begin page layouts as soon as possible. ASK FOR YOUR PORTRAITS ON CD in COLOR (if possible). If your plan includes using candid photos taken by staff and/or students, make sure you get consistent, high-quality images.
This will assure better reproduction.
Specifications you must consider are as follows:
• Number of copies (be conservative – 50% of the population. You can increase or decrease
your final quantity when you submit your production form with your book. Note: major
quantity changes change the price of your yearbook.)
• Number of pages: You must work in increments of 4 pages unless you are ordering a Smyth sewn book. Smyth sewn books must be ordered in increments of 16 pages. Blank pages are added to the back of the book if graphics/text does not fill all pages.
• Type of cover: Soft or Hard Cover (furnished designs or a custom design)
• Type of yearbook: All color or black and white (ALL Color is your BEST BUY!)
• Type of page creation:
• Delivery Date: Choose when you want the yearbook to arrive at your school.
• Proofs: If you insist on a proof, it may add cost and delivery time. Request details.
• Options: Ask for details on additional options/yearbook features to customize
your book.
You will receive a per book price. For example: if you want to order 300 yearbooks, you may receive a quoted price of $25.00 per book. Once you receive your quoted price and you review your deadline for submitting your book, your representative will ask you to sign a “Sign-up Form.” This means you have selected the yearbook representative to be your official yearbook provider. The “Sign-up Form” will also reserve appropriate production time at the yearbook plant to assure the delivery you requested.
Use last year’s yearbook sales data to determine buy rates, number of yearbooks sold, and the price your yearbook sold for to your students. Use a copy of last year’s yearbook to determine if the number of pages in the book was adequate to represent your school year and the student population.
When a school decides to do a yearbook, they will complete a “Sign-up Form” with their yearbook representative. This is usually done after the school and the yearbook representative have discussed pricing for the proposed book. Pricing outlined will not change unless you or the school choose to add/remove certain features from your yearbook, or change the number of pages in the book or the number of books being printed. ALL CHANGES IN YOUR PLAN SHOULD BE DONE IN WRITING. This assures a paper trail to track production costs and avoid misunderstandings.
The yearbook representative will arrange for a yearbook kit to be shipped to you. It will contain appropriate materials for producing a yearbook under the plan you selected. You will receive an easy-to-understand instruction guide, necessary materials to submit your yearbook for printing, and sales posters to promote yearbook sales. If your school is using Pictavo or any other software, information will be included in the kit. One kit is sent to your school. If additional supplies are needed, they can be ordered. Some MAY be billable; most are FREE. Make sure to check.
You will receive a reservation form from the yearbook publisher indicating what date your book will be shipped, and what specific date your book must arrive at the yearbook plant to keep that ship date. Your submission deadline will be determined by when you need to have your book at your school. Some schools choose to have books arrive before school dismisses for the year in April, May or June (Spring Delivery), while others choose an August, September or October delivery (Fall Delivery). Meeting your submission deadline is CRITICAL to the shipping schedule of your book. Failure to meet the submission deadline will cause the book to have the ship date rescheduled based on available production time.
Each yearbook plan has its own needed production time. Your representative can furnish that information. If you choose a book for Spring Delivery, plan your yearbook sales far enough in advance so sales efforts don’t interfere with your creating yearbook pages. Some schools will ask for Spring Delivery and then purchase a supplement that is produced and shipped during summer months (so events from the end of the school year can be included). Supplements come with a sturdy, easy-to-apply, peel and stick tape. The supplement is attached at the back of the yearbook.
It’s most economical to have the supplements shipped to the school for fall distribution.
If you choose a FALL DELIVERY, end-of-the-year-events (Prom, Graduation, Spring Break, and Spring Sports Results) can be included in the book. You must plan sales and production efforts accordingly, and plan for yearbook distribution to students after they return in the fall.
Get to know your yearbook representative—he/she will explain the various yearbook plans you can choose from, as well as pricing that applies for each of these programs. The representative can show you samples of typical yearbooks and explain the many special yearbook features available.
Ask the representative what services he/she will personally provide and which services you will receive direct from the yearbook plant. Ask the representative for the specific contact information you should use when you have questions about pricing, about software, about delivery, about yearbook features, etc. Keep a record of each of these names and how best to contact them. Share this information with everyone on the yearbook committee.
The yearbook representative is a “visitor” to your school and may not know your policies or procedures for loading software, or your daily schedule of availability for possible visits. The key is communication. Being prepared for any visit from your yearbook representative will make your valuable time with your representative very productive.
Many times, advisers struggle with identifying their role on a yearbook staff. Most advisers feel that they are a club sponsor and should let the students decide everything, from font selection to ship week of the yearbook. As much as this can lead to student excitement, remember one thing… your role as an adviser is unlike any other sponsor or teacher. Your decision on how to manage your publication can make the difference between a successful yearbook or a yearbook that is over budget and incomplete.
As the adviser, you have been chosen to be the project manager of the publication. As project manager, be aware that your primary responsibilities lie in two areas:
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT (the creation of the yearbook) and FINANCE MANAGEMENT (the sales and finances of the yearbook).
As a production manager, you will be responsible for the entire creation of the yearbook. Remember that you were chosen by the school administration to fill the position —ultimately, you are the decision maker on all parts of your program, and you report to the school administration. Sure, it is great to get student input on all decisions, and this is highly encouraged, but you must set realistic goals and deadlines for all decisions. This being said, it’s important that you know that you are also responsible for keeping the administration informed on choices, decisions, set backs, advancements, and more. Make sure you ask the administration how much “input” they want to have on the program. Understand that your administration, more than likely, does not want to know which photos you put in the yearbook, unless they are of important events or of questionable
nature. They are trusting you to create a product on time, that is free of problems. If you can do this, your efforts will be appreciated.
When it comes to being a production manager, this usually means you have to do or assign the following tasks to key people to complete within a specified time frame:
• Deciding what is on every page in the yearbook
• Photographing key school events
• Writing headlines, stories, and captions
• Choosing a cover design
• Choosing page designs
• Choosing type/text/font specifications
• Training staff members on production issues
• Page creation of custom pages to meet content elements
• Reviewing/proofreading page designs and stories
• Completing pages in a timely manner (deadlines)
• Completing advertisement pages
• Working with your yearbook representative
• Working with your school photographer
• Working with club sponsors and coaches for photos AND MORE…
USING A PAGE LADDER FOR YOUR YEARBOOK
You will need to develop a page ladder that shows what is on every page of the yearbook. The ladder will help determine how many pages to issue to sports, portraits, organizations, academics, advertisements, and student life. Review last year’s yearbook to give you a guideline. Your ladder will also help you organize the sequencing of your sections to give a nice flow to your yearbook.
Your ladder can be used as a checklist during the year to help track your progress.
BEGIN TO COLLECT PHOTOS Of EVENTS & PEOPLE
Begin collecting images as soon as possible. We encourage the use of a digital camera that takes photos of at least 3-5 megapixels in size, for easy sorting and management of digital images. Film cameras work well and can be used, but we encourage your development of the film to include a photo CD from your film development store. If no photo CD is available, invest in a scanner that will allow you to scan photos of paper prints for yearbook use.
Make sure you are having all major events and important functions photographed for proper coverage. We encourage you to speak to all club sponsors and coaches and ask them to have a parent or student associated with their organization or team to provide you a list of important events, functions, rosters, and some digital images of multiple functions. Your staff will need to photograph “planned and targeted” events, but any amount of images help. The more coverage you have, the more interest will develop in the yearbook.
ORGANIZE YOUR FILES AND IMAGES
Once you have started collecting your photos and content for pages, make sure to organize a simple tracking and management system for the data, so you will know if you have enough data and images to complete your pages. One great method is to have page envelopes. Invest in some 10”x 13” or 9”x12” envelopes. Have one for every yearbook page. Keep all your notes, content, photos, images, etc. in the envelope. Our Resource Section has a “note sheet” form you can reproduce and staple to the outside of the envelope. The form tracks data and notes like page #, deadlines, etc. Keep photo envelopes sorted and stored in a key location for all staffers to access.
KEEP YOUR PAGE DEADLINES!
Plan your yearbook progress to meet your submission deadline. As your ladder develops, list next to each page the expected month when each function will occur. This allows you to plan for page completions every month. Allow time for proofreading and review of each page, so if there are errors you will have time to fix them. Planning deadlines will assure you submit your yearbook on time without feeling last-minute pressure.
Welcome back from the Thanksgiving break! We hope that you had a wonderful time with your family and friends. Now.. back to work! Here are some reminders….
PICTURES, PICTURES, PICTURES! A yearbook is just a bunch of words and names on a page without photos! And now, with the digital age, pictures are more accessible. Everyone has pictures in their cell phones and digital cameras. Have your school community send their photos into the yearbook for consideration!
Activate your Pictavo BuyTheYearbook and send parents, teachers, students and staff to www.community.pictavo.com to set up an account and upload pictures for consideration in your yearbook! As the holiday season comes and goes, there are many opportunities for pictures and you want to get as many as you can.
ADOBE FLASH – Pictavo requires Adobe Flash in order for all the graphics to operate properly. If you are ever having difficulty viewing pages or seeing all of your graphics, please make sure that you have the most recent version of Adobe Flash. To download the most recent version go to http://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/downloads.html.
Remember that Adobe updates Flash several times a year, so be sure to keep this in mind throughout yearbook season. And make sure all of your yearbook committee (parents, students, teachers, etc.) know to update their computers as well!
YEARBOOKLIFE’S ANNUAL YEARBOOK CONTEST!
We are pleased to announce that we will once again be conducting our Annual Yearbook Contest. Please go to our website at https://www.yearbooklife.com/2012-2013-best-yearbook-contest/ to find out more. Look for new categories and prizes this year! We always have some remarkable books. Good Luck to everyone!
Previous FAQ’s….
You can find all of our past FAQ’s emails in the Blog section of our website at https://www.yearbooklife.com/blog/.
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