Yearbook Playbook

WHAT TO DO FIRST GET TO KNOW YOUR YEARBOOK PEOPLE □ Meet with your Walsworth Rep! They are your guide through your yearbook journey. On your first visit,

GET TO KNOW YOUR YEARBOOK BUSINESS Understand your budget. □ Know your book price(s) and ad prices. □ Review your copy order and sales from the previous year. □ Check for any additional funding - Photography commissions - Fundraisers □ Check for any additional expenditures - Staff shirts - Camps/workshops - Staff celebrations/parties □ Consider any copies that you give away (admin, media, critiques/competitions). □ Work with your rep and use this information to create a budget for the year. Set up online sales. □ Use the “Summary” report in Yearbook 360 to see how many books/ads were sold at each price point the previous year to help track your progress. □ Sign up for PEP marketing emails. Send your rep/ CSR an email with an Excel file containing student name, grade, parent name and parent email and we will take care of the rest! Make a Marketing Plan (see marketing section). □ Create a calendar for marketing to students and parents throughout the school year. □ Plan for yearbook sales during registration day, open house or any back-to-school events. □ Promote price increases and inform buyers when the last day to order is. - Use your school calendar and portrait dates as a guide for setting deadlines. - Set student deadlines at least a week or two prior to your Walsworth submission deadline. This allows time for you to edit and proof pages before finalizing. - Consider setting mini-deadlines for your yearbook staff to help catch any potential problems early. □ Think Theme. Choose a theme and a cover design to help set the visual look and tone of the yearbook (see page 10 on theme and covers). □ Plan your Ladder. Use last year’s book as a guide for what needs to go on every page in the yearbook (see page 12 for more details). □ Plan for student coverage. Get the most recent student list from admin to start working on student name changes, name spellings, alternative names, etc. (see page 15 for tips). □ Establish how you will organize your staff roles and responsibilities (see page 6 for more details). GET TO CREATING YOUR YEARBOOK PLAN □ Set deadlines with your Walsworth Rep.

you will likely discuss the following: - Setting page and cover deadlines - Cover options - Budget - Setting up online yearbook sales - Contract specs □ Meet with your administrator to discuss

expectations, goals and yearbook delivery dates. Other things to discuss with your admin: no media policy, name change policy, memorial page policy, and who is in charge of club/team/group photos. □ Meet with your bookkeeper to discuss the current status of your yearbook account/budget. □ Meet with coaches/club sponsors to discuss the dates and process for team/club pictures, get team rosters if available and gather contact info of coaches/sponsors. □ Meet with school photography company to: - Set portrait dates. - Discuss when yearbook portraits will be received, who they will be sent to and how they will be sent (i.e., email link, CD, Dropbox, portal, etc.). - Set expectations and schedules for additional photography needs (sports candids, team portraits, club pictures, senior panoramic, homecoming/prom, etc.). □ Meet with your yearbook staff. Find out: - How many students will be working on the yearbook staff. - What grade levels they are. - If they applied to be on the staff or were assigned the class. - How to create unity amongst staff members and to evaluate their skill levels by using team building activities.

DATES TO THINK ABOUT □ Last day of school □ Last day for seniors □ Winter/spring breaks □ Portrait dates □ School events/trips □ Testing dates

Start taking and gathering pictures ASAP!

4