Your first deadline of the year (regardless if it is your first year or your tenth year advising) always feels like you are navigating a stormy sea. Below are 5 things that you should have done and 5 things you still need to do to make sure you sail smoothly through your first deadline.

Five Things That Should Be Done: (Don’t worry, you can still get them done if they aren’t yet.)

1. Theme & Cover Idea – I know it is 2 things, but they go hand-in-hand

2. Yearbook Instruction on the finer points of putting a yearbook together:
a. How to take a picture
b. How to write a caption
c. How to write a headline
d. How to write copy

3. Your Ladder – Yes I mean all of it…this includes deciding what pages you are turning in for each deadline.

4. Assignments for the first deadline, and (crossing my fingers) all deadlines for the year.

5. You have called your portrait photographer(s) to make sure you get the portrait CD that includes the make-up pictures. Again, make sure the CD includes the make-up photos!

Five Things That Still Need to Be Done:

1. Assign Mini-Deadlines – Make sure you have worked backwards from your first deadline assigning dates for each piece of the yearbook spread, building in time for editing. I know, a lot easier said then done, here is an example:

a. Deadline Nov. 14th
b. Nov. 10th – The spread should be submitted for final edits
c. Nov.8th – Captions, with edits placed on page
d. Nov. 4th – Captions submitted
e. Nov. 3rd – Pictures placed on Page
f. Nov. 2nd – Pictures selected (photo editor and section editor should have been checking on progress along the way)
g. Oct. 28th – Final Draft of Copy & Secondary Coverage Due & placed
h. Oct. 26th – Copy Submitted & Secondary Coverage due – photos and text
i. Oct. 25th – Questions and Interviews should already be completed

2. Put Your Templates on the Pages!! Either select from the templates provided to you or make create your own – either way they should be on spreads by Friday, if not earlier.

3. Look for ways to build in fun secondary coverage on your pages. HJ customers – This means Pop-Ins, Mods, etc…

4. Flow in Placeholders for your portrait pages (or the actual portraits if you have them!) –talk to your rep for more details.

5. Make sure your endsheets are getting worked on and are finalized.

6. Bonus: Make sure you are working on Senior or 8th grade Favorites…it is a long process