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Superstar Editors Have the Best Advice

Learn how great editors get the best coverage

If you or your staffers were unable to join our adviser or editor roundtables this fall, you missed some great conversations.

We hope you got our invites to our roundtable series this fall, but if you missed them, no worries. We are happy to share some of the highlights from the Editors in Convo series.

Our first installment on coverage comes from Edward Garcia, a former Coverage Editor from the Cayuse yearbook at Walnut High School in Walnut, California. Edward shares some great advice for tracking student coverage and ways to generate new story ideas.

 

 
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How To Sell More Yearbooks

Tiered pricing, discount codes, payment plans and more can help your staff sell more right now

Discounts can be a helpful tool for offering a sale to a specific group and for a short period of time. Be careful about spreading codes far and wide and keep sales windows tight. Check out this great resource about selling your book.

Here are five ways to put discount codes into action today.

  1. GRAD YEAR CODE
    Provide codes to parents who attend a grade-level meeting or back-to-school night. Keep the window short: Give them 48 hours to purchase a discounted book using the code specific to their child’s grade. Ex. “MustangsYBK2025”
  2. FREE STUFF
    Create a promo code for “free personalizations.” Set up a package that includes a name plate or other personalization and provide a discount code for buyers to take that amount off of their purchase.
  3. SENIORS RULE
    Start an early-bird senior ad special. Offer a promo code for submitting those ads by a specific date. For seniors who purchase a yearbook ad, give them a discount on buying their book — and earlier is always better.
  4. OPTICAL ILLUSION
    If your book is $70, which sounds better 10% off or $7 off? Consider the difference between using a percentage discount or a dollar amount. Our new discount codes feature in eBusiness can handle either version.
  5. ANGEL BOOKS
    Provide discount codes to businesses that would like to donate a book to an anonymous student. Reward their generosity with a discount.

Like these? Here’s a great handout with even more ideas.

 

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Making It Your Own

Putting inspiration pieces to work in your yearbook

Decorated and dedicated yearbook adviser and advocate Mike Simons takes viewers on an impressively deep dive in his “Making It Your Own” session.

With numerous examples of professional work and how to use the “yearbook blender” effectively, he breaks down theme inspiration — both visual and verbal. Simons asks attendees to describe your theme like it’s a person. Those details should feed into your “pretty hunt.”

Steps for inspo success

Remember your final product should be an evolution — not a duplication.

  • Find inspiration everywhere. He lists several sites/sources in the video.
  • Copy the piece exactly. Seriously, like the whole thing.
  • Start tweaking. Keep going. Incorporate other theme elements. Change something else.
  • Make your final touches. And, don’t forget to print it out.

Six ways to make the design your own

  1. Color
  2. Typography
  3. Photo treatments
  4. Shape and design elements
  5. Type and photo packaging
  6. Coverage and mod ideas

Learn more about how to turn examples you like into designs (and components) that work for your book, your school, this year. Watch the video. (Don’t miss out: Link expires on Oct. 15.)

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