How to Be a Good Editor for a Yearbook

Over time, a school yearbook becomes a treasured history and reference book.

A yearbook is more than just an annual volume published to celebrate a school year; it is a collection of memories that many students will treasure for their entire lives. Over time, it becomes a history and reference book of teacher and student names and images, and may contain information found nowhere else. Consequently, the yearbook's editor needs to create the best possible yearbook.

Things You'll Need

• Daybook, digital calendar or other calendar
• Yearbook page ladder
• Computer
• Word processing software
• Photo editing software
• Page layout software

Instructions

1. Complete the page ladder, which is the plan for your yearbook. Make a list of areas to cover. You know how many pages it will be and you decide on the various sections you will need to cover the school year.

2. Solicit ideas from students, the yearbook staff and faculty and administrators to determine the yearbook theme. Armed with a theme, decide how you will use it in each yearbook section. The theme may be depicted through artwork or images, special fonts or design elements or even using certain words or phrases throughout the book.

3. Make a plan to create a high-quality yearbook. The editor is a leader and needs to be in charge of the staff. Help, guide and advise them and make sure you and the staff take responsibility for meeting all deadlines. Use a personal calendar, daybook or digital calendar to help enact the plan. Enter dates for every task from staff meetings to copy and photo deadlines as well as all school events with notations on who will be covering them for photos and other critical tasks.

4. Assign the staff to specific pages. Allow them to volunteer for pages because a volunteer is more enthusiastic working on an assignment he enjoys. Designate staff to work on unassigned pages or take them on yourself. Create and post a list of staff and their assignments. Be sure to confer with all staff members about their assignments and help them whenever possible.

5. Preserve continuity throughout the yearbook. For example, you will decide what font will be used in the yearbook. If photos will have certain borders or design elements, make certain those designs are used consistently and that the yearbook's theme is followed in every section.

6. Find a good photo editor. If you can find a budding photographer to shoot photos and serve as photo editor, so much the better. Remember, photos are the key to a successful yearbook. Every page needs photos and every sporting event, activity, organization, class event, play production, band concert and other school endeavor needs to be photographed. If one photographer is not sufficient, try to recruit several.

7. Make sure the staff takes responsibility for editing and proofing every page before it goes to the printer. If you are using computer software to create the yearbook, print out pages that are due and gather the staff to proof them. Make corrections immediately. In the end, your efforts will earn you kudos from students, faculty and staff for many years to come.