New to Yearbooking? Start here.

So here we go. Your principal asked to chat about next year's schedule. They sang your praises, your students love you, you're organized, a self-starter, and barely send kids to their office, if ever. How would you feel about taking on the yearbook next year? Your heart shoves up into your throat. Yearbook? Somehow you can't say no, so you leave the principal's office with the official title of Yearbook Advisor and feeling a bit nauseous.

Where do I even start?

I got you. Here are the first five steps you can take to make sure you don't want to pull your hair out by Labor Day:

1. What's the Point? Before you even pursue this monstrosity, you need to get right with yourself. Whether you like it or not, you are now running this book. You can either hate it and complain about it 24/7 or you can make it in a wonderful opportunity for yourself and your students and just complain on the truly difficult days. You set the tone from the onset. Is it going to be another year of just throwing pictures on the page or are you going to attempt a fun space for you and your students? It's all up to you.

   
   

2. Get in Touch with Your Yearbook Plant Contact. Every school's yearbook has a publisher. Find out who yours is and contact your representative. Chances are, they already know you're filling the role. But reaching out first will help clear up any questions you may have on next steps.

   
   

3. Sales Dates & Prices. I wish I had done this sooner in both schools where I took on the role as yearbook advisor. After getting in touch with your yearbook representative from the plant, chat with them about the prices of your yearbook, copy count (how many books they print), selling ads, and the timeline for purchase. Get them to over-explain it to you, for real. One of the worst things you can do as a yearbook advisor is fail to understand a key component to where and how the money is moving through your program.

   
   

4. Pick Your Staff. If your principal really thinks you're all that and a bag of chips, then they should allow you to have say over who helps you run the yearbook. This is not a throwaway class. Advocate for yourself. This is another step I wish I had taken my first year in the role, but I didn't make the mistake twice, no ma'am. Chances are, you have a few kids in mind who might be a great fit. They might be creative, responsible, polite, timely, innovate, and a good writer. You don't need every student to have all the skills to build the book. Instead, you want students who have the qualities of someone who will show up when you need them and are willing to learn.

5. Set Up a Timeline & The Ladder. Forget theme. That's nothing compared to managing all of the moving parts of the yearbook. Figure out a rough timeline for yourself -- when are the due dates and how will you meet them? Then make your own due dates that aren't necessarily the ones with the plant has outlined for you. Then outline the ladder. If you know what pages will go where before you even start then it will feel a whole lot less overwhelming and you should be able to fill in photography and design needs more simply. Don't reinvent the wheel -- go back to old yearbooks. I split screened last year's yearbook and this year's to put in the ladder in place and whew, what a relief it was to know what was going on each page from the start.

Lastly, and this one may be the most important one of all, be kind to yourself. Take breaks. Go home and don't think about the book. Try to find little moments in creating this book that inspire you or make you feel the warm and fuzzies. Bring in your tea kettle, make a motivating playlist for the class, or create a snack drawer in your room to treat yourself. Guess what? You'll make mistakes. We all do. But it's really how we move forward from those mistakes that matter the most (cliche but true).

I'm here if you need me, friend. Reach out any time through my contact button with questions or concerns and I'll respond as soon as I can. After all, we are in this together.

Kind Regards,