Bidding the yearbook and other publications

Bidding Yearbook the

Whether it’s for the yearbook or any other publication, getting a bid from a printer requires planning

Newsp

Football program

By MaryKay Downes and Lizabeth Walsh

Literary

Getting an estimate on the cost of printing a yearbook, football program, newspaper or any other publication is an arduous process. It requires significant planning and attention to detail. It also requires an analysis of what those working on the publication value, everything from the company’s record for on-time delivery to quality to service.

Sometimes instructors have no choice about whether or not to bid. In some districts, any print job costing more than a certain amount must be bid. Experienced advisers know that what is proposed in a bid provides contractual clout to their working relationship with a particular company. Regardless of whether the district requires bidding the publication, no one should be timid about bidding and all instructors should be informed and should relish the bid experience.

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Working on cropping photos, Claude Saleeby, a Jostens representative in Spartanburg, S.C. assists Nika Mattress at Westside High School in Anderson, S.C.

paper

y magazine

Whether you bid a print job depends largely on policy and how much you enjoy the working relationship you have with your company and with your representative, as well as how well you are keeping informed about ad­vancements in the field. If you regularly attend conventions and get an opportunity to speak with different reps, and if you visit company Web sites, you will pretty much be “in the know” about what each company offers.

Certainly, if you have any questions about prices or options, you owe it to your program and target audience to investigate what is out there. The bid process is one way to accomplish the mission.

At the very least, a bid includes three things: a request for bid letter, publication specifications and an explanation of what criteria you used to make the final decision.

Advisers should weigh the advantages and disadvantages of having a professional “dog and pony show” presentation for their club or class. Often these presentations can be full of smoke and mirrors, designed to wow and bedazzle the inexperienced adviser, the clueless administrator and a class of first-year staffers. In addition, advisers should be honest with company representatives and tell them up front if they have no chance of winning the bid.

Are you teaching ethical decision making by inviting vendors in to promise the moon when you and your staff may not even be considering a switch?

Becky Lucas of Shawnee Mission North High School in Kansas however, said she likes to get her staff members involved in the process.

“As part of my bid, the sales representatives must give a presentation to each of my yearbook classes,” Lucas said.

“After bids are opened, the sales representatives have a two-week window of opportunity to speak to my classes.

Prior to their arrival I copy each bid using a different color for each company and then pass them out to my classes.

We discuss the bids — and you’d be surprised how carefully the students scrutinize the bid prices. The staff knows how much money they can spend — and they want the best bargain for the best quality. Sometimes they’ve found that the lowest bid isn’t the best quality.

Also, the kids ask much stronger, straight-to-the heart questions of the sales reps.

“And, once the presentations are over, we have ice cream sundaes and discuss who we think is the best company to do business with.”

Overview

Draft a one-page letter to provide your publication’s basics. Send it to a minimum of three vendors with the detailed specifications for the publication and specifics about what services you value. In this request for bid letter (RFB), insist that the vendor provide a specific price for each and every basic requirement and enhancement you have requested.

Basics include number of pages, paper weight, number of color pages, type of cover and number of copies.

Add an addendum for extra cost items that you know you want, such as unlimited close registration, spot color, duotones, number of colors on cover, photos on cover,

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Communication: Journalism Education Today • 13

From Becky Lucas

The bid itself can take a variety of forms, but for most advisers, it’s a fill-in-theblank form with some open-ended questions. At the very least, it includes specifications for the “base bid” and extras the staff knows it will use.

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extra weight end sheets, special fly sheets, news supplements and gate-folds.

Give the vendors adequate time to prepare the bid, at least two to three weeks.

When you receive the written bids, go over them with a fine-toothed comb. Look for any hidden charges.

Sometimes, the bids come in a fancy package but have little substance. Remember that the lowest bid is not necessarily the best bid.

Write up a one-page explanation of your final decision, particularly if it is not the lowest bid, and send it to all companies submitting a bid. Help them learn from the experience but stress that your decision is final.

Factors

When analyzing the bids, there are four factors to keep in mind: service from the company and the local rep, education for you and your staff, cost of the base book and extras as well as anything else you may want from your yearbook company.

Service

Both the company and the local representative should

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be able to offer a service schedule. Service levels will vary based on the experience level of the adviser. Novice advisers will need more support and instruction, but experienced advisers will require less. The key is to choose a rep with whom you feel comfortable, because he or she will be the person you have to count on in a crunch time. Ask each representative which other schools in your area they do business with. Call advisers at those schools for their personal recommendations and input. Knowing that a rep services other schools in your area also helps you determine if that rep will have cause to be in your area enough to service your account properly. Reps rarely find it economical to travel 300 miles to service one school.

“Before I became a high-school teacher, I held a variety of jobs, from building bulldozers to being a professional chef to managing fast-food restaurants,” said Timm Pilcher, publications adviser at Hoover High School in Des Moines, Iowa. “Just before I went back to college at 32 to finish my journalism degree and teaching certificate simultaneously, I raced bicycles and managed a retail bike shop, selling name brands and custom bicycles. We were not the cheapest shop in town, nor the largest. We were, however, the busiest shop in town with the largest yearly sales. Why? Customer service. You can buy a product Summer 2002

Spec Sheet for 2002 Odyssey Copies: 2000 Pages: 448 Ship date: May 28, 2000 Cover: Custom embossed, 160 pt. binder’s board, choice of material, one Pantone silkscreen color, one standard foil and choice of grain applied over front lid, spine, and back lid.

Please indicate the cost and deadline for name stamps. Does your company offer nameplates? If so, please describe the options available and the associated costs.

List types of cover materials and any potential additional costs.

Are your cover materials available on CD-ROM and diskette so that we can see potential color combinations in sample designs BEFORE the mock-up is created? Do you offer a design clinic in this county for covers and endsheets where we can work with artists BEFORE summer?

Binding: Smythe sewn, rounded & backed with reinforced backing.

End sheets: Choice of colored 100# paper stock. School designed, printed in one standard Pantone ink, different design front and back.

List the types of end sheet stock available (including recycled) and any potential costs.

Paper: Choice of at least 100# gloss, semi-gloss, or matte finishes, mixed by signature throughout the book.

Photography: Include unlimited photos per page, including panel portraits.

Include unlimited bleeds. All candid photos should be individually scanned and screened according to density. Please supply verification. All enlargements of black-and-white photos and artwork will be performed by the printer. Printer will also be responsible for trimming, mounting, and separation of four-color photos.

 From Lisa Morris  From Mary Kay Downes

anywhere that will be virtually identical to any other similar product What distinguishes one from the other is the level of service, and personal taste. All (companies) produce quality yearbooks even though many will argue, ‘Mine’s better.’ What sets them apart is the very personal relationship that one establishes with the rep. What makes a good rep? It’s personal.”

For a newer adviser, a rep may visit the school weekly or twice-monthly. Reps should give you time to ask questions, to clarify instructions, to come up with ideas, and to get your staff trained properly. The rep should be someone who makes you feel like he either knows everything about the yearbook process or can get the information to you in a timely fashion. Your rep should be able to provide you with teaching tools, lesson plans or at least ideas for your class or staff. Your rep should be able to either help you teach the basics of page production and procedures, or provide someone to teach them to you and your staff.

For an adviser who has experience, the schedule may vary from every other week to once a deadline. Even an experienced adviser has new things to learn, and it’s the job of the rep to help. Reps visit more often in the fall for spring delivery books and less often once the book is Summer 2002

complete. But they should also be there to help with the planning of next year’s book. Expect your reps to have either a pager or cellular phone so you can get in touch with them in a crisis.

A great rep becomes a part of a team to help produce a book of high journalistic quality. Reps check and recheck details both in the plant and on proofs to prevent problems. They alert you to any bad news regarding delivery delays, missing pictures or unprintable pages immediately.

They keep you aware of cost changes so you will not be surprised by the final bill.

Lynn Pickett, former yearbook adviser and now a Herff-Jones Yearbook Specialist, said, “Reps tend to influence choices that advisers make and not only in choosing companies. Therefore, reps need to be incredibly honest.

Since there is a bond of trust that usually develops between an adviser and a rep, the rep needs to keep the best interest of that adviser as a high priority.”

In addition, Pickett said, the rep needs to have a clear understanding and appreciation for the goals of the program especially in a rapidly changing environment.

“Advisers should look for reps who continually update their own skills to accommodate the constant changes in continued on page 16

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Asking a question, Jostens representative Mike Conlon works with the Cohiscan senior sports editor Nancy Hinds at Connersville High School.

Conlon said being a yearbook company representative kept him “young at heart.”

publishing styles and advances in technology. That doesn’t mean that advisers have to use the latest information, but they should be confident that the information is available from their reps if needed,” she said.

Karen Hinck, adviser at Lompoc High School in California said she never bids her book largely due to her loyalty to her company representative.

“My greatest allegiance is to my representative,” she said. “He comes at all deadlines and when needed. He helps train our staff. He provides us every opportunity to go to camp. He is here for us at all times.”

Susan Massy, adviser of The Lair at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Kansas, said the most important factor for a positive relationship with a company representative is trust.

“We can trust that he will always tell us the truth and that he takes as much pride in our book as we do,” Massey said. “We see our rep as another member of our staff. He likes seeing himself in that role, and we certainly appreciate that. Yes, the business stuff does sometimes get in the way, but that’s another area where we trust him to do the right thing. Plus, he is willing to work directly with my students. He and they have set up quite an e-mail contact system. Every­one copies everything to me to keep me updated. Problems are dealt with quickly, and questions are rapidly and accurately answered.

It’s great.”

Service doesn’t end with the representative. The company you select should offer ease of production. If you already know how to use one desktop publishing program but have to purchase and learn an entirely new program simply to work with that company, it may not be worth your while to choose that publisher. Companies have many options using proprietary software, off-the-shelf desktop publishing software or paste-up production so choose the company that best fits your knowledge and abilities. Most companies assign each school an in-plan representative, another person that should be available via telephone or e-mail to answer your questions. You should be able to check on where your pages are in the plant and how far along your book is in production. Some companies allow you to do this on the Internet. All printing companies love to show off their facilities and offer tours of the plant facilities.

Education

Education for you and for your staff is an important factor in choosing a company and rep. Some companies continued on page 18

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Com the

R

the local compan the real differences

A good rep keeps in phone contact, does not bother us with unnecessary visits, and makes a point of learning the names of staff members, making the students feel important Bob Bair, adviser, Tattler, Blair HS, Blair, Nebr.

He’s our friend and counselor. He comes to see us regularly, calls often, brings candy or popcorn when he comes — and it is obvious that he cares about all of us.

Patti Simon, adviser Carillon, Bellaire HS, Bellaire, Texas My customer service rep and sales rep have a way of making me feel like I am their only customer. Details are taken care of promptly, and there is a definite sense of confidence and trust. Our rep knows the students’ names and takes an interest in their lives outside of yearbook. She has come to see them in plays and discusses their college choices with them. There is a sense that she cares about them not only on a business level, but on a personal level as well. I appreciate the prompt action/response on yearbook problems.

We are basically a low-maintenance school (by our choice), but it is nice to know that if there is a need, it will be dealt with immediately.

Crystal Kazmierksi, adviser Wings, Arrowhead Christian Academy, Redlands, Callif.

Our yearbook rep, Brian Hawthorne sits with us through every deadline, checking everything, answering questions and dealing very directly with each editor. (I have 30 editors and a high-tech graphic book of 320 pages with a 48-page supplement that comes out during the summer.) Brian

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mpany

By Lisa Morris

Vicky Wolfe, a Herff Jones Yearbooks representative, works with students at Chantilly High School in Virginia.

Representative

ny reps are the ones who make ces. But what makes a good rep?

stays until everything is finished—even if it is midnight. The kids love him and accept him so I wouldn’t change companies for the world. He knows each one of my editors by name, and he knows how they work. He pitches in and helps out immediately, answers their technical and creative questions and has dinner with us as part of the gang. Most of all, I feel he is honest. Because I trust him and the kids trust him, we believe we are getting the fairest deal for what we produce. I think the rep sells the company.

Sue Berescik, adviser Trillium, Trumbull HS , Trumbull, Conn.

A good rep helps us with technical problems, comes up with ideas that we hadn’t thought of and works directly with the students. She is not afraid of the kids.

She is complimentary toward them. She helps me keep yearbook in perspective, and she brings cookies.

Joan Williams, adviser Tiger’s Paw, Jones HS , Orlando, Fla. A good rep communicates with us regularly, is really genuine about helping us and works with us, not against us.

Cindy Berry, adviser The Crag, Decatur HS, Decatur, Texas Switching to a new company brings with it many questions. Some of these questions I know and some of them I don’t. I have a rep. who answers both the questions I have and the questions I don’t even know to ask.

Julie Barker, adviser El Doradoan, El Dorado HS, El Dorado, Kan. It is imperative that you like your rep and know he or she is a person of his or her

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word. Yearbook advising is stressful enough without any added problems with a rep.

Marilyn Scoggins, adviser Hooker HS, Hooker, Okla.

My phone calls are returned quickly with all the information that I need. The rep is knowledgeable on all products and services and is able to seek out those that are best for my staff and situation. The rep has an excellent relationship with plant personnel and is able to be a liaison for concerns. The rep stays on top of current trends, knows the press organizations and supports them. For example, today we received four dozen cookies for being nominated for a Crown from CSPA. The kids loved it.

Lori Oglesbee, adviser The Lion, McKinney HS, McKinney, Texas With a good rep there is mutual respect for quality scholastic yearbook production and the willingness to work together for that quality. He is able to offer constructive criticism that improves the student designs — often just simple tweaking. He will call back with ideas after a meeting, and he has had time to think about one of our problems. He returns calls promptly, meets us when needed and gets us the help we need.

Gloria Olman, adviser Warrior, Utica HS, Utica, Mich.

who truly thinks you are the customer and are deserving of respect and assistance. A good rep listens and finds answers, tries to get us the best price and extras and makes sure things are going as planned in the plant.

Judy Babb, adviser Rotunda, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas My representative recognizes the uniqueness of our school program. She supports the educational goals I make for the staff and provides any support that I need. We have a unique relationship in that she checks in with me once in a while to see if I need anything, but is always there should I need help or have a problem.

While she respects my concern in the course being educational experiences, she keeps me grounded that it should also be fun, not just for the students, but for the adviser as well. She is always accessible and has built a support team to help solve problems. She believes in making the yearbook an educational opportunity for both students and teachers. She is able to size up the adviser and staff and help them make decisions that are both best and unique to their school. She avoids cookie cutter books.

Susan Thornton, adviser Talon, Silverado HS, Las Vegas, Nev.

The relationship with a rep should be based on honesty and trust. You’ve got to have someone you can trust to do what he says he will do, who will follow through with promises, who will fight bureaucracy, who will tell you the truth, who you know isn’t sliding in extra costs,

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Questions A bid goes beyond the money.

When entering into the bidding process, compile questions for the sales reps to address.

Students raised the following questions in a Ball State University J395 Methods and Materials class that Mark Herron, Ball State’s director of secondary education services, ­ taught.

Why should I go with your company over other companies?

How many schools do you service?

How often can we expect to see you?

What do you consider your busiest time of year?

What is the most inexpensive way for us to produce a book?

What is your proof turn around time?

Do you have a flexible deadline schedule?

How long after final pages are submitted will it be until we receive the book?

If we miss our final deadline, can we still get our book on time?

How often are you available to do training with my students?

How much technology production assistance can you provide — digital files?

What file formats will you accept for printing purposes?

What type of pricing breaks do you give for technology/digital/camera ready?

What templates/predesigns do you provide, and how often are they updated?

What do you see as the latest trends, and can you teach sessions on these?

If we miss a color deadline, what are the penalties?

What are your payment options?

What kind of contract do you sign?

Are there any discounts for multiyear deals?

I am interested in purchasing computer hardware and software through your company. What offers do you have?

I need help recruiting new staff members. How can you help?

We need help with ad sales. How can you help?

Matt Rutch, a Jostens representative, assists students at Westmore High School in Oklahoma City.

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have gone so far as to create entire curriculum guides for yearbook classes, complete with worksheets and tests. Others can offer general assistance in creating lessons and lesson planning. What your company and rep should do is continually offer assistance in furthering your education in the latest trends in desktop publishing, graphic design, copy writing, captioning, interviewing, photography, ad sales and the use of programs such as PageMaker, Photoshop, Quark and InDesign.

If you are new to advising and are unfamiliar with desktop publishing, your rep should be able to help you learn at least the basics of the programs you will be using and should also help you teach your staff. Handouts, shortcuts, posters and other materials will help you get through production your first year. They will be great reminders if posted around your production room. Include in your request for bid an area that allows the rep to describe, in detail, what procedures they would use to service a school and support an adviser.

Make it clear that this is totally separate from “company support” items and this is specifically relating to the rep’s skills and experience.

One area in which the rep can be of specific help is helping to find an appropriate summer workshop for the adviser and staff. Every summer, there are literally hundreds of yearbook workshops around

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the country. Whether your rep runs a camp or can help you get registered for one in your area, this could be a consideration. Some companies offer scholarships for camps that will help get your staff ready for the fall production. Just like football players who attend two-a-days or band members who attend band camp, a summer workshop is a key factor in the success of many publications because the camp can help your staff be prepared weeks, even months in advance.

Sometimes, reps can bring in experts from their company or free-lancers in your area to help with educational needs. Ask your rep what he can do to help get students in touch with the real world of publications.

Cost

While it can be okay to buy cheap products, sometimes paying a little extra is well worth it in the long run. Companies and reps that offer low prices to get the accounts can become like anyone else who feels they should have charged more for the services they are providing. It doesn’t take long for a person to begin to feel resentful. If the person on either side of the deal feels forced or tricked into a situation, the working relationship can disintegrate quickly. However, sometimes reps have good reasons for “low-balling”—particularly if they’re new to the area and are trying to establish business. Generally, this Summer 2002

decrease in cost comes out of the rep’s commission and will not result in any lowerquality service. In fact, a new rep with few accounts, while inexperienced, may be willing and able to spend extra time with your staff.

Bids should be competitive but not extremely high or low when compared to the other companies also making bids on the same set of specifications. No single company is so great that it can produce the same quality as everyone else for thousands less than everyone else. Production costs what it costs, and good service can be worth a lot more than taking the lowest bid. So, if one bid is much higher or lower than the other bids, do some investigation to find out why.

Mike Taylor, a former yearbook adviser and now marketing manager with Taylor Publishing in Dallas, said, “It’s always good to include a statement in the bid that the decision won’t necessarily be based on price. An adviser doesn’t want to get into a situation where they’re forced to go with a person or company they don’t like just because they’ve ‘lowballed’ to get the business.”

Sample wording, to be included in the request for bid, says something to the effect of, “(Name of publication or school) will make its selection based on the ‘lowest and best’ bid. Decision will not be made on price alone. Price is one factor for consideration, along with service, experience, reputation and reliability of the representative.”

When investigating the specifics, ask about cost extras such as customized covers, special endsheets, high-quality paper, hourly artwork charges at the plant, changes made to photos and copy on proofs, second proofs, foils, special inks, special photo treatments, inserts, tip-ins, embossing, and anything else you may want special for your book. If you are thinking about having a fold-out section tipped into your book, put that on the bid and be specific about what portions are in color. (As with all printing, having color on only one side will be cheaper than printing color on both sides because of the printing process used to create the tip-in.) It is important to compare apples to apples. If you have a bid sheet that is specific and fill-in-theblank, reps have to compete against each other on an even footing (financially, at least), which makes your comparisons that much easier.

Lessons learned Advisers share advice on bidding publications

Be specific in what you want. Be pushy about what you want, but know that often, the particular price information will change as your book’s needs change. Don’t assume that the bid price of, say, $45,000, is locked in. If your students change cover types, pages, color, miss deadlines, it will change. Just get that info up front at the beginning of each year.

Carol Singletary, adviser Plainsman, Clovis HS, Clovis, N.M. Make sure what you want is clearly defined in the bid. Make sure you are on the committee that helps select the publishing company.

Make sure you’ve done background research on each company before the presentations Sue Blackmon, adviser Evergreen, Klein Forest HS, Houston, Texas Expectations must be specifically spelled out. The cheapest price isn’t always the best price. Nothing is ever free.

Lori Oglesbee, adviser The Lion, McKinney HS, McKinney, Texas Be specific in your information requests. Think ahead to hidden costs. Don’t be impressed by bells and whistles.

Gloria Olman, adviser Warrior, Utica HS, Utica, Mich.

The bottom line of the cost is not the most important element of choosing a publisher Some companies do a beautiful job on their proposal and then they get “scarce.”

Joan Williams, adviser Tiger’s Paw, Jones HS , Orlando, Fla. Make sure you are comparing equal items. The concept of a total price without breaking out individual items doesn’t work. Anyone can promise anything. Make sure the company delivers, obtain references.

The bottom price may not be the best one.

Judy Babb, adviser Rotunda, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas Be sure you’re comparing apples to apples. Be very specific in what you ask for, and ask lots of questions.

Cindy Berry, adviser The Crag, Decatur HS, Decatur, Texas Stability and continuity of the reps are important. Many states have one or two strong companies with the remainder changing reps every year or so. It seems there is little real difference among the companies other than a few bells and whistles Bob Bair, adviser, Tattler, Blair HS, Blair, Nebr.

Get it in writing. Watch for promises that sound too good to be true.

Ask and check references. Call other advisers who have used the publisher in the past, and be sure to call the ones who are not on the representative’s recommendation lists. Get an all-around honest picture of the goods and the bads.

Susan Thornton, adviser Talon, Silverado HS, Las Vegas, Nev.

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Taylor Publishing Company Representative Marcia MeskielMacy works with students at Western High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Dan Cox, the adviser, says students there produce a 468-page book, the Calibre.

In San Antonio, Texas, Kathi Hopkins of Taylor Publishing, works with junior Tarrah Chambliss at MacArthur High School. According to publications adviser Pat Gathright, Hopkins, who has a degree in corporate journalism, also judges local contests and helps students prepare for competitive events.

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Anything else

If you want to get involved in national, state or local organizations and don’t know who to contact, ask the rep. If feel you are ready to begin speaking at camps, but aren’t sure how to get your foot in the door, ask your rep about getting you in. If you want to be published and have a good idea for a yearbook-related article, ask your rep to put you in touch with his company’s monthly or quarterly newsletter for its customers. If you need a computer expert to hook up your local network of computers in the yearbook room, ask the rep to bring in someone (free to you) as a part of the contract. If your school needs financial assistance in purchasing yearbook computers, printers and other technical equipment, ask the rep to include information about special purchasing programs. If you want to network with other area yearbook advisers, ask the rep to help put you in touch. Some reps also sponsor an area dinner, for advisers only, which is a great time to network.

Remember, once you have made your decision, other companies are still likely to stop by from time to time to solicit possible future business. They may drop off sample books, newsletters, candy for the

Tops

Advisers rate top influences

Top influences on company choice (in order of importance according to the advisers surveyed) • The local sales rep • Customer service and support • Cost • The company’s service record • Quality of printing • The number of books that the rep is handling in the area • Willingness to solve problems • Supplementary materials

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staffers and other goodies. These are marketing tools, and accepting them does not make you a bad person. If a rep from another company offers to help you teach a class, train your staff, or do any other of a million things, you may accept their offer, but do it under the condition that the individual understands this offer is being accepted at face value. You are not implying or inferring any intent to use the company’s services the next time the book is bid. Don’t feel that accepting an offer of help is necessarily being disloyal to your current company. To be fair, you should ask your current rep for the same service.

Let the rep know that other companies are offering this service, and you’d like to know if your company offers it as well.

Give your company a chance to do its best.

Finally, if your company’s best is not good enough, or if you’re unsure of your options, go through the bidding process. If you are satisfied with your current company, let the other company reps in the area know that you will not be accepting bids for another few years and that you will contact them when the time is right.

It’ll save both of you time and frustration.

And saving time and avoiding frustration is what getting a bid is all about. ■ Summer 2002

Terminology

By Betsy Kay Ahlersmeyer

Knowing the vocabulary helps you talk the talk

COLOR Color is a costly portion of any printed piece, and knowing how to use that color most effectively can enhance your product and save money in the long run. Yearbooks are printed in 16-page groups called signatures. A signature is composed of one large sheet of paper.

Each side of this sheet of paper is called a flat.

Eight pages are printed on one side and eight pages are printed on the other. The catch is the combination of pages that appear on each side. One side will have pages 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13 and 16 and the other will have pages 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14 and 15. Various color options are priced by the flat or by the signature.

To render all of the different colors we see in a color photograph, the printer must apply mixturees of cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black inks (CMYK) to the paper. So each four-color page requires four negatives, four plates and four different areas of the press – in perfect alignment. In essence, that one sheet of paper must go through the press eight times to have all 16 pages printed in color.

The registration of those eight passes through the press must be perfect. Registration is the printing term used to describe this careful alignment of each of the color plates. If you want to see an example of poorly registered color plates, just take a careful look at the color comics in your Sunday newspaper.

Often, the color bleeds outside of the black lines making you want to run for those reading glasses to put Charlie Brown in focus. You certainly don’t want that effect on your senior’s portraits.

Printing one element in color means you can print other elements on the same flat with no additional press time even though the flat may require additional negatives and plates. If the photos are printed in color, you should be able to print text in any shade of the rainbow on a process color page. Various percentages of these inks can to used to create any color. For example, a combination of 50 percent magenta and 50 percent yellow will give you an intense shade of orange. Add a little black, and you create a rust color. Some companies limit your choices of these process color mixes.

Spot color is a single color of ink generally applied to a localized area of the page. Each spot color (in addition to black) requires an additional page negative, plate and must be run on a separate area of the press. Your publishing company will provide you with your color choices.

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Color deadlines also come into play in the bidding process. The earlier you submit your color pages, the cheaper those pages become.

Missing those deadlines incurs a cost penalty.

Make sure your bid reflects what you need for color deadlines. If your staff insists that prom and graduation appear in color, you are looking at later color deadlines and probably costlier pages. Most publishing companies offer combination deals that combine number of color pages and various deadlines.

Careful placement of your color pages within a signature becomes a factor if you plan to purchase a flat of color. Only those pages on that side will have color. Because, in a color signature, the first page is a right-hand page and the last page is a left-hand page, the pages in adjacent signatures, if in black only, can create some awkward designs with only half of the spread in color.

CONSTRUCTION A yearbook is made up of several signatures attached to a cover. The method generally specified for this process is called Smyth Sewn.

Smyth sewing is the method used to assemble high-quality books. It is durable and involves actually sewing the signatures together. These sewn edges are then glued to a backing and attached to the cover. An alternative to this process involves using only glue and inferior materials. These books do not last very long.

Endsheets are part of the assembly process and help hold the signatures to the cover.

Endsheets are heavier paper that appears between the cover and the rest of the book.

Most companies have standard endsheets included in a base bid. Fancy papers, such as paper that is preprinted with some kind of design, cost more, as do heavier papers or those with a metallic finish. You may choose to have your own design printed on the endsheets.

PAPER Paper is chosen based on weight. That weight is determined by how much 500 sheets, or a ream, weighs. Typical copier paper weighs 20 pounds for 500 sheets. Typical paper for a yearbook is 80-pound paper. Heavier paper will increase costs. Some publishers offer a program that if you choose 80-pound, glossy paper early they can offer a better price because they in turn can purchase in advance in bulk. Most schools prefer glossy paper because it offers the best reproduction for

photos and text. Other finishes, such as matte, may reduce the clarity. Matte, uncoated papers are thicker and small schools often ­prefer them because they make the book feel thicker.

Sometimes, a light ivory or gray paper is also available for the same base price, but generally any choice that is different will cost more.

COVERS Covers can be another place where money can slip through your fingers. The bid specifications should include a reference to the weight of the cardboard base around which the actual cover material is wrapped. A typical board is 120-160 point binders board, a reference to the thickness of the material. Most companies call any printing on the cover an application.

Each application carries its own price.

• Lithograph: a four-color photo or artwork is pasted to the binder’s board and then covered with a shiny or matte plastic lamination material.

• Silkscreen: opaque ink is applied using a silkscreen process; colors are limited; each ink color is an additional application.

• Hot foil stamped: metallic foil colored ink is baked on; will wear off a little over time; often used to personalize each book.

• Quarter bound: base material over only a portion of the book; can cover anywhere from 1/4 to 3/4 of the front; another material is chosen for the remainder of the cover; this second material is an additional charge.

• Deboss/emboss: raises the surface of the cover; there is a charge for school-created designs; there is an initial charge for creating the die that stamps the cover; plant created dies generally do not require the set-up charge.

• Tip-on: actual photos are made into stickers that are applied to the cover; requires a deboss process to create a place for the photo.

• Grain: the leather-like fabric covering the binder’s board is smooth; a texture can be applied to this fabric in an astounding array of styles; there is an additional charge for grain.

• Rub: Ink can be rubbed, usually by hand, onto the cover, filling the valleys of the grain and giving the cover an antique appearance

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