How to Write a Checklist for Creating a School Yearbook

Every yearbook manager needs a checklist for creating a school yearbook – it’s one of the most important provisions for the whole project. As the first key task in the yearbook planning process, start writing a dynamic checklist that you can continuously edit and expand as needed. Checking off each item as your team members complete their varied assignments is a great way to stay organized and on top of deadlines. It’s also a satisfying measure of your team’s progress toward the goal of handing out amazing yearbooks that the students will treasure forever.

Every checklist for creating a school yearbook will include broadly similar line items, but customized for your unique project. A manager’s master checklist should cover all the essential big-picture tasks and deadlines. Each department in your yearbook team should also have its own checklist. Share your documents and collaborate on school yearbooks in real time to cover all bases and check every box on those lists with ease.

A yearbook manager’s master checklist

A yearbook manager should establish a “master checklist” covering all key tasks and deadlines for the entire project. Work with your Mixbook rep to establish the final deadline for placing an order. Many of these tasks will involve assigning roles to other team members, who should create their own checklists as well.

Here are some examples of items to include on a manager’s master checklist:

• Invite volunteers to join the yearbook committee
• Schedule committee meetings
• Establish the yearbook budget
• Get a price quote and connect with a Mixbook yearbook rep.
• Assign roles to team members to cover the following departments:
• Business and marketing
• Photography
• Editorial
• Design

• Train team members for their roles, if needed
• Create a content plan
• Establish a schedule and deadlines for:
• Asset gathering (photographs and written content)
• Design decisions (choosing a yearbook theme, color scheme etc.)
• Advertising sales (if applicable)
• First draft of the yearbook
• Proofreading and revisions
• Final draft approval
• Placing and paying for the order
• Yearbook sales
• Distribution of yearbooks

Remember, your master checklist is a dynamic document that you can, and should, update as various decisions are made about the yearbook. Make it a shareable document, for example using Google Docs, so your team can stay up to date with the changes. It’s also helpful to link items in the checklist to other documents, such as a calendar, full content plan, and each department’s own checklists.

Yearbook department checklists

Each department or subcommittee of the yearbook team will want to create their own checklists, while also being able to view the master checklist. The manager should collaborate with the other team members to make sure deadlines and goals are aligned across all the lists.

Photography checklist

The photography department is in charge of taking photos, optionally hiring a professional for portrait shots, gathering existing photos from various sources, organizing image files, and editing photos when necessary. Here is an example of a photography department checklist for creating a school yearbook:

• Schedule photography sessions for student, faculty and staff portraits
• Take candid photos around campus
• Schedule photo shoots at key events in the school’s academic/events/extracurricular calendar (and collaborate with the editorial department to pair photographers and reporters)
• Establish a system to organize and tag photos. (Tip: Google Photos is integrated into the Mixbook Studio™.)
• Audit the photo collection
• Delete low-quality images and duplicates
• Rank images as e.g. “must include” and “maybe include” or use a star/favorite system
• Organize images into subfolders aligned with the content plan e.g. subfolders for clubs, academics, school spirit, dances etc.
• Check for comprehensive, inclusive coverage of all students and content areas
• Edit photos if needed e.g. cropping, brightening, adding filters, in collaboration with the design department.

Editorial checklist

The editorial department’s checklist will align closely with the content plan. Some yearbooks include more written features than others, but all designs need editorial oversight of the cover page, page headers, and captions.

An editorial department checklist might look like this:

• Create an editorial style guide
• Assign reporters to cover key events in the school’s academic/events/extracurricular calendar (in collaboration with photographers)
• Write first drafts of all editorial content e.g. captions, articles, quotes, lists
• Submit content to be uploaded to the yearbook by the design team
• Edit and proofread all written content
• Final draft review

Design checklist

The design department oversees all the visual elements of the yearbook, making many decisions about the yearbook’s aesthetic, layout, typography, and more. The bulk of the design team’s tasks will be done after receiving submissions from the photography and editorial teams, so tight deadlines are key to getting it all done on time.

Here is an example of a design department checklist for creating a school yearbook:

• Choose a yearbook theme
• Use the various Mixbook Studio™ tools to customize:
• Layouts
• Backgrounds
• Text and text boxes
• Stickers
• Photo frames
• Photo effects and adjustments
• Upload and place images provided by the photography department
• Place text provided by the editorial department
• Add, remove and rearrange pages
• Check for design consistency and cohesiveness
• Final check for common mistakes e.g. blurry or misplaced images

Sales and marketing checklist

The sales and marketing department handles advertising sales (if your yearbook will have ads) and sales of the yearbook itself. Selling the yearbook is one of the later tasks in the process, whereas ad sales need to start early.

An ad sales department checklist might look like this:

• Establish advertisement size options and prices
• Create ad sales materials e.g. emails, flyers, order form
• Brainstorm sales leads e.g. local businesses, parents, and school associates
• Send out sales pitches
• Coordinate ad purchases with customers
• Coordinate ad design and submission deadlines
• Forward ad copy and creative assets to the design team

The marketing team will handle yearbook sales and use a checklist like this one:

• Establish a sales price for the yearbook
• Plan fundraisers, if needed
• Offer a reduced rate and deadline for pre-orders
• Set up an ordering and payment system
• Design promotions for yearbook sales via flyers, emails, the school newsletter etc.
• Arrange distribution of pre-ordered books
• Plan in-person sales events on campus
• Plan an optional end-of-year distribution and signing party for the school

Check “make checklist” off your checklist!

Whether it’s your first yearbook or you’re an experienced pro, making checklists is the best way to stay organized, keep everyone in your team on task, and feel confident that your final product will be fabulous!

If you’re ready to get started, make item no. 1 on your checklist “get a speedy price quote from Mixbook.” Visit the education page, fill out the quote request form, and a yearbook expert will be in touch within 24 hours.