Adviser Takeover: I didn’t know that I didn’t know. This blog post was submitted and written by a fellow yearbooker. How organizing your files can transform your yearbook staff Joining yearbook feels a lot like jumping onto a moving freight train while trying to drink from a water hose. The moment you arrive at YearbookPalooza, the clock is running! And information is flying all around you. I find one of the biggest challenges in Yearbook is organizing all the information. This moment never becomes more real than when the administration asks for a photo to include in a social media post. Yo ..read more

STAFFER TAKE OVER: eDesign Sticky Notes Make Editing Easy  This blog post was submitted and written by a fellow yearbooker.   As someone who cares a lot for the design and quality of each spread we make, the process of getting spreads to send off can be tricky. When I first started as an editor, over 75% of the staff were new. As a returner, it was my job to teach them how to fall in love with the book. One of my favorite things was to write captions and design spreads. As editor, I was dedicated to teaching my staff the art of yearbook design and copywriting. However, I ofte ..read more

ADVISER TAKEOVER: How to Involve Your School Community in YBK Sales This blog post was submitted and written by a fellow yearbooker.  Yearbooks may be the only permanent record of the school year, but they’re not just on paper anymore. A social media presence has become a necessary component to engaging students and selling yearbooks, especially during the fall before prices increase. It was during this time that the Book Sales Blitz brought out a sense of competition on a larger scale. Every school wants to have the most creative social media posts and be featured on the @HJYearbook s ..read more

Lyons Township High School Staffer Takeover: Make it. Love it. Sell it. This blog post was submitted and written by a fellow yearbooker. As a yearbook staff, we love our yearbook. We take pride, feel joy, and shed lots and lots of tears at the collection of stories we’ve helped to create. We feel the amazing feeling of taking the book out of the box for the first time and smelling that beautiful new yearbook smell. However, it can be hard to get others to see the worth we see in it and appreciate it as much as we do. We know the ins and the outs of a yearbook. We know the messages, the m ..read more

Photo Credits: Jamie Silver STAFFER TAKEOVER: Take Your YBK Productivity to a New Level This blog post was submitted and written by a fellow yearbooker.  Almost all yearbookers would agree that meeting deadlines is an essential part of success. Deadlines can be tricky, especially when you’re working with a lot of material in a little time. Deadlines can be easier said than done, and we’ve all experienced the feeling of being overwhelmed by work. Here are a few tips — from a yearbooker at Foothill High School — to make meeting deadlines a little easier. 1. Utilize your time  ..read more

Eight Essentials for Contests and Critiques One more thing As if you need another thing to consider as an adviser … Well, here’s one more. Yearbook contests. You should enter them! They’re great validation for you and your staffers. Entering contests and critiques is how you fine-tune your game and get better at yearbooking. We know for some of you, it may be too late to go back and fix all of these items, and that’s fine. Just bookmark this post and make sure to pull it back up as you start your next book. There are lots of boxes to check to make sure your book stays in contention. Some of ..read more

EVEN MORE NEW FEATURES IN eDESIGN! Herff Jones is working hard to bring you the best of the best in yearbook technology. eDesign is always getting new and improved updates to keep your book designing process second to none. This is part two to the updates we have released in 2023-24. Click here to read part one. In addition to a variety of tweaks, here are some of the more noticeable changes we have made in eDesign recently.  So Many New Changes! “Jump To” Pages Quicker. It’s easier than ever to find topics applied to your pages when searching for your assignment when using the “Jum ..read more

Lancaster Catholic HS Tips for Picking a Yearbook Theme Your yearbook theme is one of the biggest decisions you will make as a staff. Theme is the invisible string tying everything together. It is a cohesive package that yearbookers use to tell the story of the entire school year. GATHERING THEME IDEAS  So, where do you start? Picking your theme can be a daunting task. You want to successfully represent your student body and tell their stories with a theme that can all be summed up into a few words, colors and fonts. Here are a few things to consider to guide your theme selection ..read more

LLT Academy Tampa What to do with Overrun Copies What are Overruns? Overruns are extra yearbooks you may receive on delivery day. During our printing process, we are extra careful to make sure you get the amount of high-quality books you ordered. Our friends at KC usually print extras to make sure you have plenty of copies and that every book you receive is top-notch. We save a few for our own libraries, and then we send extras — if available — to you so you can profit from selling them. So, what can you do with your overruns? And how can you sell them to put a little extra cash in your ye ..read more

Join the Best of the Best in “Portfolio” How to Submit your Book Portfolio is your go-to guide for innovation and inspiration. It is meant as a resource for you to pull fresh ideas and find new yearbook trends. And, the best part is you have a chance to be featured. Portfolio is compiled from books submitted directly to us for evaluation. (The latest version of Portfolio featuring 2022 books will be released soon!) Follow these steps for your chance to join the collection of great yearbooks in Portfolio 29. Submit the form here Find your HJ YBK Kit and put aside the goodies from inside. Yo ..read more