There are three kinds of “over” for a yearbook advisor/creator each year. Each one seems like it’s the end, but it’s not truly over until all three “overs” have happened.
There’s the over that happens when the yearbook is submitted.
There’s the over when the yearbook arrives, and you finally get to see it in print.
And finally, there’s the moment the yearbooks are distributed—and that’s when it’s really over… for that year.
The first “over”—when you submit the yearbook—comes after weeks, maybe months, of stress and deadlines. You’ve been scrambling to get content, sorting and selecting photos, checking alignments and bleeds, reviewing indexes and page numbers, making sure names are spelled correctly and not cut off, cropping and arranging images, checking colors, fonts, and layouts.
And then… you click Submit and breathe.
You want to crawl under the blankets and sleep for a week.
But it’s not really over yet…
Next comes the waiting—for the books to arrive.
Once they’re delivered and in hand, you think, Now it’s over, but you still need to check every page.
Did you miss an error? Was there a printing issue?
You ask someone else to look too, because after seeing it a million times, your eyes might not catch a mistake.
Then comes the checklist:
Check your distribution list.
Confirm that the total number of books delivered matches the number you ordered.
Did you order extra books, or were there overruns?
Did you order special items or personalizations? Are they all there?
You’ve got your checklist ready, and however you plan to hand out the books, you’re set to go.
But… it’s still not really over yet.
Finally, the books are handed out.
But wait—now come the missing orders.
Parents think they ordered, but their name isn’t on the list. Can they produce a receipt?
Did someone end up with multiple books because a family member ordered a duplicate without knowing someone else had already ordered one? Can you buy back the duplicate and sell it to someone else?
Do you have a waiting list for extras?
How much should you charge for those?
Once you’ve worked through all of that and resolved the issues as best as you can…
You can finally take a deep breath.
Because now—it’s really over.
For this year.