Saturday, March 26, 2011

April Paper is Complete!

WHEW--the April paper is at the Wayne Herald, where it will be printed.

I had most of the articles done and to Jennifer on Wednesday, but I needed a little more time to complete my Editor's Letter. It's the last thing I do every month. I had the editor's letter and a few fillers (short articles to fill any extra space in the paper) by Thursday afternoon.

First thing Friday morning I checked my e-mail for the proof of the paper. It's always amazing to me to see all the articles I've gathered, together in newspaper form. When I send articles to Jennifer I indicate which page they should appear on (some can go wherever they fit) but she arranges them, chooses the font for the titles, and picks out pictures and graphics.

The proof is kind of confusing. Pull out a full sheet of a newspaper, and you'll see that the page numbers on the left side and the right side are not consecutive. Jennifer sends me the proof with the pages laid out like they'll be printed, so, for example, the back page and the front page are on the same computer screen.

I enjoy seeing how all of the articles come together. I proofread the titles and the articles I've written, and make sure that longer articles are continued on the page indicated. I also check to make sure all the advertisements that should appear, are in the paper. Once in awhile I ask Jennifer to find a different graphic, if the one she used isn't what I had in mind. (Last time I did that she said she hadn't been happy with the graphic either, so we both looked for one we liked better).

It's great to work with Jennifer--we've worked together long enough that she knows how I like things set up, and she's always willing to make any changes I ask. She also remembers all the details like making sure the Volume and Issue number are changed each month.

If there are corrections, I e-mail Jennifer and she makes them, e-mails the corrected proof back, and, if there are no more corrections, I give her the "OK" to send the paper to the printer. I'm a perfectionist, so check everything on the proof several times. I know that once I give the "OK" to send the proof to the printer, no more changes can be made! (Once in awhile, when I read the printed paper, I find an error I missed during proof reading...but I'm not going to tell you what mistake I missed or what issue it's in!)

Once I give the OK to send the paper to the printer, I breathe a big sigh of relief---and start to clear off my desk, which is usually buried under a pile of papers by the time I finish the paper!