Making a magazine 2

Today is ad close for the January/February 2006 issue, and tomorrow is dummy day. After receiving a run list in the early afternoon of dummy day, I will create the editorial map for this issue and give a printout of it to the production coordinator, who will double-check that I didn’t overlook any ads. I also will give a copy to the art director.

He’ll also receive electronic roughdrafts of the articles, columns and departments. Before dummy day, I had placed the edited text and the scans of the photos into QuarkXPress documents, added captions and photo credits to accompany the photo scans, and proofread the roughdrafts.

I usually don’t receive the first layout until the day after dummy day. While the art director works on the first layout, I will edit the classified advertisements, return the proof to the classified coordinator and tie up loose editorial ends.

The production cycle for this issue is a little odd, in that I’ll not be here for two days. There’s always an element or twist during the production cycle that will keep me on my toes!

P.S. This morning, the cover commitee approved the design and blurbs for the Jan/Feb cover. With a few tweaks, it's ready to go. Yay!