The work of the editorial office is a complex mechanism in which everything must function without interruption. One small mistake or delay - and the issue of a newspaper or magazine may not come out on time. To avoid various unpleasant and unforeseen situations, an editorial schedule or plan is needed. Schedules are different - for one number, for a week, quarter, month, year.
Instructions
Step 1
Let's say you need to draw up an editorial plan for the delivery of the next issue of the magazine. Let's say you are the production editor of a specialized monthly magazine for store owners. You have one month in stock for prepress. First of all, you need to define the theme of the issue. For example, it will be relevant now to talk with entrepreneurs about the specifics of summer trade.
Step 2
Further, it is necessary, within the framework of the chosen topic of the issue, to paint in more detail what articles and advertising modules will be placed in the magazine. Draw a table: in the first column, write down page by page all the spreads of the publication, in the second - the heading and topics of articles and advertising modules, in the third - the name of the author preparing the material, in the fourth - the volume of the article.
Step 3
Then decide by what time each material should be prepared. This can also be noted in the generated table. Do not forget that it will take time for journalists to prepare materials to collect textures, conduct interviews, write texts. And for the magazine to get to the printing shop on time, it will also take time for other, no less important, editorial staff to work. Consider these points when scheduling.
Step 4
Also in the editorial plan, it is necessary to note the terms of work of layout designers, proofreaders and other specialists working on the creation of the issue. For convenience, you can make another table. In it, mark the terms that will be required for the proofreading of the texts by the editor, page layout, the work of the proofreader. Leave a day or two in stock to correct the errors found by the proofreader and reconcile the corrections. It will also take time for the editor-in-chief to approve the issue.
Step 5
Do not forget to familiarize the editorial team with the schedule and terms of work. Each of the employees should know when they need to prepare material, proofread texts or make up pages. It is important that this plan is in front of the eyes of all professionals during the workflow. The control of the issuing editor is no less necessary to ensure that the deadlines set in the schedule are met.
