Why? Because many schools were dissatisfied with the quality, service and delivery they received from their yearbook company this past May and June, and want to change providers for the new school year. You can solve their headaches by offering to bundle both your school photography services and yearbook publishing through Marathon Press as one total package. It’s best practice to offer both to any school photography client, but even if you aren’t taking the School portraits, offering Yearbook publishing services this year can help you get the photo contract for next year.
To work up a quote to offer Yearbooks it’s important to first ask several important questions: 1) How many pages do they plan to include in their yearbook? (one sheet of paper is 2 pages; one front and one back) 2) How many copies will they sell? And 3) What kind of binding will they want; Softback / Saddle stitched (stapled), Perfect Bound (Glued spine), Coil bound or hardback? Once you have these answers, it’s easy to check the Yearbook Pricing Chart (available from Marathon Press) to determine your printing cost. Be sure to add about .50 per book for shipping for softcover books, and .75 per book for hardcovers. Add your markup to equal your selling price, per book to the school. Average markups for elementary books are $3-$6 per book, $5-$10 ea. for middle school yearbooks, and $10-$25 each for high school or private school yearbooks. We recommend you ask what their yearbook sold for last year as a place to begin your price and service negotiations.
Marathon offers FREE online software for yearbook layout featuring automated photo insertion. Get free yearbook samples to sell with and complete pricing information from Marathon Press. Call (800) 228-0629 to speak with an Account Representative. Click now for more info.
