What Happens to Your Page

Have you ever wondered what happens to the layouts you submit to Creating Keepsakes? The process of publishing a page is rigorous, but it's not a secret! Here's what happens, from start to finish.

Step 1: A page submission (in the form of a color copy, photograph, scan or digital photograph) arrives at Creating Keepsakes through mail or e-mail. One person views the page submission, considers the projects in process at Creating Keepsakes and decides whether the page applies to a project currently in the works. If the page is applicable to a current project, it is forwarded to the person in charge of that project for review. If the page is not applicable to a current project, it is filed by subject in a general file as a resource for future projects.

Step 2: Each author selects a page she would like to use, calls the owner of the page and asks him or her to send the original layout.

Step 3: When the original layout arrives, it is given some TLC. The author places the layout in a sheet protector and labels it with a removable note that details which article the layout is for, what the layout is and which issue it will appear in. The author also completes a tracking sheet for the layout, writing the article and issue it will appear in, the size of the layout, how many pages it is, and the owner's name, address and phone number. Then, the author safely stores the layout in a 12" x 12" file in her office.

Step 4: The author completes her project by an appointed deadline and sends the original layout, along with the text and accompanying visuals, to the editorial department. Members of the editorial department then read and correct the text and double check the labeling, tracking sheet and original layout to make sure everything is there safe and sound.

Step 5: The members of the editorial department finish their correction processes by an appointed deadline and meet with members of the design department for a "hand-off" meeting. The members of the design department ask to see each layout individually and check the tracking sheet to make sure each layout has arrived. After the meeting, the layouts are brought to a professional scanner. The scanner also checks each layout against the tracking sheet as it is scanned.

Step 6: Once scanning is complete, the layouts are stored in an upright 12" x 12" file in the Creating Keepsakes office. This is to ensure that if a designer working on the magazine finds that a scan isn't clear enough or isn't representative of the original layout, the original layout is still available to be scanned again.

Step 7: When the process is complete and the magazine is ready to be printed, the layouts are carefully packed, addressed and shipped back to the owners via UPS (or registered mail for addresses outside of the contiguous U.S.), so each package can be tracked.

Step 8: You receive a knock at your door, and the friendly UPS man hands you a package that contains your original layout.

The time taken to complete the process (from the time your original layout is requested to the time it is shipped back to you) averages 3½-4 months.