Pagination Process

Pagination is the process of slating space for editorial and ads. It’s like putting together a brand new puzzle each month - there are different lengths of editorial sections and a new combination of ad sizes that need to fit within your total page count. Below, we have provided some insight into the guidelines the layout team operates under to make the complex process of pagination a little more simple. 

General Layout Notes

• Pagination occurs the day after your agreement/first ad deadline.
• All insertions must be finalized by the deadline. We cannot accept late changes or additions.
• Many things go into laying out a publication. Our layout designers are highly skilled and educated and are experts on the ins and outs of layout and design.  
• Although it may seem like an easy request or suggestion, please know that some things simply cannot be done based on the combination of materials, sizes, and physical page space in the magazine. In the instance that something can’t be done, we will do our best to explain why that is.

Placing House Ads

Any time there is an odd or unrounded number of fractional ads, there is a chance that a house ad will need to be placed. 

• 1/4 Vertical house ad: if there is an odd number of 1/4 vertical ads, we will place a 1/4 vertical house ad to fill the remaining space. 
• 1/3 Horizontal house ad: If there are two 1/3 house ads, then we may have to place a 1/3 house ad to fill out the page. 
• 1/3 Vertical house ad: If there is a 2/3 vertical page ad, and there is not an article that it can be added to, we will place a 1/3 vertical house ad to fill out the page. 

Front of Book, Back of Book, and All Things Between

The sections in the Front and Back of the Book are standardized and have set layout space in the magazine that can't be changed:

Front: Cover, TOC, Lifestyle Letter, City Scene, Business Monthly, City List

Back: Events and Realty Report

• The larger the magazine, the more ads we place at the front of the magazine to maintain good flow through the following pages.
• We do not place more than 3 pages of ads between articles.
• We try to keep the integrity of the recipe layout at all times, which means we won't break up an article in special ways to accommodate the ads list.

Reducing Content Due to Ad Pages

Content is cut or reduced in the following order:

1. National/Evergreen Content
2. Anchor Content (including Events, City Scene, Business Monthly, and City List)
3. Local Articles

Production notes can be used to communicate which articles you would prefer to be removed or reduced if there are more ads than editorial space. These need to be entered by the editorial deadline. 

Ad Placement Notes

Placement Notes determine where an ad(s) should be placed within the magazine.  The Layout Team is alerted when a Placement Note is locked into the contract for the current month/deadline the team is working to complete. The Placement Note can be changed monthly for every client by the Publisher. Read more here: Ad Placement Notes