Reserving space: The ad reservation form
The first step in having your advertiser's ad appear in your newspaper or any other product you're selling begins with reserving space for the ad. Without a reservation, it is not possible for an ad to be published. To reserve space, it's necessary to complete an Ad Reservation Form. No matter what type of newspaper you're selling, the first key to successful selling is to fill out the reservation form in as much detail as you possibly can.

As you'll learn as we discuss the elements of most reservation forms, each element serves an important function, and submitted correctly, the reservation form is the best insurance policy you have, that your ad will run without any problems. After the form is filled out, the layout you created, including the layout sheet, the copy sheet and the art sheet, is attached to the reservation form, and all of it is submitted to a sales assistant who will enter the information into an ad reservation computer system and pass along the layout to an artist or production person. Generally, you as a salesperson will not be expected to handle imputing of ads into your newspaper's reservation system. This function may be handled by a sales assistant, or a dedicated order entry person. The upcoming portion of this program will describe reserving space, making changes to a previously reserved ad, requesting proofs, getting past the credit holds, reserving pages with groups of ads on them, reserving co-op advertising, reserving spot and process color ads, killing an ad, and retrieving copy.

Reserving space:
An individual ad reservation form must be completed for each scheduled ad reservation, and the form is then given to your sales assistant or order entry person. Some newspapers have systems that generate identification numbers which the entry person may then enter on the form. Here's how it goes:

Step 1: Fill out the Ad Reservation Form

Step 2: Give the form to your sales assistant or the order entry person.

Step 3: At most newspapers, your sales assistant or order entry person will give you a copy, keep a copy and forward a copy, with your ad material, on to the production department.

Refer to the sample ad reservation form in this section as we describe the elements that may be on the reservation form at your newspaper. As you'll soon find, many newspaper's reservation systems share many things in common with each other.

Sample Ad Reservation Form