Special Instructions
Your newspaper's ad reservation form may contain an area for special instructions. Whether you're requesting an ad for presentation or actually reserving space, this is where you would communicate with the art department any points that aren't included elsewhere on the layout or the form. The form may also include several check boxes that can be useful. For example, the sample form at the beginning of this lesson, includes check boxes such as "follow exactly" which limits the artist to the information you've provided exclusively, and "use your own judgment" which asks that the artist follow your layout but also gives them the freedom to interpret any unclear instructions as they see fit. The check box "adjust to best advantage" gives the artist latitude to make improvements on the layout, while the check box "change entire look" communicates that you would like the artist to improve the overall layout of the ad.

Again, in many cases, these special instructions appear not on the ad reservation form, which deals primarily with ads that are sold, but instead on the Spec Ad Request form. In either case, you should have options for how creative you want your artist to be when creating your spec ad. If you're not given options, you should probably just write in how much creative control the artist should have. Again, this degree of creative control only applies to spec ads, since ads that are already sold should require no creativity, since the production people should be following your layout exactly. If you need help with an ad you sold, you should send it though first to your art department for help, meaning you've got to get the ad information from the advertiser earlier so the art department has time to work on the ad before passing it back to you or on to production.

Positions/Pricing
Most newspapers offer premium positions for a fee and these usually include first ad page, second ad page, stock page. One popular request is "far forward". While we know of no study that says far forward is a more effective position in terms of response, some advertisers will insist that you try to get them toward the front of the paper. At some newspapers, there is such demand for "far forward" that they need to charge a premium for that request as well. You should keep in mind that the account may agree to pay a premium charge, in addition to the total cost of the ad, if their ad receives a premium position in the paper. This doesn't guarantee that the advertiser will get the position he has requested and as you might expect, the advertiser won't have to pay for the premium position if the newspaper can't accommodate it.

There may also be a line on your ad reservation form entitled "special price". If you and your manager agree to a discounted price for your advertiser, it would be written in here. Remember that some newspapers make it policy to never go off the rate card, so this may be used in special circumstances, or not at all. And that should be most, if not all the things you'll find on your own layout form, although the terminology might be slightly different. I'd suggest you take a look at your own reservation form now and see it's similarities. Ask your manager about anything on the form that I haven't covered or any terms you're not sure the meaning of.