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Once you sell an ad, there are almost always people at your publication who will take your rough sketch (I'll show you how to make a good one in the ad layout chapter) or an existing ad you've made changes to, and build a finished, ready-for-publication ad.

At your newspaper, this department is probably called Production. When these people aren't creating the "live" ads that you've already sold, they are often willing to create spec ads for you, as long as it doesn't interfere with their primary objective of getting the sold ads finished and into the newspaper.

Spec ads, or ads that you've requested to be built on speculation (before your advertisers show any interest in running them), are often vital to selling ad space and will be discussed in detail later in this course.

If, like many newspapers, your production department is responsible for building spec ads in their spare time, you'll need to be patient. During busy times, it's not uncommon for spec ads to take a week or longer to be built.

However, many newspapers and other publications have an additional department, typically called Creative Services or the Art Department. While the production department might be in another part of the building under separate management, the creative services department is often nearby. If you have one of these departments, you're in luck, since usually these artists' primary function is to create spec ads for you, as well as provide some additional design help with ads you've already sold.

Management at your newspaper may have decided that the ad sales staff would be even better served if the creative services department was expanded so they could do all the ad building for your newspaper.

One of the above scenarios should reflect the situation at your publication. The only exception would be if your publication deals exclusively with advertisers that have ad agencies and therefore doesn't need to build ads for them. You should also know that some publications charge their advertisers for ad design work, but the for the overwhelming number of print publications, it's offered for free.

Next: The Circulation Department