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" or "sold" ads, that is, the 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. Whether your newspaper produced spec ads or not, we have more than 40 stunning ones, each in the best categories to go after, along with a series of videos on how to sell each.

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, some 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 sometimes right in the same room as you are or nearby. If you have one of these departments, you're in luck, since often 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. That's probably the case at yours.

Many newspapers outsource their ad production functions. Since almost everything you'll be getting from an advertiser is electronic, besides creating and scanning in a sketch, it's relatively easy to do this. Your newspaper may send this kind of work to an office in another location in your group or, if you're part of a larger newspaper group, across the country to a production "hub".

Some work is sent to other countries, typically Bangalore, India or the Philippines. Whether you're walking the work that needs to be produced down the hallway or sending it halfway around the world, it shouldn't affect the way you communicate with them. As you'll find out in our ad layout chapter, you need to put everything in writing either way to ensure there are no mistakes.

So, 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 any 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