After finding its way off the chopping block last year, the Corolla, the University’s yearbook, is alive and well according to Paul Wright, the Director of the Office of Student Media.
“We think we’ve done it,” Wright said. “We think we’ve saved the book. It has a different look, different feel and different content. This year’s book is already more successful than those in the past, and we’re still open for sales.”
When he first started working with the Corolla six years ago the book was losing $85,000 a year, Wright said.
“We started by cutting back on the number of pages, and then we just started printing the amount of books ordered and a few extras to cut costs,” he said. “Eventually, we had to cut more pages and the amount of color in order to keep the book alive. We lost a lot of the content and attractiveness of the book—we were in a Catch 22.”
Last year, the Media Planning Board met to discuss the future of the Corolla. After weeks of debate, the group decided to keep the yearbook but make significant changes in design and price.
“We’d been losing money on the book for about ten years,” Wright said. “It’s a 118-year-old tradition, and we think a true record of each year at the University. We didn’t want to kill it, so we made choices to reduce the cost of the book.”
In order to cut costs, the current staff is putting together a soft cover book that has more of a thick magazine or paperback textbook feel.
“It’s still going to be heavy, but it’s not the typical cardboard cover people are used to,” Wright said.
The change in cover material not only cut the cost in production, but also in the price for the student body. The book dropped from $80 to $30 in price.
“That’s a significant drop,” Wright said. “So much so that we have been able to increase the amount of pages by about 75 and have made the book all color. In addition, 24 pages are dedicated to coverage of the 2009 National Football Championship.”
This year, sales have increased by about 150 books, already a success in the mind of current Editor-in-chief, Corey Craft.
“My primary goal as editor was to increase sales, but it’s hard work to do without being able to show the buyer a copy of the product,” Craft said. “I didn’t want to use last year’s yearbook because it doesn’t reflect what we’re doing now.”
Despite this challenge, he was able to achieve his goal by marketing the yearbook’s new level of customization.
“We really tried to open up possibilities for student participation,” he said. “We got rid of the typical mug shot photo of each student and allowed students to submit their own photos on our website. We’ve had over 200 submissions, but I think we could have had more if we just had more time for it to catch on. It’s not quite the response I was hoping for, but we’re certainly laying the ground work for next year.”
In April, the current design editor, Kathleen Buccleugh, was announced as the 2010-11 editor-in-chief.
“Next year I definitely want to continue with the new design,” Buccleugh said. “I think it’s a more age-appropriate style, unlike past issues of the Corolla that were very colorful and young-looking. I don’t think people could identify with that. We’re in college, and the yearbook should reflect as such. “
In addition, Buccleugh said she wanted to increase sales and awareness among the student body.
“More often than not, when I start talking about the yearbook, people ask me ‘What is the Corolla?’” she said. “It’s gotten so bad that people don’t even recognize the name of the book or even know what it is. That’s something that has to change. Hopefully once we have the current yearbook in print, awareness will increase and we’ll have a product to show for it.”
To purchase a 2009-2010 yearbook, visit corolla.ua.edu. According to Craft, yearbooks will be on sale through graduation. The cost is $30, and they can be purchased online by credit card or charged to a student’s mybama account. Photo submissions are also still being accepted.
