PUBLISHING I BWR107

Publishing has Changed

For some that has meant loss of job opportunities

BUT for others it means NEW and EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES

Now is a perfect time to prepare for a career in publishing

Study, get a foundation, keep an open mind and sieze on opportunities. Print media is changing but not disappearing. Electronic media is still establishing itself. Structures and ways of earning a living in publishing are very fluid, but opportunities abound for anyone with creativity, imagination, technical skill and a strong ability to communicate.

Build a foundation, keep an open mind and seize on opportunities.

  • Print media is changing but not disappearing.
  • Electronic media is still establishing itself.

Structures and ways of earning a living in publishing are very fluid, but opportunities abound for anyone with creativity, imagination, technical skill and a strong ability to communicate.

How Do You Get To Work in Publishing?

Publishers come in all shapes and sizes, from big international book and newspaper publishers, to small businesses with one or two people operating out of a home office. People come to publishing many different ways; and often not the way you might expect.
This is an industry driven by deadlines, making sales (both advertising and publications), and where success is more to do with what you can do and who you know, rather than qualifications.

Plenty of highly qualified people fail in publishing; while others with few qualifications often succeed.

If this is where you want to work: concentrate on learning, developing awareness, skills and contacts. If you do a course, above all do it for what you can learn rather than to get a particular certificate or diploma. This is the way to succeed in this exciting and fast moving industry.

This course is focused on building your skills based on exactly this sort of approach to this industry.

 

COURSE STRUCTURE

The content of each of the ten lessons is as outlined below:

  1. The Publishing World (Writing for Children)
    • Children’s book genres
    • Self-publishing and the educational market
    • Developmental landmarks and their relationship to children’s publishing
    • Reading level assessments and their relationship to children’s publishing

  2. Publishing Procedures and Techniques
    • Stages of traditional publishing
    • Steps to finalising a manuscript
    • Types of editing
    • Illustrations and working with external illustrators
    • Page design
    • Picture book design
    • Typography

  3. Desktop Publishing (Print Versions of Children's Books)
    • Defining desktop publishing
    • Layout and design for different book types: board books, picture books, chapter books and novels
    • Use of colour
    • Test runs for printing
    • Creating a dummy version of an illustrated text

  4. Desktop Publishing
    • Defining e-publishing
    • Apps vs ebooks
    • Layout of Illustrated ebooks or Text-based ebooks
    • Working with audiobooks
    • Audiobooks for children
    • Accessibility and ebooks
    • Ebook file types

  5. Illustration 1: Introduction to Graphics in Children's Fiction
    • The purpose of illustrations and graphics
    • Selecting a graphic or illustration design style
    • Types of books with graphics
    • Formatting textual elements
    • Working with a designer or illustrator: Preparing a brief and keeping the contract clear
    • Graphics and marketing

  6. Illustration 2: Introduction to Photography in Children's Books
    • Working with photographs: Non-fiction, fiction and covers
    • What makes a good photo
    • Designing with photos
    • Principles of photographic composition
    • Creating effects

  7. Researching Material for Children’s & Young Adult’s Books
    • Researching for fiction: world building and time period, and gathering resources
    • Types of non-fiction texts for children and young adults
    • How to plan research
    • How to note take effectively
    • Author notes

  8. Marketing in Publishing (Children's Books)
    • Book distributors
    • Marketing toward retailers
    • Theme marketing and special sales
    • Website and author platforms
    • Marketing toward the consumer: Reviews and interviews, book launches and talks, lectures, and readings

  9. Publishing: Ethics & The Law
    • Ethics and content creation
    • Sensitivity, cultural, and linguistic diversity
    • Content and ratings advisories
    • Plagiarism
    • Censorship and book banning
    • Copyright: Copyright notices, what does copyright protect and when a work can be legally used
    • Codes of ethics

  10. Publishing Project (PBL)
    • Plan the publication of a children’s book
    • Answer set discussion questions
    • Present a final report

 

AIMS

  • Discuss the important considerations that affect the decision of what to publish.
  • Describe the process of planning the publication of a non-fiction book.
  • Discuss the financial requirements to produce a new publication.
  • Develop procedures for managing staff, freelancers and other resources in a self-publishing business.
  • Demonstrate insight into the different types of potential risks in a publishing business, including legal and financial risks.
  • Develop an improved capacity to work effectively with colleagues in the publishing industry.
  • Develop procedures for the management of production, and distribution of a publication.


Learn from people who have experience and a successful track record!

  • Our principal, John Mason, has been writing books for over 35 years. He has been editor of magazines, and has worked with leading national and international publishers since the 1970's. He is still active; currently being the garden editor for a national magazine in Australia.
  • We have operated (and continue to operate web sites that get hundreds of thousands of views each month.
  • We are ebook publishers (since 2010) selling through international distributors (incl. Wheelers & Overdrive)