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The Publishing Project

Overview

  • Credit value: 15 credits at Level 6
  • Convenor: Luke Williams
  • Assessment: a portfolio containing: live event planning, a book layout and book review submission of 500-750 words (100%)

Module description

In this module you will develop an understanding of the publishing process, the publishing industry, and the skills and knowledge you will need to pursue a career in publishing.

Indicative syllabus

  • The historical and contemporary significance of the literary event and the literary publication
  • The art of promotion: designing flyers; requesting submissions; new media and the internet  
  • The substance of literary journals and their publishing processes, including: organisation of submissions, editorial boards, production scheduling, content and copyediting, design and layout, publicity and promotion
  • The creative decisions involved in curating, promoting, staging and documenting a live literary event

Learning objectives

By the end of this module, you will have gained:

  • knowledge and understanding of the various forms and genres of creative writing and the different techniques and processes they employ
  • the ability to gather, sift, select, organise and synthesise evidence and subject matter
  • the ability to choose appropriate subjects and to write about them, and to edit, develop and extend a piece of work
  • analytical ability, and the capacity to consider and solve complex problems orally, verbally and in practice
  • skills of interpretation, self-evaluation and the communication of constructive feedback
  • confidence and skill in sustaining and developing a creative project as part of an editorial board
  • skills of copyediting and proofreading
  • an awareness of the role and history of literary journals and their relationship to you as writers and practitioners
  • an awareness of how contemporary literary journals are run and organised in the UK.