Scholarships
Bursaries are available on an annual basis from CUP (£1200) and the Stationers’ Foundation (£6000) – the charitable arm of the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers. Full details and terms and conditions can be found on our website. For 2013 AHRC studentships are also available – please check the website or email for more details!
Work Experience
Cambridge University Press and the other publishers on the Advisory Board will guarantee work experience opportunities for students taking this course (subject to student suitability). This is not a compulsory part of the degree and it is not formally assessed, but is a key part of enhancing CVs and gaining those all-important networking contacts.
Major Project
This is your opportunity to conduct a significant in-depth investigation of a publishing issue that can result in one of the following: • A dissertation of 18,000 words; • A case study report of 18,000 words related to your employment or work experience; • A business plan of 18,000 words for a publishing venture or activity that you intend to engage in on completion of the MA. This can either relate to employment or to an entrepreneurial enterprise to be started by you. Supervisions can be arranged with either industry professionals or the regular course delivery staff.
Assessment
You will receive in-depth assessment briefs and can expect to be assessed via some combination of the following: essays, reports, business plans, proposals, individual and group presentations, commentaries, portfolios, briefing documents, examinations, major project proposal and major project. Assessment in the taught modules is at two points in the semester. Typically the first assessment ensures the acquisition of relevant professional skills and knowledge, while the second tests your specific understanding of subject matter, acquisition of transferable skills and intellectual application of knowledge to publishing subjects. All assessments receive tailored, individual feedback.
Entry Requirements
Normally a good honours degree (in any discipline). We, however, interview anyone who does not meet these requirements but who might have the academic ability to complete the course successfully. We welcome applications from the EU and further afield. Where English is not the first language, a minimum of IELTS 7, or equivalent, is required.
The Staff Team: The MA draws on existing Anglia Ruskin staff expertise in areas including authorship, design, digital media and publishing law, while senior professionals from the publishing industry provide a great many of both the compulsory and extra-curricular sessions. Our team are committed to making your study as productive and enjoyable as possible. Our MA allows you to study flexibly, in small groups, forming close relationships with tutors and publishing professionals. We can arrange oneon-one professional mentoring in addition to your academic tutoring.
Course leader:
Cambridge & Chelmsford
MA Publishing Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences
Dr Leah Tether: Senior Lecturer in Publishing and a Research Fellow of the CoDE research institute at Anglia Ruskin University, Leah used to work for Penguin and Harper Collins. She teaches editing, business skills and marketing and has special research interests in medieval and digital reading cultures.
Other regular course delivery staff: Ian Bennett: Ian’s career spans thirty years working within graphic design for print and web, illustration, print production and studio management. He has specific interests in creative and digital publishing. Rachel Calder: Rachel is a literary agent and is Director of the Sayle Literary Agency, board member of the Writers’ Centre, Norwich and committee member of Cambridge Wordfest. Mal Peachey: As co-founder of Essential Works, Mal heads up a publishing business developing new ways of marketing and selling books. He has worked in newspaper and magazine journalism as a writer and editor and, as editorial director of Virgin publishing in the early 1990s, Mal was responsible for creating that company’s sport and pop music list.
Annual scholarships available For further information:
Click: www.anglia.ac.uk/alsspg Email: answers@anglia.ac.uk Email: leah.tether@anglia.ac.uk Call: 0845 271 3333 To apply please download a form or apply online: www.anglia.ac.uk/apply www.anglia.ac.uk/alsspg
“This is the Golden Age of Publishing. It’s your time.”
Colin Walsh, Book Production Consultants
MA in Publishing
Modules 1 Creativity and Content in Publishing
This covers issues, principals and practices related to the creative side of the publishing industry, including editorial, commissioning, book proposals and digital creativity. This module provides key skills in quality control of content in publishing and stresses the importance of the management process in editorial projects.
How the MA is organised The MA consists of four core taught modules taken over one year
The MA in Publishing is a professionally-focused MA. The skills
by full-time students or two years by part-time students and a
it fosters have been chosen after lengthy consultations with
major project completed at the end of the taught part of the course.
publishing industry professionals, so we are confident that our
Teaching runs in two 12-week semesters from September to
course is one of the most industry-friendly on offer. The MA is
December (Modules One and Two) and January to May (Modules
designed to give a broad-brush insight into all of the main areas of
Three and Four). Each module meets weekly during the semester
book publishing, with core modules centred on editorial, marketing
for a two-hour class which may be a lecture, seminar or workshop.
and publicity, legal, digital and production processes in publishing,
2 The Digital Age: Legal and Creative Issues
This module considers up-to-the minute issues in the international and national environment in which publishing operates. Split into two sections, the course focuses, in the first instance, on the management, sale and licensing of rights in publishing and, in the second, on contemporary concerns about digital rights.
and multi-format assignments designed to allow maximum scope
Both September and January starts are available, and all new
for creativity. As such the course primarily suits those looking to
starters are invited to undertake a one-day induction course.
3 The Business of Publishing
as a change of career later in life. There are also opportunities,
Teaching
built into a variety of extra-curricular options, for you to specialise
Teaching is delivered by industry professionals and takes place in
in particular areas of interest, such as magazines, typesetting and
small groups, in rooms appropriate to the subject matter, such as
editorial. Additionally, we have active connections with industry,
the multimedia suites owned by the Department. The course group
both in the UK and abroad, and through the recently established
leader and other members of staff are also available for one-to-one
Cambridge Publishing Society (CAMPUS). We are able offer a
support and advice.
This module introduces all aspects of business in the publishing sector, including marketing, publicity, business planning, annual reports, bookselling and building affinity. The course relates generic business concepts and practices to both major and small publishing houses, and draws on corporate sector examples which may be applied to publishing in the face of rapidly changing business models in the publishing sector.
get into publishing for the first time, whether as a first career or
range of masterclasses, internship opportunities, careers advice sessions, mock interviews, field trips, professional mentoring and
Extra-curricular options
professional short courses. We offer opportunities to enhance your
A package of extra-curricular activities is also available including:
CV and experience portfolios, giving you the edge in the fiercely
• professional short courses in editorial, magazine production,
competitive publishing jobs market.
publishing software and marketing (subject to availability) • field trips to publishers, printers, booksellers and book fairs
Anglia Ruskin University fosters a vibrant culture of
• careers evenings and events
interdisciplinarity, and thoroughly understands the necessity of
• opportunities for small project work related to local industry
adaptation and innovation in today’s rapidly changing employment
• masterclasses from top-class industry experts
environment. The MA draws on academic expertise from a wide
• exclusive internship opportunities at global publishers such as
number of related fields, including digital media, creative writing,
Cambridge University Press
book illustration, typography and printing, in addition to that of its
• annual internship competition for a placement at world-renowned
own specialist team. Situated in the beautiful city of Cambridge
English-language bookshop Shakespeare and Company, Paris
and within easy reach of some of the most successful publishing
• networking opportunities for making contacts
businesses in the UK, our students find themselves immediately
• free membership of Cambridge Publishing Society (CAMPUS)
immersed in a culture of publishing steeped not only in history and
• CV and writing clinics
tradition, but also in future vision and innovation.
• annual ‘best dissertation’ prize awarded by CUP
4 Production Processes in Publishing Anglia Ruskin’s flagship module, this course has been designed exclusively for our students by CUP. It introduces the design, production and distribution of book publishing products in various formats and across many platforms. It considers the processes and technologies used to transform a manuscript or data file into a finalised, ready-for-market product and delivered by a series of specially-selected industry professionals with the CUP seal of approval.