Class of 2012-13

September 28th, 2012 by cs48@stir.ac.uk | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Class of 2012-13
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It’s that time of the year again when we welcome new students to Stirling, and to our MLitt in Publishing Studies and the MSc in International Publishing Management.

As is usual at the Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication, our students come from numerous countries around the world, and from very close by – several of our students choose to continue from their undergraduate studies at the university. This year we have students from: the China, Finland, Germany, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, and the USA.

Welcome all!

My Bloody Brilliant Weekend at Bloody Scotland. :)

September 20th, 2012 by Stefani Sloma | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on My Bloody Brilliant Weekend at Bloody Scotland. :)
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The first full weekend I was in Stirling saw me volunteering at Bloody Scotland, “Scotland’s First International Crime Writing Festival.” I’d heard about the event before arriving in Scotland and offered to volunteer during the weekend. I am SO glad that I did. I had the time of my life!

Due to my previous experience volunteering at the Eudora Welty Writers’ Symposium at Mississippi University for Women, the Front of House Manager for Bloody Scotland, Dom Hastings, asked if I’d be willing to volunteer more than one four-hour shift. I wanted to say “Are you kidding me??!! DUH!” but I politely said, “I can be here whenever you need me.” I ended up being on the schedule all three days (Friday through Sunday) for pretty much the entire day; this was exactly what I wanted.

Friday was the first evening of Bloody Scotland, and I worked the Author Hospitality room, where I checked authors in to the festival and gave them their name badges and goodie bags. I also worked at and helped set up the reception for the authors, which was the kickoff for the festival. After the reception, it was back to Albert Halls for the opening session called, “Why Bloody Scotland?” featuring Alex Gray, Lin Anderson, and Ian Rankin. This session was followed by an author signing, which is where I started getting authors to sign my program (more on this later). I loved these duties because it meant that I was able to meet EVERY author who came into the Stirling Highland Hotel to check in. Friday Night Highlight: Ian Rankin remembered me! I’ve met him previously, as I interviewed him last year for my honors research project (“The City as Character: Edinburgh in the Works of Ian Rankin”), and I was hoping that he’d remember me when I saw him again. HE DID! It made my entire weekend. We had a short conversation about the future of publishing and editors at the reception before I left him alone so he could socialize with other authors.

Saturday began at 9 a.m. with the Author Hospitality room. I spent all of that day at the Stirling Highland Hotel. I worked FOUR signings that morning, meeting authors like Allan Guthrie, Sara Sheridan, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Caro Ramsay, and more. After that I worked inside front-of-house for two events, which meant I operated the roving microphone and made sure the authors got to their signings after. My shift on Saturday was supposed to end around 3:30 p.m., but I was still needed so I didn’t leave until 7:45 p.m. I worked about 8 hours that day alone! Saturday Highlight: “Meet My Alter Ego” session with Gillian Galbraith, Aline Templeton, Tony Black, and chair Lin Anderson. At the session, the authors spoke as if they were their characters. This was fantastic, because at one point Gillian Galbraith spoke as her character about her author, so it ended up sounding something like, “Sometimes Gillian writes about things that even I don’t know!” or “She explains what happens to me even better than I could!” It was great.

Sunday was the last day, and I can’t even explain how sad I was about this. It was spent at Albert Halls, where I worked inside front-of-house and signing for “The Next Big Thing” with Jade Chandler, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Val McDermid, and Barry Forshaw. While they didn’t stay on topic much, it was a laugh and very interesting. I also worked inside FOH and the signing for “A Formidable Duo” with Quintin Jardine, Anne Perry, and chair Peter Guttridge. Sunday Highlight: I was able to attend the dramatized performance of “The Red-Headed League.” Stuart MacBride as Holmes was amazing.

Every author I met this weekend was fantastic. Alex Gray remembered my name ALL weekend and called me “wonderful” and “a star.” I thought this was amazing. Also, Gordon Brown (not the ex-prime minister, but the red-headed crime fiction author, as everyone joked at Bloody Scotland) was one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. I got him, Craig Robertson, Gillian Philip, and Gordon Ferris to sign books I’d bought by them. I also had TWENTY-FOUR authors to sign my program, which is something I will always treasure; I plan to have it framed! I am so glad that I decided to do this; I couldn’t afford to buy one book by every author I wanted to read and have signed, so I used my program. I think it was a great idea!

I learned a lot about publishing, and I came to realize that I’d one day like to work festivals. It has also fueled my love for crime fiction, and I think I would like to work with it in the future. I think Bloody Scotland is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever been involved in.

I’ve since had a few of the authors follow me on twitter, which is an honor. I hope to keep in contact with them and see them again next year!

-Stefani Sloma

Yunlin Gu, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2012-2013

September 20th, 2012 by Yunlin Gu | Posted in Student Profiles | Comments Off on Yunlin Gu, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2012-2013
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Hi, my name is Yunlin, and I come from China. My favourite thing is to read books especially novels, so I choose Publishing Studies as my major in University of Stirling.

I did not learn about publishing before and meanwhile I hope that I can acquire knowledge about how to make and market books. Also I really want to make new friends from many other countries.

Yaru Hao, Msc in International Publishing Management, 2012-2013

September 20th, 2012 by Yaru Hao | Posted in Student Profiles | Comments Off on Yaru Hao, Msc in International Publishing Management, 2012-2013

I’m Yaru Hao, also known as Hilda, I come from China . I like the publishing industry and want to learn more about it, so I came to Stirling to work on the MSc in International Publishing Management. I am interested in the digital publishing and hope to work in  digital rights one day. In my spare time i would like swimming and cooking to relax.

Publishing Scotland’s Marion Sinclair – A Talk of Success

September 20th, 2012 by Sara_Gardiner | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Publishing Scotland’s Marion Sinclair – A Talk of Success
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Marion graduated the Publishing Studies course at the University of Stirling in the 1980’s. Marion believes that a degree in publishing is useful to have and puts us in good stead for a career in the industry.

Marion Sinclair works for Publishing Scotland whose job it is to promote and support Scottish publishers; these companies may be small, but ‘great books can come out of a one-person company.’ Marion has taken on the task of making Publishing Scotland relevant to their members by supplying outlines of what the publishing industry needs to succeed. There are over 100 active publishing companies in Scotland and most are currently small and medium enterprises; anyone can set themselves up to be a publisher.

Scottish writing has seen a renaissance in the past ten years with writer who have an international following. Alexander McCall Smith, is one example of a flag bearer for Scottish publishing. Scotland in particular has a publishing industry which is more than 500 years old, but in need of new thinking. Over the next two years Publishing Scotland wants to be able to aid companies in development of e-books and web design; they are putting the spotlight on what the independent publishers need.

As such, it is an organization of which Stirling University is a part. Their aim is to cultivate contacts and develop parts of the infrastructure of the media industry. Publishing Scotland’s core activities are:

  • Fulfilling training gaps
  • Information and support
  • Taking publishers to book fairs in London and Frankfurt

Graduates need to have creative and commercial abilities, business sense and be numerate; they need to think beyond being an employee. It has never been easier to set up your own publishing company, so why not think about setting up your own business?

Publishing Scotland holds an annual conference, which members may attend in order to meet new people who already work in the industry. Students may offer to do placement work for a company to begin to get your face known within the industry. Publishing Scotland will help students to find work or a work placement; the best way to get a job is to annoy people at events!

When applying for a job in the publishing industry, potential employers may receive up to 75 CV’s from potential candidates. Of these, the candidates with a publishing degree will be more likely to be picked for interview.

A big thank you to Marion for the talk today with all of the useful hints and tips!

– Sara Gardiner

Neil Simpson, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2008–2009

September 20th, 2012 by prm | Posted in Alumni | Comments Off on Neil Simpson, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2008–2009
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I came to the Publishing Studies course at Stirling after completing my undergraduate degree in English Language and Literature at Glasgow (2006) and working in admin for two years. After graduating I knew that moving into the publishing industry was what I wanted to do with my degree, but I didn’t know which area of it would be the best fit. Researching the course at Stirling, I felt that it would be so wide-ranging and comprehensive that I would be able to find what I was best at and determine which was the right path to go down. I was proved right.

The teaching on the course covered all aspects of publishing, and was set up to function as equivalent to your first year working in a publishing house. In addition to the excellent teaching, another very valuable part of the course was the regular guest lectures from current publishing professionals. We heard from people from many different areas of the industry and, again, this only helped to show which area appealed the most to us as students. After graduating I was lucky enough to secure two separate work placements through the course, at Waverley Books (at that time in New Lanark) and at W Green (Edinburgh). The placements were a great follow-up to the course and allowed me first-hand experience of the day-to-day running of publishers’ offices, which stood me in good stead for my next move.

I joined Cicerone Press as Production Editor in 2010, where I have a hand in seeing books all the way through from submission to publication. My main responsibilities include liaising with authors, briefing our editors and designers and writing marketing copy – all of which has been aided by my time at Stirling.

I would definitely recommend the MLitt in Publishing Studies to prospective students. It was a great introduction to the industry and its comprehensive teaching allowed me to narrow my focus and helped to identify which part of publishing was best for me. Studying at such a beautifully located campus and meeting lots of good people and sharing many good times only added to the experience.