masters

Claire Furey, MLitt Publishing Studies 2016-17

October 11th, 2016 by claire_furey | Posted in Student Profiles | Comments Off on Claire Furey, MLitt Publishing Studies 2016-17
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photo-croppedDia dhaoibh! I hail from the beautiful rainy Galway, on the west coast of Ireland. At least I don’t have to adjust to the Scottish weather! It’s taken me a long while to get here, but it’s been worth it. I graduated from NUI, Galway in 2008 with a BSc in Physics and Astronomy. That may sound impressive, but please don’t test my knowledge on any of it… I realised half way through I did not want a career in physics, but as I was having such a great time socially and really had no idea what else to do with myself, I finished the degree.

I worked in various jobs for a few years – the most interesting being for an online education company where I had some editing, proofreading and general quality assurance roles. I also did some part time freelance work as a proofreader which I loved. I always toyed with the idea of going back to education. I adored books, words and anything to do with the English language so I looked into English literature, journalism, or librarian studies, but I couldn’t quite see myself in a career in any of those contexts. So instead I took off travelling.

I travelled and worked around the world for about 2 and a half years, and had the time of my life. When I got back, I decided it was time to get serious and focus on a career. Somehow publishing came onto my radar – a natural extension from the proofreading I enjoyed so much I guess! Stirling seemed to call to me out of all the places I looked at! Now I’m here I know I’ve made the right decision – both in terms of the course and the location. Before I started I was all about the copy-editing aspect of things, but the more I learn about all the other areas of publishing, the more excited I get about the prospect of a career in any of it. Particularly production. I can’t wait to see what the next few years bring!

Otieno Owino, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2016-17

October 11th, 2016 by Otieno Owino | Posted in Student Profiles | Comments Off on Otieno Owino, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2016-17
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otieno-owinoAbout four years ago a friend casually asked if I could proofread some work for her employer, a major publisher in Kenya. I gladly accepted because I’d make extra money off it. I was then working as newspaper reporter, having left a language teaching job. I received a lot of freelance work thereafter through referrals. I turned this freelance experience into a full time job as an Assistant Editor with Kwani Trust, Kenya’s leading literary publisher where I have been in the last one and half years.

Working in a small team made it necessary to understand all the major stages of book publishing. I realized that even though I could do good editorial work, I needed some grounding in design, production and marketing, other important aspects of the business. It is this realisation that has brought me to the University of Stirling to pursue the MLitt in Publishing Studies course.

A mini literary revolution is ongoing in my country Kenya, with online journals such as Jalada, Enkare Review and Kikwetu publishing what Kwani Trust would traditionally publish. Part of my research interest is online literary journals, how sustainable they can become, how they can make money out of the process and the digital or e-book publication market which is still to be fully exploited in Kenya.

I hope to add onto my editorial skills; project management, production and marketing which I believe will be important for future work in the publishing industry.

Other than my work at Kwani Trust I was a junior editor for a nonfiction anthology put together by Commonwealth Writers, if you get a chance, do read Safe House: Explorations in Creative Nonfiction.

 

Caroline O’Brien, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2016-17

September 30th, 2016 by caroline_obrien | Posted in Student Profiles | Comments Off on Caroline O’Brien, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2016-17
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13509093_1424480517565979_6273719872238790256_nmOn a dark and stormy night in Glasgow two fourth year undergrad English Literature students arranged a covert meeting at the student union. As the rain beat down on the windows all was going well until one turned to the other and asked the dreaded question.

‘So, what are you planning on doing after we graduate?’

Anyway, that’s the story of how my wonderful friend, Chiara, came to tell me about the University of Stirling’s MLitt in Publishing course. As it turned out it was one of the most serendipitous moments of my life. I knew going into my English Literature course at the University of Glasgow that I wanted to somehow get into publishing, but, as is so often the case when students are faced with the looming prospect of graduation and actually having to take part in normal adult life afterwards, I had no idea of how to do it.

Therefore, doing my masters at the University of Stirling served a twofold purpose. I would gain some concrete knowledge of what a publisher actually is and what they do. (Meaning that when asked these questions I can come up with a better answer then, ‘You know, someone that says what books are good…’) And I would be able to defer the terrifying prospect of a job search one more year.

Having said that, since the first lecture in my new course my publishing dreams have proven themselves founded on a strong basis. I now cannot wait to find my own place in the publishing industry, either here in Scotland or, possibly if I’m lucky, abroad.

But enough about this course and how great it is. Now for the really interesting stuff.

Me.

I was born in England, near London, and moved to Scotland when I was nine. This has resulted in a somewhat confused but, I hope, endearing accent that has on more than one occasion been mistaken for Australian. I now hail from Lanark where I’ve lived for the past twelve years or so with my parents and my two sisters. I of course adore books, something that I have my parents to thank for since they took the time to read to me every night when I was young.

This is the reason I am most interested in Children’s publishing. If I could bring even one child the same sense of joy that I got from settling down for a bedtime story with my parents then I’d be happy.

But now I’ve started to get soppy so I’m going to leave it there. Thanks for reading and hope I didn’t bore anyone. If I did, look on the bright side. You’ve made it to the end now.

Yuwen Tong, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2015-16

April 20th, 2016 by Yuwen Tong | Posted in Student Profiles | Comments Off on Yuwen Tong, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2015-16
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Yuwen Tong

My name is Yuwen Tong. I come from Shanghai, China. I am an art student. In college, my previous major was advertising design. I was particularly interested in design when I was a child. In Shanghai I have studied painting for seven years and have a certain degree of creative basis. I know that I amfar from a professional designer, but I have been watching and learning all kinds of design ideas. After coming to University of Stirling, I chose publishing studies which linked to my previous major as my postgraduate course. Because of the previous study of graphic design, I have mastered a number of graphics software skills such as Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, CAD and Adobe InDesign.

In these two semesters, I have learnt a lot about professional knowledge of publishing such as Skills Training for Publishing, Digital: Process and Product, Editorial Practice and Content Creation, Marketing Management and Communications and Skills for Publishing Management. I hope that in these two semesters I have mastered the professional knowledge of publishing, gained a familiarity with the operation of the publishing industry processes and strengthen my software skills.

 

 

Elizabeth Krajnik, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2015-16

October 8th, 2015 by Elizabeth Krajnik | Posted in Student Profiles | Comments Off on Elizabeth Krajnik, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2015-16
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A photo of me while on holiday in the Scottish Highlands c. autumn 2014

A photo of me while on holiday in the Scottish Highlands c. autumn 2014

Welcome to the wonderful thing that is my student profile. I’m terrible at writing about myself, so I’ll attempt to make it as bearable as humanly possible. My name is Elizabeth Krajnik: youngest of three and the only girl. I was born and raised in rural Wisconsin, a land full of dairy cows, corn fields and pine trees (AKA a lack of neighbours), all of which allowed me to find my passion in reading.

At present I am thinking my future career will have something to do with young adult fiction; however, I have FOMO disease (fear of missing out) and would hate to cast off other areas in which I might excel. I’m the type of person who likes to try anything — within reason — at least once. Upon graduation, I’d be delighted to find a job that suits me in the UK or perhaps on mainland Europe.

My publishing background is not nearly as lengthy as some other students, but rather than bounce around from experience to experience I prefer to gain the trust of my colleagues and form strong relationships with them. I work well within tight time constraints, easily command the attention of a group, and do exceptionally well in situations under which most would falter. I love incorporating humour (which I’m sure you have gathered from reading this whole thing) into the workplace whenever appropriate and know when a flip of the proverbial switch is required.

I have an amazing family that means the world to me: two loving parents who have supported me through everything (even my first year of uni which was spent freaking out about being a pre-med student) and two brothers who know just how to brighten even the darkest of days with silly memes and inside jokes.

In my spare time (yes I do have some of that on occasion) I enjoy falling down the rabbit hole that is Buzzfeed, cooking, attempting to learn new languages, watching funny videos of dogs, and taking really crappy amateur photos.

Some of my favourite authors are: Jodi Picoult, the ever-wonderful Queen J.K. Rowling, Salman Rusdie, and Mary Higgins Clark. However, I must never forget the greats: Virgil, Dante, Boccaccio, and Chaucer. This list isn’t even close to complete, but I’m sure you understand how difficult it is to come up with the authors you love most on the spot. There are too many to list!

Well, I think this is a sufficient amount of writing about myself for the time being. Cheers!

Interning with Think Publishing

April 29th, 2015 by Leia Forster | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Interning with Think Publishing
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think logoIn January 2015, I began to intern with the award-winning content and publishing agency Think. Founded in 1999, Think Publishing employs more than 60 members of staff, work with over 40 clients and have offices in London and Glasgow. I was lucky enough to work in the editorial department of the Glasgow branch which produces a number of great magazines for a variety of organisations.

During my time at Think I believe I learned a great deal about magazine publishing as well as gaining insight into the workings of an office environment. I quickly found that the inner workings of a magazine publisher were quite different to that of a book publisher. On my first day I was presented with strange magazine terminology such as ‘furniture’ and ‘copy’, but I caught on quickly. I found myself intrigued by what could be considered a somewhat unconventional business model in the realms of publishing – client funded publications. Trade fiction publishers essentially gamble with every publication they choose to publish. They invest money in these publications and rely greatly on their commercial success. Think’s business model provides a secure financial platform to support the publications that they print for their clients.            scotland in trust

While I was at Think I worked on a number of magazines such as Scotland in Trust, Historic Scotland, Escape, Splash and Legion Scotland. Tasks included the transcription of interviews, research for features, writing content for magazines, sourcing images and coming up with ideas for future features. I found that there were far more opportunities to undertake creative tasks than could be expected in typical book publishing editorial roles, and one of the most rewarding parts of the internship was being able to produce a piece of copy and watch it progress through different stages before finally being included in the magazine.

Despite working primarily on editorial tasks, Think’s office environment allowed me insight into all the different roles and tasks involved in the creation of a magazine. The open layout of the office meant that I could look across the room and watch the designers working on magazine covers and spreads. Being able to observe staff interactions and listen to office discussions was very useful and my time spent doing feature research was never wasted as I found myself leaving the office on a daily basis with a new selection of random facts and knowledge.

I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to intern with Think, and this insight into the world of magazine publishing has given me the confidence to consider magazine publishing as a potential career path to follow upon completing the course.

 

Leia Forster, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2014-2015

October 15th, 2014 by Leia Forster | Posted in Student Profiles | Comments Off on Leia Forster, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2014-2015
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 new display brannanHi there! I’m Leia. Upon reaching the final year of my English Studies undergraduate course here at Stirling, I was more than pleased to hear about the MLitt in Publishing Studies that was also offered by the university. I had began looking at my English Studies degree as a foundation on which I should build, and so I jumped at the opportunity to do just that and learn about the industry that had produced the books I had been reading all of my life.

With a particular interest in science fiction and craft publications, I hope to learn about the traditional side of publishing as well as the digital side which seems to be advancing at the same quick pace as the rest of the technological world.

I’m hopeful that this course will give me the skills and knowledge required to play a role in the publishing industry in the future. I enjoyed my first four years here greatly and from what I’ve experienced of the Publishing Studies course so far, I’m sure I’ll enjoy this year too.

 

AHRC studentships available for Studying Publishing 2013-14

January 11th, 2013 by cs48@stir.ac.uk | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on AHRC studentships available for Studying Publishing 2013-14
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If you’re thinking of studying on our industry-leading MLitt in Publishing Studies with us in 2013-14, as a Home or EU student you may be eligible for a prestigious AHRC Professional Preparation Masters studentship.

Details of the scheme are available via the Universities of Stirling and Strathclyde AHRC Block Grant Partnership website.

The deadline for receipt of applications is Friday 22 March 2013, by which time you must also have made a full application for a place on the programme.

Read the perspective of a current AHRC studentship holder here.

The Class of 2011-12 is here!

September 17th, 2011 by cs48@stir.ac.uk | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on The Class of 2011-12 is here!
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Every year, we welcome a new cohort of students to the Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication. Our students always come from far and wide to study with us, and this year is no exception. We have students registered across our three different masters programmes, the MLitt in Publishing Studies, the MSc in International Publishing Management, and the MRes in Publishing Studies, which can lead to a PhD in Publishing. They come from Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Spain, China, India, Taiwan and the USA. We also welcomed back to Stirling several graduates from a range of undergraduate programmes.

In our first session students brought in publishing products from their home countries. There were digital devices aplenty, but also a great range of very high spec printed materials, including art and fashion magazines. We also had some very Scottish products: an Oor Wullie annual from Dundee publisher D C Thompson. It’s already clear we’ve got a class of students with divergent interests in terms of publishing products, but all united but their fascination for and desire to get on in the world of publishing.

We’re very much looking forward to working with them. If you think you might be interested in joining us next year – please get in touch via our Contact page!

Meet our current students…

December 21st, 2010 by cs48@stir.ac.uk | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Meet our current students…
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Back in September, we introduced you to our new cohort of students who joined us from around the world to study at the Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication.

Well, everyone is now taking a very well deserved rest after a busy semester gathering publishing skills, knowledge and experience, and hearing from an exciting range of visiting speakers. They’ve also been introducing themselves on our website, and you can find a range of student profiles here. As you’ll see, we’ve managed to attract students from around the world as well as tempting our own undergraduates one of whom, after surveying a number of different publishing courses, decided with great pleasure that she favoured Stirling most, and so decided to stay another year.

If you’re interested in coming to study with us for 2011-12, please do look at our study pages, and don’t hesitate to get in touch.