Visiting Speaker programme

February 28th, 2012 by Frances_Sessford | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Visiting Speaker programme

Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication hosts another diverse and interesting programme of visiting speakers for the Spring semester. Over the next few weeks, guest speakers from production, rights and editorial departments, representing many different sectors of publishing, will come and speak to our cohort.
We are delighted to have Andrea Joyce, Rights Director at Canongate Books, to begin the programme on March 1, followed by Johnny Gallant, director of Edinburgh book distributor Alban Books on March 8. On March 15, Peter Dennis of Leckie and Leckie will give us the benefit of his experience at this educational publisher now owned by HarperCollins, while on March 22 we will host publisher, author and academic Miha Kovač. Miha is the author of Never Mind The Web; Here Comes The Book and is spending a week at the Centre teaching and giving seminars. On March 29 we have Kyle Macrae and Allan Guthrie of Blasted Heath digital publishing in conversation with Padmini Ray Murray, lecturer at the Centre.

After the mid-semester break, author Sarah Rayner gives a writer’s perspective on the industry on April 12, and on April 19, Vivian Marr, Head of Language Acquisition at Oxford University Press, will talk about the business operation behind this publisher’s content licensing activities. Our final session on April 26 hosts Sara Hunt from independent publisher Saraband Books.

Attendance at all visiting speaker sessions is free but there is limited space so please register via publishing@stir.ac.uk to book a place.

Yang-Lun Cheng (Ellen), MLitt in Publishing Studies 2011-12

February 28th, 2012 by Yang-Lun_Cheng | Posted in Student Profiles | Comments Off on Yang-Lun Cheng (Ellen), MLitt in Publishing Studies 2011-12

Every time I visit bookstores, every moment I see readers pick up the books I edited, and that is the energy to refuel me to keep walking on the challenging editorial path.

I am Ellen Cheng, a commissioning editor from Taiwan, I have edited children’s books and non-fiction titles, such as healthy, beauty, handicraft and self-help. Inspired by the rapid changes of the digital evolution within publishing industry, I have decided to be a part of MLitt in Publishing Studies in order to become a more professional, trained member of the industry.

The programme provides the newest and the most professional knowledge to efficiently realize the publishing market in the UK. The modules not only focus on the practical editorial training but also offer lots of opportunities to make good connections with the actual workplace. I believe the 2011/2012 will be a precious year for me that to brainstorm project ideas with international students and to communicate with the worldwide publishing partners exchanging views toward publishing art and business.

AHRC Digital Transformations Project: The Book Unbound

February 15th, 2012 by cs48@stir.ac.uk | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on AHRC Digital Transformations Project: The Book Unbound
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 We’ve just heard that the Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication has been awarded a grant from the AHRC in its Digital Transformations Research Development call.

Our project, ‘The Book Unbound: Disruption and Disintermediation in the Digital Age’, will be led by the Centre’s Director, Professor Claire Squires, with Dr Padmini Ray Murray (Lecturer in Publishing Studies) and Dr Paula Morris (Lecturer in Creative Writing) as Co-Investigators. The staff team will be completed by Scott Russell, as an External Consultant. We’ll also be working with the Electric Bookshop in order to present some of our findings, and there will also be opportunities for collaborations between creative writing and publishing students.

The project will examine changing business models in the digital publishing environment and their impact on the communications circuit and notions of authority, authorship, audiences and access. It will do this both via a series of case studies, and an experimental mode (live publishing – watch this space!).

We’ll have a new website up with full details of the project soon, but if you’d like any information about it in the meantime, please get in touch via our Contact page.

AHRC studentships available for 2012-13

February 7th, 2012 by cs48@stir.ac.uk | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on AHRC studentships available for 2012-13
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Thinking of studying with us for one of our Masters in Publishing degrees in 2012-13?

If so, you may also be able to apply for a prestigious Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) studentship from our Block Grant Partnership. This year, we are able to offer two full studentships (ie fees and a maintenance grant) in our subject area. Please note that you must be a Home or EU student to be eligible. (Details of other funding possibilities are available here).

The deadline for studentship applications is 30 March 2012, by which time you must also have applied for a place on our one of our programmes. For more details see the Arts and Humanities Consortium website. If you are interested in more details about our courses, please use the details on our Contact page.