This week in Publishing Skills we looked at copyediting and proofreading practices. We looked at the differences between these roles, and how they have changed with the publishing industry as many publishing houses look to freelancers to fulfil these jobs rather than keep someone in-house. With the help of Wendy Toole, a freelance academic copyeditor and proofreader herself, we not only learnt about the intricacies involved in the job but also got to practice all of the weird and wonderful symbols used by proofreaders to edit and alter work; something we'll be expected to get to grips with if editorial is the route we're hoping to head down.
If you're interested in finding out more head over to the Society for Editors and Proofreaders' website: www.sfep.org.uk where you'll find more information and training options.
Next week: Publishing Finance with guest speaker Richard Balkwill (Proprietor at Copytrain and consultant and trainer at The Publishing Training Centre)
In our Publishing Project session this week we had our last opportunity to finalise our ideas ahead of our pitch on 3rd November; it was quite an intense three hours that involved a lot of back and forth, a lot of ideas being thrown around and a lot of repeating ourselves as we all sort of lost track of what we were working towards. In the end though, we've come up with two ideas that all seven of us are really excited to pitch next week! So by my next weekly round up I might just be able to give you a bit more than a hint about what we're looking to do for this module this year.
Author Management this week was on commissioning; what editors are looking for and how they go about commissioning it when they find it. As many of us are still holding on to the editorial dream it was something we're all very excited about. We had two guest speakers in this week both from trade but while Hannah Main (Picador) covered the fiction side, Ingrid O'Connell (Sidgwick and Jackson) gave us a really interesting insight into the non-fiction side of trade. Ingrid's coverage was a really new take on it as it was the first time we've really had someone share their experiences in the editorial side of trade non-fiction publishing. Now, non-fiction has never really been something I've been interested in - so far I've been very fiction-focused - but Ingrid's experiences sounded so exciting and really gave me something to think about.
Next week: Intellectual Property and Copyright with guest speaker Richard Mollet (Publishers' Association)
Theories of the Book was on the history of reading/social spaces. Though was a tad less intense than last week, it was a highly interactive session with Dr Shafquat Towheed and Dr Danielle Fuller who guided us through a discussion on the differences in reading spaces and habits in the 18th century compared to now. It was a very interesting and enlightening discussion that drew on more of our not at all creepy observations (read: stalking) of readers on public transport, in pubs, cafes and various other places.
Next week: The Evolution of Authorship
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