Develop your ability to plan and manage a publishing business.

Publisher are continually needing to consider: "What to publish?" Some establish a limited repertoire of publication activities, focusing on academic books, novels, westerns, romance novels, text and educational books, informative or self-help books or material on specific topics such as health and wellbeing, ostrich farming etc., fashion or gardening magazines, music scores etc. Other publishers will engage in a wider range of activities, publishing books, journals, monographs and newspapers in their different branches. The nature of the publishing enterprise will determine what kinds of texts they will publish, and how they choose which texts to publish.

Whilst it can be taken alone, this course is ideally studied as a follow on from Publishing I and II.

There are seven lessons in this module/course as follows:

1. What to publish?
2. Planning a New Publication
3. Costing a New Publication
4. Resource Management
5. Risk Management
6. Managing Writers
7. Managing Production & Distribution

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

• Understand the important considerations that affect the decision of what to publish.
• Prepare a plan for developing and producing a new publication.
• Manage financial requirements for the production of a new publication.
• Develop procedures for management of staff and other resources in a publishing business, small or large.
• Demonstrate insight into the different types of potential risks in a publishing business, including legal, financial and health risks.
• Develop an improved capacity to work effectively with authors
• Develop procedures for the management of production, and distribution of a publication.

• Research the kinds and styles of works produced by three different book publishers;
• List market research strategies that a publisher might use to decide which proposal to develop;
• Research the percentage of publication given to advertising and graphics in three e-zines or books;
• List the information that a publisher might want to research before either (i) commissioning a new children's book (choose the topic), or (ii) starting up a new magazine aimed at 8-12 year old children
• Investigate the costs involved in cash and/or in resources in producing a particular publication
• Write up a budget for the publishing of one issue of a local newsletter in two colours
• Identify factors that contribute the very different retail prices of books and magazines
• Prepare a draft business plan for a publishing business of your choice.
• Investigate insurance policies that would be relevant to the publishing industry
• Define publishers' responsibility in regards to copyright
• Explain how a publisher would find a freelance writer and the process for contracting them