Study four core units (ie. Management, Office Practices, Business Operations and Marketing Foundations); three stream units covering publishing and writing and a workplace project on the publishing industry.  Professional writing skills are nurtured and developed throughout the course. Writers are both employed (eg. by publishers and advertizing companies), and work freelance. The publishing industry is much more than just writing. It employs editors, graphics technicians, photographers, artists, salesmen, clerks and managers. Learn about the whole industry; and lay a foundation to develop more specialised skills. This course is internationally accredited through I.A.R.C

Modules

Core Modules	These modules provide foundation knowledge for the Advanced Certificate In Applied Management (Publishing And Journalism).
	Business Operations VBS106
	Management VBS105
	Marketing Foundations VBS109
	Office Practices VBS102
Stream Modules	Studied after the core modules, stream modules cover more specific or niche subjects.
	Editing I (Editing and Proof Reading) BWR106
	Freelance Writing BWR102
	Publishing I BWR107
Elective Modules	In addition to the core modules, students study any 2 of the following 4 modules.
	Industry Project BIP000
	Industry Project II BIP001
	Research Project I BGN102
	Workshop I BGN103

Note that each module in the Advanced Certificate In Applied Management (Publishing And Journalism) is a short course in its own right, and may be studied separately.

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CORE UNITS Click on each module for more details

Office Practices
Develops basic office skills covering use of equipment, communication systems (telephone, fax, etc) and office procedures such as filing, security, workplace organisations, etc. 

Business Operations

Develops knowledge of basic business operations and procedures (eg. types of businesses, financial management, business analysis, staffing, productivity, etc) and the skills to develop a 12 month business plan.

 

Management

Develops knowledge of management structures, terminology, supervision, recruitment and workplace health and safety.

 

Marketing Foundations.

Develops a broad understanding of marketing and specific skills in writing advertisements, undertaking market research, developing an appropriate marketing plan and selling.

STREAM STUDIES

Three modules as follows:

Publishing I

There are ten lessons as outlined below:

1. The Publishing World    Nature & scope of publishing, types of publishers, how books are published, market research.
2. Publishing Procedures & Techniques    Colour or black & white; film or digital imaging, types of printing, alternative ways of doing layout (eg. typesetting, paste up, electronic layout with Adobe products or MS publisher), comparing types of digital graphic files, printing costs, etc
3. Desktop Publishing    Word Processing, Alternative publishing methods: Printing on a Computer Printer; Supplying a "Master" to a commercial printer, or plublishing electronically (eg. Internet or CD)
4. Desktop Publishing    Software options, use of colour, black and white, use of graphics, putting it together, etc.
5. Illustration: Graphics    Line illustrations, cartoons, photos etc. Freehand work, Computer graphics, etc
6. Illustration: Photography     Photographic Equipment & Materials; Composition; Development of Photographic Style Portraiture, Posing for Photographs, Planning a Photo Session, Studio Photography, Fault Finding, etc
7. Researching    Types of Research (Exploratory, Experimental etc), Primary & Secondary Data sources,Planning a survey, Conducting an interview
8. Marketing in Publishing    Understanding marketing & publicity –what makes a publication succeed or fail, launches, press releases, etc.
9. Publishing: Ethics & The Law    Public attitudes, accuracy of writing, bias, monopolies, media ownership concerns, etc

 

Freelance Writing

The ten lessons cover:

1. Introduction to freelancing    Scope of freelance writing (types of writing, where to begin, styles, etc). getting help, finding resources &   contacts, understanding industry terminology.
2. Basic writing skills    What is communication, types of communication, types of language, clear wording, concise wording, parts of speech, grammar, punctuation.
3. The publishing world    Periodicals, books, remaindering, copyright, publishers advertising conditions,  public lending rights, contracts, selling.
4. Manuscripts    Types of printing, preparing a type script, etc.
5. Planning what you write    Mechanics of writing, developing an idea, sentence structure, precis, planning what you write, building a paragraph.
6. Newspaper writing    Newspapers, regular columns, fillers, short features, etc.
7. Magazine writing    Travel writing, magazine articles/features, determining potentially marketable articles.
8. Writing books    Non fiction, fiction, short stories, determining what to write and developing an idea.
9. Writing advertising    Writing a press release, writing an advertisement, writing for public relations, etc.
10. Special project    Planning and developing a manuscript for a small book.

Editing I

There are eight lessons as folloes:

1. Introduction to Editing – the role and scope of editing; tools for editing; editing skills; the production process: an overview; who does what in publishing
2. The Mechanics of Clear Writing – spelling, punctuation, grammar, language; style; tense
3. Assessing Manuscripts – readability; word length; structure; consistencies and inaccuracies; the reader’s report; substantive editing; the author’s          responsibilities; the author/editor relationship
4. Copy Editing I – what the copy editor does; the procedure; house style; style sheets.
5. Copy Editing II – marking up; parts of a publication; editing non-text material;  illustrations
6. Preparing Copy for Printing – type design and page layout; proof stages
7. Proof Reading
8. The Final Stages – indexes; blurbs; checking final proofs

WHAT YOU WILL DO IN THIS COURSE

Here are some examples of the type of thing you will do:

• Plan and write at several major articles and one short story manuscript.
• Analyse different articles.
• Survey the scope and current status of the publishing industry and interpret a range of indicators to the viability of different existing or proposed publications.
• Explain the publishing industry, the procedures (stages) in bringing a publication to print and the different people (& jobs) involved.
• Explain how to present a manuscript to a publisher.
• List the differences between audiences for different types of publications.
• Explain the differences between types of writing required for newspaper publishing compared with magazine or book.
• Prepare or select appropriate illustrations (graphic or photographic) for publishing.
• Explain the processes involved in the production and use of these illustrations.
• Conduct and report on several interviews.
• Take a number of photographs with the intention to use them to illustrate a publication.
• Plan the contents and publishing procedure for different types of articles.
• Plan the contents and publication of a small book, booklet or magazine.
• List the scope of statistical information available through government agencies and report on the relevance of such information to the publishing industry.
• Write copy for different advertisements and different promotional leaflets or brochures.
• Design the layout for two promotional brochures, and determine the cost of typesetting, paste up and   printing each.
• Compare the scope and nature of business conducted by different publishers.
• Plan and determine costs for the publication of a new newspaper, newsletter or magazine.
• Use prescribed reference books and other resources to gain relevant information.

INDUSTRY PROJECT OR WORK EXPERIENCE

This is the final requirement that you must satisfy before receiving your award.

Here are two options available to you to satisfy this requirement:

Alternative 1.

If you work in the industry that you have been studying; you may submit a reference from your employer, in an effort to satisfy this industry (ie. workplace project) requirement; on the basis of RPL (ie. recognition for prior learning), achieved through your current and past work experience.

The reference must indicate that you have skills and an awareness of your industry, which is sufficient for you to work in a position of responsibility.

Alternative 2.

If you do not work in the relevant industry, you need to undertake a project as follows.

Procedure for a Workplace Project

This project is a major part of the course involving the number of hours relevant to the course (see above). Although the course does not contain mandatory work requirements, work experience is seen as highly desirable.

This project is based on applications in the work place and specifically aims to provide the student with the opportunity to apply and integrate skills and knowledge developed through various areas of formal study.

Students will design this project in consultation with a tutor to involve industry based activities in the area of specialized study which they select to follow in the course. The project outcomes may take the form of a written report, folio, visuals or a mixture of forms. Participants with relevant, current or past work experience will be given exemption from this project if they can provide suitable references from employers that show they have already fulfilled the requirements of this project.

For courses that involve more than 100 hours, more than one workplace project topic may be selected. For example, 200 hours may be split into two projects each of 100 hours. This will offer the student better scope to fulfill the needs of their course and to meet the number of hours required. Alternatively, the student may wish to do one large project with a duration of 200 hours.

Students will be assessed on how well they achieve the goals and outcomes they originally set as part of their negotiations with their tutor. During each 100 hours of the project, the students will present three short progress reports. These progress reports will be taken into account when evaluating the final submission. The tutor must be satisfied that the work submitted is original.

If the student wishes to do one large 200 hour report, then only three progressive reports will be needed (however the length of each report will be longer).