Learn about publishing, editing and even how start your own business!
- Learn how to select and publish content.
- Learn the benefits of editing - to improve impact, to improve readability.
- Study digital photography - understand the technology, using effects, using the right equipment and how to use the pictures you have taken.
- The course includes a module on starting a business - understand how a business operates and develop your own business skills.
Modules
Note that each module in the Qualification - Foundation Diploma in Publishing and Editing is a short course in its own right, and may be studied separately.
How Are Publications Marketed?
Marketing involves several key elements:
- The packaging and presentation of the product;
- Identifying likely buyers, including booksellers, newsagents, schools, and sections of the general public, such as teens, women or other people interested in the publication’s subject matter;
- Establishing contact between the product and potential buyers;
- Communicating with potential buyers in a way that persuades them to stock or buy it;
- Monitoring buyer satisfaction;
- Ensuring that marketing strategies help promote the image of the publication, and of the publishing business.
A marketing strategy should be based on a good understanding of the existing market, which can only be gained through careful and ongoing marketing research. Good marketing research can help you find out, among other things:
- What the public wants
- What particular groups want
- What similar publications are currently on the market, and who is buying them
- What kinds of publications are not yet on the market, and if there is a potential market for them
- What selling strategies work, and what don’t
- Current trends in the publishing market (which can change rapidly)
- The effects of your previous marketing strategies and areas needing improvement or change
- Public perceptions of your organization and product, in general.
This information can be gathered in a variety of ways:
- Through direct observation of booksellers and newsagents
- Through discussion with booksellers and newsagents
- Through discussion with schools and other potential buyers of your product
- Through media reports, reviews, comments and interviews on anything related to publishing, writing, reading, and your kind of product
- By visiting large international bookselling events and talking with those involved
- By providing individual readers with an easy way to comment on their preferred reading and your product
- By carefully monitoring the effects of your existing marketing strategies
When you have decided who your market target is, you have a wide range of strategies at your disposal for getting the product, or information about the product, to those target groups. Generally, publishers will use a variety of strategies aimed at targeting specific groups. For instance, a low-cost novel of mediocre writing quality might be aimed at inexpensive booksellers, and at the mass market through supermarkets, budget department stores and newsagents, while a better quality novel might be aimed at more expensive department stores and certain booksellers.
Whatever the target, much of marketing relies on creating publicity for the product through either direct exposure (such as displays) or through the media. It can be gained through such avenues as:
- Press releases
- Book reviews
- Radio interviews with writers, reviewers, critics, or magazine editors
- Radio discussions on topics connected to the product (eg. a discussion on natural beauty) which provide a context for introducing the product (eg. “I saw a great article on this in this month’s Mother Nature magazine. It said that…”)
- Participation in trade events, international or local book fairs, exhibitions or other events related to the content of the product (eg. garden show to promote a gardening book)
- Events that attract media and buyer interest, such as competitions, book launches, writing festivals, book fests, etc.
- Magazine or newspaper articles on the topic, and including some mention of the product (hidden marketing)
- Advertisements (paid publicity) in magazines, newspapers, television, radio
- Posters at libraries, bookshops and other public places
- Product displays at booksellers, newsagents, shopping centres
- Visits to sales representatives, booksellers, newsagents, schools, and other potential stockists and buyers.
This is an Excellent Entry Point into the World of Publishing
The Foundation Diploma In Publishing and Editing is an ideal course for journalists, writers, bloggers, academic writers and anyone interested in developing a career in publishing and editing.
Students will gain an excellent knowledge in publishing and editing, with additional skills in using digital content.
Learn about how to make written content effective, informative, engaging, and relevant.
The course consists of ten 100 hour modules covering publishing, editing, technical writing and other modules to suit your own interests, including an HTML module - useful for anyone interested in developing their own website or editing an existing website.
