International Publishing Studies  MA

Overview

The International Publishing Studies MA is an exciting extension to our Publishing Masters and caters for experienced international industry practitioners. Your knowledge and business skills will be enhanced through expert teaching and industry projects, and you will be challenged to respond creatively to current global publishing trends, including the impact of digitisation.

Core modules will be shared with MA Publishing Studies students, with additional teaching and support to analyse industry conditions in different international publishing sectors and markets. You will work directly with industry project sponsors and be offered a range of site visits. In a core International module in Term 2, you will develop detailed business case studies, including an individually defined case, in addition to your final Masters dissertation.

City University London is a leading global provider of professional education and research in publishing studies, producing both award-winning dissertations and consistent impact on students' careers.

Course Fees:

  • Full-time EU: £7,500
  • Full-time Non EU: £15,000

Start Date:

24 September 2012

How to Apply

Entry Requirements

You will need, as a minimum:

  • a 2.1 honours degree or equivalent
  • evidence of a commitment to a career in publishing (such as experience within bookselling or publishing, voluntary or professional experience on a publication)
  • or evidence of research into current industry conditions

Other Suitable Qualifications

You are encouraged to apply if you have relevant professional experience.

English Requirements

For students whose first language is not English, one of the following qualifications is required:

  • IELTS: 7.0
  • TOEFL (internet-based): 100

Visa Requirements

The way that you apply may vary depending on the length of your course at City, there are different rules for:

  • Students on courses of more than 6 months
  • Students on courses of less than 6 months
  • Students on a pre-sessional English Language course

For more information see our main Visa page.

When and Where

Start Date:
24 September 2012
Duration:
One year full-time

The International Publishing Studies MA is a full-time course, September to September, with two ten-week taught terms (usually taught on Monday to Thursday).

Most modules are delivered in ten weekly timetabled sessions, with some workshop-style delivery, including International Publishing Case Studies.

Course Content

The MA International Publishing Studies covers all types of publishing, from trade and specialist publications to novels and non-fiction, providing a thorough grounding in the drivers of commercial success for both print and digital products.

Throughout the year, you will be offered additional teaching and projects to better understand both global publishing and the specific conditions in individual sectors and markets.

While in London, you will be encouraged to gain informal placement experience throughout the year, if you wish. In Term 2 you will extend your business skills in the International Publishing Case Studies module by developing the key commercial skill of analysing businesses in detail in order to write business case studies, focusing on a company of your choice or in partnership with an industry sponsor.

Course Structure

Modules

Teaching and Assessment

Teaching

We teach you through a combination of lecture and workshop-style discussions and other activities. You will also learn through group-based, commercially realistic projects, often with industry sponsors.

Industry visitors, members of the Advisory Board and our Visiting Professors support face-to-face teaching, and you also join in with remote presentations from publishers in a variety of markets and sectors.

A standard module consists of 20 timetabled hours comprising a variable proportion of lectures, seminars, and supervised project work; each is designed in the expectation of considerable personal study hours.

Assessment

The course is assessed largely through coursework, with two examinations, both of which account for 50% or less of their module.

The range of coursework includes assessment for industry-related projects as well as analytical essays, and allows a proportion of credit for personal and group projects we well as presentations.


Teaching staff, 2010/11

Mary Ann Kernan, Director, Publishing Studies MA
Max Adam, Visiting Lecturer
Richard Balkwill, Visiting Lecturer
Stephen Mesquita, Visiting Lecturer
Brenda Stones, Visiting Lecturer
Dominic Vaughan, Visiting Lecturer
Charlotte Troy, Visiting Lecturer

Fees

  • Full-time EU: £7,500
  • Full-time Non EU: £15,000

Please note that, for part-time courses, the tuition fee is likely to increase by a small percentage in subsequent years.

Funding

For up-to-date information about tuition fees, living costs and financial support, visit Undergraduate Fees and Finance or Postgraduate Fees and Finance.

A small number of bursaries are advertised and awarded by media and industry organisations. See below for more information.

Scholarships

  • 2012-13 Matthew Hodder Trust Scholarship

The Publishing Studies MA is currently inviting applications for the 2012-13 Matthew Hodder Trust Scholarship (deadline 19 May 2012).

  • 2012-13 City University MA Publishing Scholarship

The Publishing Studies MA is currently inviting applications for the 2012-13 City University MA Publishing Scholarship (deadline 29 June 2012).

  • 2012-13 Stationers' Company Bursary

We are now accepting applications for The Stationers' Company Bursary, which will be awarded to one student taking the MA Publishing Studies course 2012-13 (deadline 1 June 2012).

Application forms for the Stationers' Company Bursary should be sent to the Postgraduate Administrator by 1 June 2012. Full details and the application form can be found on the Stationers' Company website. 

Candidates should note that interviews will be held in London during the first two weeks of July only and they should therefore be available for interview during this time.

A place on the MA Publishing Studies course will be held for the successful candidate.

The 2012-13 induction week begins on 24 September, and teaching starts on 1 October 2012. Students must be available for full-time class attendance until mid-June 2013 and be prepared to take on a placement or part-time work during this period in order to gain experience.

Please contact the Programme Administrator if you have any queries.

How this bursary helped me (Emma Smith, Stationers' Company Bursary holder 2011-12)
"The bursary has been especially valuable to me, not only financially but also in terms of the ongoing opportunities and insight that it provides. The benefits of individual mentor support, the chance to talk to industry professionals and the invitation to attend events have all made me extremely grateful to be part of such an encouraging and sociable organisation. The scholarship initially allowed me to study but will undoubtedly open up more possibilities and connections as I progress, then hopefully I will be in a position to help other people get into publishing."

Career Prospects

City's MA in Publishing Studies has delivered consistently strong employment impacts for its international graduates for over ten years.

The new International Publishing Studies MA pathway aims to further enhance the professional development of its students by providing a broad and commercially relevant grounding in current conditions across a rapidly changing industry.

You will be better equipped to understand the conditions that apply in your own publishing sectors and markets, and to assess strategic options against best current practice across the global publishing industry in order to respond successfully, including to the opportunities and challenges raised by digitisation.

MA Publishing Studies graduates

The International Publishing Studies MA is a new course for 2011/12 so there are no graduates from this pathway as yet. However, here's a selection of what last year's MA Publishing Studies graduates are doing now:

  • Data Assistant, Hodder Education
  • Administrator, Faber Factory
  • Publishing and Marketing Assistant, MA Healthcare
  • Editor, Tesco China magazine, Cedar Communications, Shanghai
  • Assistant to Literary Agent and Head of Foreign Rights Team, The Wylie Agency
  • International Rights, Conde Nast
  • Rights Assistant, Children's, HarperCollins
  • Marketing Assistant, ELT, CUP
  • Editorial Assistant, Textbooks, SAGE Publications
  • Editorial Assistant, Octopus
  • Key Accounts Administrator, Orion, Hachette
  • Digital Marketing Executive, ELT, OUP
  • Waterstone's, Piccadilly
  • Editor, Fruit Tree Books
  • Press Officer, DK
  • Editorial freelancer, Actes Sud Publishing
  • Editorial Assistant, Hodder Education
  • Associate Agent, P.S. Literary Agency, Toronto
  • Production Controller, Pearson Education
  • Sales Executive, Central & Eastern Europe, Burgundy Services
  • News Writer, MedWire News, Springer Healthcare
  • PhD Student, University of Mainz
  • MBA Student, Westminster University 

Job destinations

Where are they now? Employment destinations of previous Publishing Studies MA graduates include:

  • Digital Marketing Manager, Constable & Robinson
  • Production Editor, Faber
  • Export Sales Executive, Kingfisher Publishing
  • Senior Editor, food and lifestyle titles, Penguin Books Australia
  • Editorial Assistant, Continuum
  • Editorial Assistant, Virgin Books Ltd
  • Commissioning Editor, Piatkus Fiction
  • Co-editions Co-ordinator, Thames & Hudson
  • Marketing and Sales Executive, Macmillan ELT
  • Digital Marketing Manager and Editorial Assistant, Royal Society of Medicine Press
  • Journals Managing Editor, Institution of Engineering and Technology
  • Editorial Assistant, Hodder Headline
  • Export Sales Executive, Octopus
  • Ebury and BBC Sales Assistant, Random House
  • Marketing Assistant, CUP ELT
  • Editorial Assistant, Higher Ed Dept, John Wiley & Sons
  • Production Assistant, Routledge Journals
  • Marketing Services Assistant, Scholastic, Book Clubs and Fairs
  • Higher Education Sales Representative, Pearson
  • Business Development Executive, McGraw-Hill Higher Education
  • Editor, Dorling Kindersley
  • Assistant to the MD, Lucas Alexander Whitley Writers Agents
  • Editorial Assistant,  Prospect Press, Media & Editorial Project, Trinidad
  • Editorial Assistant, Sweet & Maxwell
  • Editorial Assistant, Hodder Medical
  • Literary Agent, Blake Friedmann Literary Agency
  • Contracts Assistant, fiction, education and entertainment titles, HarperCollins
  • Marketing Assistant, Hachette Children's Books
  • Picture Library & Licensing Manager, The British Library
  • Editorial Assistant, IT publishing company in Tokyo, Mainichi Communications Inc.
  • Editor, Trade, The Friday Project
  • Editorial Assistant, Lifestyle, Financial Times
  • Communications and Customer Support Controller, J Sainsburys
  • Marketing Co-ordinator, Built Environment List, Taylor & Francis
  • Foreign Rights Manager for the Nordic territories, Quarto Publishing
  • Editorial Manager, Journals, Routledge/Taylor & Francis
  • Production Executive, Journals, SAGE Publicaitons
  • Production Assistant, Pickering & Chatto
  • Media Reader/Data Analyst + Management Trainee,  Publications Service, Cision
  • Marketing Assistant, Octopus Publishing Group
  • Timeplan Education, Waterstone's
  • Production Assistant, Hachette Partworks
  • Agent, The Marsh Agency
  • Picture Researcher, Octopus Publishing
  • Assistant Editor, Icon Books
  • Commercial Promotions Executive, News and Magazines, WH Smith's

Find out more about City University London

Application Deadline

Places are strictly limited and we strongly recommend that you apply as early as possible, as applications will close when the course is full.

You can apply for the International Publishing Studies MA via hard copy by post or online. Please follow the instructions below carefully. Please submit the following:
  • One application form.
  • Two references, one of which should be from an academic referee. Either supply your referees' details on the online application form, or (if applying in hard copy) post the references to us with your application or arrange for your referees to forward them to us no later than two weeks after your application is submitted.
  • A copy of your degree transcript. We require an original transcript or a copy certified by your university. If you have not yet graduated, you will be required to send us your degree transcript as soon as it is available. You will not be able to register as a City student without having supplied your degree transcript.
  • An essay of 250-500 words describing how you see the publishing industry developing in the near future.
    Either include this on a separate sheet with your postal application, or copy and paste the essay into the "Personal Statement" section of the online application form. 

Application forms

or

Selection process Places are strictly limited and we strongly recommend that you apply as early as possible, as applications will close when the course is full.

Return address Please return your application form and/or supporting documents, marked "Postgraduate Applications 2011", to: Admissions, Publishing Studies, City University London, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, UK.