Editing Skills for Non-Publishers
Dates:
28-29 October 2010; 12-13 April & 11-12 October 2011 (a two-day course)
Price:
£719+VAT (a number of discounts are available)
Note: Our rates will be changing in 2011. If you book before 31/12/2010 you will be charged the 2010 rate.
Venue:
The Publishing Training Centre in Wandsworth, London (see a map and a list of local hotels)
Book course online or phone +44 (0)20 8874 2718 for availability
"I really enjoyed it. The teaching style was brilliant – informative and relaxed which meant that everyone was very receptive."
Booktrust delegate
"Andrew was extremely approachable, enthusiastic and helpful and captured all delegates’ attention very well."
Shell International delegate
Most organisations produce a wide range of documents – leaflets, reports, web pages, briefing papers, brochures, mailshots, e-mailshots or other material. It is vital for your reputation that these documents meet the needs of your readership, say what you want them to say, are produced on time and budget, and are free from error.
This fast-paced two-day course will help you develop the skills necessary to edit and manage the production of various document types.
By the end of the course, you will:
- understand the editing and publishing processes
- be able to apply basic editing techniques
- have the skills to produce documents that are fit for purpose
- know how to identify and avoid common editing pitfalls
- save time, money and mistakes.
The course is firmly grounded in the needs of businesses of all kinds – large corporations, SMEs, government organisations, charities and academic institutions and the content. The content and all practical examples are taken from this environment.
Programme
Day One
-
The publishing process
- Common aims, common principles
- Who does what, when, and why
- Planning the publication: allocating pages, establishing extent
- Briefing and commissioning writers
-
Editing in the publishing process
- Why texts need editing and what an editor does
- Two main types of editing: structure and copy
- Factors influencing the editor’s decisions
- The need for accuracy, consistency, standardisation
- House styles, for and against
Day Two
-
More intensive editorial intervention
- The main problems posed by poorly written texts
- Thinking visually: how the reader navigates text
- Changing level: adapting material for different readerships
- How to cut text
-
Design in the publishing process
- The design function
- What a designer needs to know
-
Proofreading in the publishing process
- The proofing process: different types and stages, escalating costs
- The proofreading function: different techniques and things to look out for
- The final stages
-
Briefing and signing off
- Briefing external writers
- Briefing the internal team
- The handover process and signing off
Who will benefit from this course?
Staff with an editorial or publications role in SMEs, government departments, charities, and any other organisation that produces publications. Staff who work in book and journal publishing may find Copy-Editing Skills to be of more benefit.
Your tutor
After a spell in teaching and education research, Andrew Steeds worked as a publisher in three of the major UK educational publishing companies before going freelance in 1992. He now runs Simply Put, a company that offers writing, project management and consultancy to organisations that want to communicate more effectively with the full range of their readers.
We also offer Proofreading Skills.
Note that most of our short courses can also be run as in-company events.
Send details of this course to a colleague.
Dates: 28-29 October 2010; 12-13 April & 11-12 October 2011
Price: £719+VAT (a number of discounts are available).
Editing Skills for Non-Publishers - provisional booking form
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