Core Courses
Publishing Studio and Publishing Lab (WR 510)
Work in one or more departments at Ooligan Press (except for a difference in credit hours, these are the same class). Organized around publishing’s divisions of labor, it is in these departments that Ooligan’s actual publishing takes place. Manuscripts are acquired in the acquisitions department, then progress through editing, design and production, and marketing departments. Publishing Studio requires twelve hours per week for four credits while Publishing Lab requires four hours per week for one credit.
Introduction to Book Publishing (WR 560)
The business of art. The art of business. This overview of how books are discovered, contracted, developed, financed, edited, designed, produced, marketed, and sold in a changing marketplace will give students a generalist’s perspective and understanding of the process and the industry. You will learn who does what, when, why, and with whom. The class combines lectures and discussions with group simulations of publishing companies. Students attend to general and administrative duties, including financial management, legal issues, and the public face of the press, and will discover a wealth of resources. Helpful worksheets, essays, and other readings, mostly online, provide the text, although a basic working library will be discussed and recommended. Current publishing news is used to provide context for the classroom work and the mock publishing companies. Alternative forms of publication will be explored.
Book Editing (WR 561)
Publishing employs an astonishing range of different editorial skills—from editor-in-chief to acquisitions editor to production editor to copy editor. Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, require different talents and skills. Responsibilities to authorial voice are paramount, but editors, especially in small presses, frequently are involved in the economic decisions that determine a book’s fate. The course includes a combination of readings, lectures, discussions, and hands-on editing on actual book projects in-progress. It is recommended, but not necessary, that Introduction to Book Publishing be taken first.
Book Design and Production (WR 562)
Deciding on what the book will look like and how it will be produced is the focus of the design and production class. Designers and production managers (often one person in smaller presses) understand the media of publication and the relative economics of each one; designers know the appropriate form of the book for particular content and audience, and they make important artistic/aesthetic decisions. From organizing the flow of production to specifying appropriate type and interior design, this course considers the impact of design, the economics of building a book, and the interrelationship of book designers with the rest of the publishing team. Artists and graphic designers, as well as publishers, will benefit from this course. Book design is more than a graphic art. You may not tell a book by its cover, but you sell it by the effect of right design. The process of fitting a book to a design that enhances the words without interfering with their message is a specialized skill. This course uses actual books-in-process, whenever possible, to develop an understanding of design, typography, and the production process—including printing and binding of books, packaging, and production of marketing materials. The book is considered in its many roles from art and artifact to object of commerce. Changing technologies and their impacts on design and production are also discussed.
Book Marketing and Promotion (WR 563)
The very definition of “publish” is to deliver to an audience. This can be either passively or actively done, and it can be as noncommercial or commercial in approach as is appropriate. Marketing and distribution are the final acts of publishing, although they actually begin with the acquisition of a manuscript. Good book marketing begins when a manuscript comes under consideration and ends when the book is no longer actively sold. This work requires a knowledge of the marketplace for each book, the nature of the targeted audiences, the relationships to each other of the titles published by the press, the review media appropriate to each title, and the channels of distribution and sale. Students learn how to find, research, and reach the markets for a book. Explore the different ways books can be promoted and sold, and learn to determine the best approaches to each market. Write press releases, marketing plans and budgets, author profiles, and media kits.
Bookselling (WR 564)
Bookselling completes the cycle. In many ways, it is a mirror of the publishing process, requiring an understanding of editorial focus, markets, audience, product quality, finance, and business practices. Bookselling is more than simply clerking—much more. In a rapidly changing book world, the role of bookseller is adapting quickly. Knowledgeable booksellers understand both literature and commerce. They serve as frontline defenders of intellectual freedom and cultural diversity, and they are the final link in the relationship between author, publisher, and reader.
Intellectual Property and Copyright (WR 570)
Outlines the opportunities and pitfalls faced by the writer (or editor, graphic designer, or artist) in the legal and ethical spheres. Copyright law, U.S. First Amendment law, defamation, right of privacy, trademark, and trade secret law. Will discuss the importance of the Internet in rethinking many copyright and intellectual property rules.
Sample Electives
We constantly strive to develop classes that add to a student’s understanding of and proficiency in publishing. The classes listed below are just a few of the electives offered by the publishing program.
Advanced Book Editing: Advanced Editing is for students who have completed Book Editing (WR 561) and identified editing as a primary interest. The class, conducted as a workshop, aims to help each student develop practical editorial skills through experience. Working on real-world manuscripts that vary from term to term, students learn to evaluate texts, to determine the level of editing needed, to reorganize and restructure manuscripts of different genres, to offer developmental guidance to authors, and to build the author-editor relationship. In the process, they learn to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses as editors and to pinpoint the types of editing best suited to their skills.
Archaeology of the Book: In Archeology of the Book, we investigate selected topics in the history of the book from a material textual perspective. The book is a complex cultural and technological artifact whose transformations through time resonate with both tradition and lively contemporary interpretation. Where did Gutenberg buy his paper, and why should we care? What does the design or illustration of modern edition of a classic work of literature reveal about our relationship with the past? Our course consists of an integrated series of lectures, field trips to local rare book collections, selected readings and presentations of original student research projects.
Children’s Book Publishing: Successful publication of children’s books requires a specialized understanding of audience, presentation, design, and marketing. Whether you are an author aspiring to write children’s books, an editor wishing to expand your range, a publisher interested in reaching new audiences, a librarian curious about the process, or a reader desiring a fuller appreciation of how children’s books are developed, this class will give you the basics you need.
Copyediting: Copyediting is designed as a follow-up course to Book Editing (WR 561). The class helps students gain confidence in their abilities as copyeditors. The course is a drill in the mechanics of grammar, usage, punctuation, and style. Students will learn how to improve the clarity of a text and how to deal with wordiness, awkwardness, incoherency, and faulty organization. By the end of the course, students should be able to spot and correct errors in written documents of all lengths, to apply widely accepted principles of careful word usage, to explain the reasons for each correction or suggested change, and to pass an entry-level copyeditor’s test with ease. Classes are focused narrowly on editing at the line level; little attention will be given to editing for content development.
Online Marketing: The Thin Line Between Marketing and Publicity: Examining the working relationship between a marketing/sales department and a publicist this class will examine the overlap and the unique possibilities for each side to explore and take advantage of. We will be looking at print, industry, electronic and social media outlets. Each student will work on a book, not an Ooligan book, to determine how best the conversation can foster strong sales and good outreach for a book. Come to the class and expect good conversation, good collaboration, and guest speakers now and then, as well!
Publishing for Young Adults and Publishing for Juveniles: We will study current bestselling, award-winning young adult titles in all genres and discuss how to edit books for this age group. We will also edit a young adult title acquired by Ooligan, making developmental suggestions to the author. We will learn about effective cover design for teens and pre-teens, and we will research the myriad publicity and marketing avenues open to young adult books. Students will present final projects in editing, publicity, and marketing.
Publishing Management: This class will introduce students to the basic financial tools and principles used by successful managers of book publishing companies. By the end of the term, students will understand the basics of business accounting, be familiar with industry-standard practices and benchmarks, and have a firm grasp on the principles of profitability in traditional for-profit book publishing.
Publishing Software: Provides a strong base in the software used in the book publishing industry, mainly focusing on Adobe InDesign as it applies to book layout and production. Also explores Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat in the process. Class will produce excerpts of books in several areas of publishing—fiction, nonfiction, informational, and lyrical—while considering the needs of audience and text.
Other Courses
To see descriptions of all writing classes offered at Portland State University click here.
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