Creative Writing and Publishing - your questions answered! video transcript

My name is Cat Mitchell, and I'm a lecturer and the Programme Leader of the Creative Writing & Publishing degree here at the University of Derby. So this course is for anyone with an interest in writing, reading, or just how books get made. So we give students a thorough grounding in the art and craft of writing, alongside a commercial awareness of how the publishing industry and broader creative and literary industries work. And our graduates can go on to do a huge variety of jobs. So they can work as writers, either authors or professional copywriters. Or they can work in the publishing industry in some role. So in marketing, publicity, editorial, finance, sales, rights, et cetera. And alongside that things like journalism, social media management, there's a huge variety of job roles that we will prepare you for. So here at Derby, we're quite unique in that we bring creative writing and publishing together. So we think that if you want to be an author, you have to understand how the publishing industry works.

And if you want to work in publishing, you've got to be able to write and communicate effectively. So we bring the two together and make sure that you have skills that would prepare you for either career path. Students are taught by very passionate and enthusiastic lecturers. So they either have experience of actually working in the publishing industry, or they are themselves published writers or academics. We also have a lot of people from the industry and who are published writers coming in and doing guest talks too. So you get a real sense of what the industry is actually like and what it's actually like to be a published author and to be successful.

So as part of the degree, we make sure that students know about the full book publishing process. So from getting the idea for a book, writing it, putting together a manuscript, editing the manuscript, and then getting it ready to be marketed and sold, we make sure students understand that whole process. And alongside that students will study modules that have a mix of writing and publishing elements, and then they'll have the opportunity to specialise as their degree goes forward in their second and third years. So throughout the degree there are opportunities to work on live briefs from external clients. So publishers will come in and give our students tasks to do Alongside that, we support all our students for applying for internships and work experience placements. And the University as a whole has a lot of volunteering opportunities. So we make sure our students gain really excellent written and verbal communication skills, that are really core skills that are important if you want to be a writer, or if you want to be a publisher.

We have group sessions of seminars, where we might have a lecture with the module leader, or we might have debates and discussions in class. And we also have a lot of creative writing workshops as well, where you get to read your work to the class and get feedback and feedback from your peers and from your module leaders. All of our students will have access to the University library. We have a designated area for Creative Writing & Publishing. We also have a Blackwell's on site, so you'll have access to all the books that you'll need. And we also have lots of online communities for our Creative Writing & Publishing students as well. So we can connect you to students who have graduated and also to other current students who are studying at the same time as you.

Creative Writing and Publishing - your questions answered! video

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