CERTIFICATE IN LITERARY PUBLISHING

(As of November 6, 2009)

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Certificate Program in Literary Publishing is held as a one-week (five-day) intensive session June 7-11, 2010. Classroom (or lab) instruction occurs daily for six hours a day (three-hour morning session, with a lunch break, three-hour afternoon session, and an opportunity for participants and faculty to talk informally at the end of the day's instruction). Guest speakers will supplement each day's instruction. Outside of classroom instruction, participants will work on a rough business plan on their press or magazine. Participants who complete the one-week intensive session and submit a rough business plan for their literary magazine or press will earn the Certificate in Literary Publishing.

Program Dates:  June 7-11, 2010

Program Cost:   $995.00

WHO SHOULD ENROLL

The Literary Publishing Program is open to poets, fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers, and individuals who would like to learn publishing skills needed to start and run their own literary magazines or their own book publishing ventures. Each participant enrolls in the one-week intensive session held at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, June 7-11, 2010. The Certificate in Literary Publishing will be awarded only to those individuals who attend and successfully complete the program and all of its courses.

INTENSIVE PROGRAM

An Overview of Literary Publishing
Participants will discuss the particular concerns of small press publishers and how best to find and mine a niche market. The key is to determine the mission and vision of the press or literary magazine. Individuals will also examine the history of small press/literary publishing and understand its current context within the publishing industry, as well as the issues facing literary publishers today.

Literary Acquisitions and Editing
Participants gain basic information on contracts (and negotiations), acquiring manuscripts, and reading manuscripts. They will learn to deal with authors in revising work and determining what needs revision. Copyediting and proofing procedures will be outlined. Participants will learn how to make use of basic book information (ISBNs, Library of Congress, and more).

Marketing, Promotion, and Distribution for Literary Works
How can small presses best develop and reach their audiences? What are the best ways for literary publishers to promote their wares? How can publishers get their magazines and books into the marketplace and into the hands of buyers?

Design and Production for Literary Publishing
Participants will receive information on the fundamentals of graphic design, typography and production methods. What designs work and which don't? How are books and magazines manufactured? What print and digital production and manufacturing options are available for the small publisher (including online and print-on-demand)?

Finance, Management, and Legal Issues for Literary Publishing
Participants receive and introduction to laws on copyright and libel. Individuals will also be presented with different models to found, organize, and fund their presses. Participants will gain familiarity with financial management issues and tools, as well as how to manage personnel and keep their presses financially solvent.

HOW TO ENROLL

Register early guarantee your seat in the Literary Publishing Certificate Program scheduled for June 2010.
Download a Literary Publishing Certificate Program Registration Form (PDF)

No application is required to enroll in the literary Publishing Program. Prospective participants may download the latest program information from this web page and registration materials, or call the Department of Professional Studies and Special Programs at 617-824-8280. Please send your completed and signed registration materials with your registration payment in the amount of $995 to:

CERTIFICATE PROGRAM COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS

Participants in the Literary Publishing Program must attend and successfully complete the intensive and all of its modules to earn the Certificate in Literary Publishing. The following guidelines apply to the Literary Publishing Certificate Program at Emerson College:

• Individuals must satisfy the certificate program requirements published for the intersession in  which they register for the program; all required coursework must be completed, and the courses of the program must be completed in the prescribed sequence.

• All individuals must complete the program in the same year in which they first register.

• Only learning activities offered by Emerson College's Department of Professional Studies and Special Programs may be applied to fulfill the requirements of the Literary Publishing Program.

• Enrollment is noncredit, and open to all individuals who have a minimum of a high school diploma or GED.

Emerson College reserves the right to change the provisions of this program. The College specifically reserves the right to change its tuition rates and any other financial charges. The College also reserves the right to rearrange its courses and class hours, to drop courses for which registration falls below the minimum required enrollment, and to change instructor assignments.

LITERARY PUBLISHING CERTIFICATE PROGRAM TUITION AND PAYMENTS

Tuition is due upon registration for the Literary Publishing Certificate Program. Tuition covers lectures, classroom and lab time. Participants are responsible for their own housing, food, and such miscellaneous costs as text books and course materials.

2010 Program Tuition:               $995

FACULTY

Lead instructor for the Literary Publishing Certificate is Gian Lombardo, Publisher-in-Residence (2001) and Coordinator of the Certificate in Publishing program; B.A., Trinity College, M.A., Boston University.

Mr. Lombardo has had over 25 years of experience in a wide range of publishing environments--trade, association, literary, and consumer magazines as well as professional, literary and textbook publishing. His clients have included Reed Business Information, Ploughshares, Agni, Bedford/St. Martin's, Boston Society of Civil Engineers and Transitions Abroad. He is also the author of Between Islands, a collection of poems and verse translations (Dolphin-Moon Press, 1984); and four collections of prose poetry: Standing Room, Sky Open Again (Dolphin-Moon Press, 1989 & 1997), Of All the Corners to Forget (Meeting Eyes Bindery, 2004), and Aid & A_Bet (BlazeVOX Books, 2009). He also directs Quale Press, which he founded in 1997. Quale Press publishes poetry and fiction. Souls of Wind, a novel by John Olson, published by Quale Press was nominated for Best Book of 2008 by The Believer magazine.