Week six of my second trimester is almost over (yes, really!), so now seems like the time for some good old reflection. Before I started my MSc Publishing course I knew we would be required to participate in 'live projects', producing a book and a magazine. During our first trimester our work was all geared to providing us with the skills needed to complete these projects. The individual proposals we all worked on for the book live project had me imagining an exciting collaboration to produce a beautiful, interesting book. There were so many good ideas and I couldn't wait to get started on it.
The reality, as is so often the case, has been somewhat different.
I chose to study this course because I want to work in book publishing. To be honest, I had never really considered working in magazine publishing, save a fleeting moment back during my undergrad when I thought I might enjoy writing for a magazine. Over the last six weeks, however, I've found myself enjoying working on the magazine module more than working on the book module.
This surprises me because we've suffered a tonne of stress because of working on the magazine. It is a joint collaboration with the journalist students, and tensions have been considerably frayed at times. I'm part of the production and design team and we've been hampered by the fact that content has been slow in reaching us. However, once we have received our images and text the actual process of laying it out on the page has been pretty fun. It maybe helps that we are all really good friends and the atmosphere in the room is generally upbeat. We're always giggling about something and we're good at bouncing ideas off one another. There is also something creatively fulfilling about designing something. You are in complete control (well, almost) of how the spread will look. It's your decision how to place the text and what to do with the pictures, and although it can get frustrating when things won't turn out the way you envisaged them in your mind, there's something almost liberating about it. Yes, I feel stressed on a Thursday (which is when we have class), but I also feel like I've done something productive and useful by the end of the day.
This is not always the case in regards to the book module. We were attempting to produce two books, but there have been major copyright issues, and now, six weeks in, everything is still up-in-the-air. I am a member of the editorial and production teams, although so far I have only worked for the editorial team. Editorial is where I imagined making my career, and I have enjoyed the work I've done. However, I find that I get more work done on my own and at home than when we are in class, which can be a little frustrating. It irks me that I am not enjoying this module as much. I love books and I had a brilliant time out on work experience last year. I did a lot of editorial work then and it was that experience that confirmed for me that this was the career path I wanted to follow.
On the plus side, I do feel as if I've learnt useful skills. There was a job advert for an editorial staff member on The Bookseller's website the other week and I felt confident I could meet most of the requirements. I certainly feel a lot more knowledgeable about the entire publishing process now. And, yes, I do still want to work in book publishing, only magazine publishing has now emerged as an option too. I don't regret my decision to take up this course. As well as gaining these new skills, I've met lots of amazing people and made some great friends. Hopefully the copyright issues will be cleared soon and we can produce both books, but if not, at least I've had this experience and I believe (based on past events) that adversity only makes you stronger in the long run. At least if I get a job in publishing and a similar situation arises I will be fully equipped to deal with it!
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