Learn to apply your editing skills under personal direction from qualified and experienced editors.
Dreaming of a career in editing or publishing?
The most important thing you can do is get published!
This course will give you the know-how to get started, by involving you in the production of an online publication. You will learn from experience what is required, and how to go about it. You will develop your ability to edit both text and illustrations for articles, and prepare layout for articles.
Course Content
This course takes you through the processes of editing for a specific publication, submitting work for publication, and meeting the requirements of an editor and publisher.
Under the guidance of a mentor (a writing/editing tutor), you will learn to edit according to specific criteria, deal with a publisher, and communicate effectively with others involved in the publishing process.
Nominal duration: 100 hours
Prerequisites
Lesson Structure
There are 4 lessons in this course:
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Working to Specifications
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Editing Articles for Online Publications
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Submitting Articles for Online Publications
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Preparing and submitting Layout for publication
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
How Familiar are you with Editors Terminology?
Agony Column
A regular feature containing items related to personal problems; such as readers’ letters and editorial advice.
Alignment
The ranging of type along its base line and the horizontal and vertical ranging of columns.
Angle
The specific perspective from which an item is written.
Arm
The horizontal stroke or line of a capital letter (eg. P or F).
Artwork
Any type of illustration including a photograph, drawing, or computer generated graphic.
Ascender
The stroke of a lower case letter that extends higher than the height of an “x” (eg. the top half of the letter “b”).
Author’s corrections
Alterations made to text by the author, after the main editing has been finished, but before final printing.
Back bench
Senior editorial executives of a publication (usually refers to senior staff in a large newspaper).
Back margin (or Back)
The inside margin of a page (ie. where the two pages join together).
Banner
A major headline that extends across the top of a page.
Barcode
A printed barcode for the ISBN number of a publication.
Blanket
A rubbery sheet that is clamped around a cylinder, that contains an image used in offset printing to transfer that image to paper as it moves through the machine.
Bleed
An illustration is placed on the edge of a printed area, so that when the paper is trimmed, the illustration extends to the edge without any margin.
Block
This is commonly an engraved image on a flat metal plate, which is used to transfer an image when printing using a “letterpress” technique.
Blow up
An enlargement of a photograph or other type of illustration.
Blueprint
Same as dyeline.
Blurb
A description of a book, and perhaps an author profile, printed on the cover or inside sleeve and any publicity material for a book.
Book block
The bound pages of a book, before attaching to the cover.
Box
A section of text or an illustration (or both) ruled off on four sides to create a square or rectangular section within text. Tables, line drawings and “emphasised” statements, such as quotations, are often set in boxes.
Break Out
A second (or further) item on the same page as the main story (eg. you may have several items that are unrelated on the same page, though the page is dominated by one main item).
Breaker
Anything used to break up text in a page, such as a quote or crosshead.
Brevier
An old name used to refer to 8 point type.
Bromide
A print of a photograph, illustration or typeset material made on standard light-sensitive photographic paper; from which an image is taken for printing.
Bullet point
A black mark (eg. A dot, triangle, dash) in front of text to create an effect or highlight – often used on tabulated lists, sometimes on headings.
Who can benefit from taking this course?
Writers looking to break into freelance markets such as magazines and newspapers.
Freelance writers seeking to access new markets or improve their knowledge of relevant frameworks and writing concepts.
Fiction writers seeking to break into a new market.
At the end of this course you will:
- Understand how to edit an article for structure and use or develop a stylesheet
- Understand how to write a compelling headline
- Understand how to keep the writer's voice and perspective consistent while revising
- Understand the importance of layout, and how it works with the editorial process
- Edit work for an online publication
Want something more in depth? Learn about our certificates and higher qualifications in writing and journalism here.
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