Publishing Blog
British Book Design & Production Awards 2015
by Tik Dalton
My adventures and thoughts on the 2015 British Book Design & Production Awards...
Edited by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 29 Jan 2016 around 2pm
The name is James - James Daunt
by I.M Khalifa
The name is James - James Daunt. As the CEO of the bookshop giant, Waterstones, stands in front of the packed lecture theatre at Oxford Brookes ready to start, our voices begin to die down. This afternoon lecture is promising to educate us on ‘The Value of Booksellers in a Changing World’.
In the wake of what some are calling the digital revolution, the debate, of whether or not the Publishing industry needs to let go of traditional publishing practices, is getting heated. The continuing rise of Amazon and the closing down of bricks-and-mortar bookshops pulls the debate in one direction. But surviving high-street bookshops like Waterstones and Blackwells are perhaps testaments that the discussion could also be pulled in the other.
Edited by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 30 Oct 2015 around 3pm
A Student’s View of the Publishing World: Frankfurt Book Fair October 2015
by Isabella Anton
Filing into the Frankfurt Book Fair, thirty-two publishing students from Oxford Brookes University were unprepared for what was waiting for us in the halls beyond. Hundreds upon thousands of people filled the venue, all from different parts of the world.
We had been told time and again by our lecturers to network – talk with everyone; do our research on who will be there. But there were over a thousand publishing houses! The Frankfurt Book Fair is one of the few times right and sales managers are able to meet with their global partners. One minute they’d be talking with someone from China and the next, a person from America. Their diaries are full, but our lecturers organized appointments for us with publishers, and we were grateful for the chance to talk with them on a day like this. In addition we found that we can often chat to some of the smaller publishers on an ad hoc basis throughout the day.
Edited by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 30 Oct 2015 around 10am
A Session with Eric Huang, Development Director at Made in Me
by Ishani Bhattacharya
On a bright sunny day, an enthusiastic and impressive figure of Eric Huang, Development Director at Made in Me, woke up me and my fellow classmates from a weekend of gloomy weather to an exciting and imaginative world of digital publishing.
What better than some back-story to get us hooked to the session? From his obsession with dinosaurs to his actual ‘first’ job at Disney as a receptionist, Eric instantly connected to many in the house who had their various perceptions and ideas of the world is thwarted by reality. The take-away was – Publishing has something for everyone!
Edited by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 24 Oct 2015 around 10am
Eric Huang: Made in Me
by Annabelle Rose
Branding. It’s one of those advertising words that should span across every industry but is some how neglected by many. The importance of branding is what I am going to take from Developmental Director Eric Huang’s lecture on Tuesday 20 October 2015.
He is a rare breed of man that can leave behind the allure of industry powerhouses like Disney publishing and Penguin Random House to team up with the small, yet highly creative company Made in Me. His aim? Simple: to inspire the next generation to learn, grow and simply have fun through digital technologies.
Edited by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 24 Oct 2015 around 10am
James Daunt speaks to Brookes Publishing students
by Andri Nel
‘Bookshops are made of the books in them’
When we heard that James Daunt would be coming to speak to the department on Tuesday 6 October a wave of excitement swept through our MA Publishing class. We all knew that Daunt had been somewhat of a saving grace for Waterstones, but as many of us were international students, having the opportunity to hear from Daunt in person was even more of a treat.
Edited by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 13 Oct 2015 around 7am
British Book Design Awards - Extended Deadline!
by Helena Markou
OICPS are delighted to be involved behind the scenes with the British Book Design & Production Awards. Opening parcel after parcel of beautifully designed books is a tough job, but someone's got to do it! Entries have already begun to pour in, so don't delay in sending yours to us. The deadline for entries is now Tuesday 16th July 2015.
Details of the entry requirements and application process can be found here.
Edited by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 24 Jun 2015 around 2pm
Graham Bell: On the Importance of metadata - Part 2 #DLL15
by Fernanda Dutra
"The industry needs intermediaries between creatives and techies"
As publishing students, we are now used to listening to professionals explaining why their jobs are called this or that, and what exactly they do — the characteristics of an industry going through many changes. To open his lunchtime seminar at Oxford Brookes, Graham Bell, Executive Director at EDItEUR, said: "I always sat in the middle of the table". What could that mean in a contemporary publishing context?
Edited by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 18 Mar 2015 around 12am
Graham Bell: On the Importance of metadata - Part 1 #DLL15
by Kelly Neubeiser
“Metadata is the most important part of publishing. Even though it isn’t, we’ll assume this is true for this talk.”
Right from the beginning, Graham Bell was encouraging us to challenge our existing scope of publishing knowledge. In his digital lecture, Bell discussed the importance of metadata within the communication cycle of publishing.
Edited by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 18 Mar 2015 around 12am
Educake: “Why a small digital publishing company can be beautiful” DLL15
by Kelsi Farrington
EDUCAKE’s Managing Director and Founder, Charley Darbishire visited a crowd of Digital Publishing students for an open lunchtime talk at Oxford Brookes University on Wednesday, February 25th and brought insight into the development of one of the most well-designed and user-friendly teaching resources available online.
Educake is a new online homework and revision resource for teachers and students of Secondary Science. The platform, available on iPads, Chromebooks and tablets is specifically designed for the benefit of GCSE students (aged 14-16) to use in and out of class and enables their teachers to mark and monitor their progress and aptitude of a particular topic.
Edited by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12 Mar 2015 around 11am