Alumni - Frankie Mace - MA Book History and Publishing Culture 2012-13

Frankie Mace (currently Assistant Editor, Bloomsbury) writes:

I had initially intended to come to Brookes to study on the mainstream Publishing course, but I was concerned that I would not enjoy some of the more vocational or technical elements. I was really excited when I realised that I could take the Book History MA, study the modern history of publishing in a more academic way, and still take all of the elective courses and business elements that had appealed to me in the first place.

I found the MA reading engaging and fascinating, discovering a rich world of cultural, historical and sociological topics, which gave me a firm understanding of the economic and political history of the publishing industry, along with insight into the present day, and future, business of books. For anyone who enjoys writing creatively and undertaking their own research, I cannot recommend the course highly enough. The access and resources available are incredible, with excellent support from the academic faculty and the assignments encourage innovation and originality; I particularly enjoyed creating, along with my peers, our own online journal, in which we each published an article on a 20^th Century publishing topic of our choice.

For me the MA was a life changing experience. I feel that the Book History MA equipped me with all the abilities I needed to enter into the job market and gave me the confidence to pursue a career in publishing. I was able to move straight from studying into an editorial position at an independent publisher in London and, thanks to the course, I believe that I was given a competitive edge.

Posted on 30 May 2014 around 7am